This time around, Bassat simply wanted to know what the club could do better, following three seasons that had been focused on building the foundations for sustainable success based on the recommendations flowing from that 2022 review.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve made substantial progress, but we can still improve. We did not play finals last year,\u201d Bassat said. \u201cWe\u2019re recognising there are a bunch of areas we can improve.\u201d<\/p>\n
He questioned 20 people, including Lyon and chief executive Carl Dilena, to determine what was needed, the trio unafraid to look under the bonnet and in the mirror.<\/p>\n
In the process, the Saints settled on club great Lenny Hayes, despite his inexperience in the role, as the new football manager to support Lyon. Chris Ford, a former state secretary for the ALP and a highly rated operator who has been at the club for a year, will support Hayes.<\/p>\n
Bassat\u2019s approach is an indicator that the Saints hierarchy is aware that everyone at Moorabbin needs to stay dialled in to what lies ahead.<\/p>\n
This will be the year when the success of Bassat and Lyon\u2019s sometimes unconventional, and often disruptive, strategy to become contenders will be reviewed externally using the bluntest of measures: wins and losses.<\/p>\n
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St Kilda president Andrew Bassat is prepared to take the punt.Credit: Penny Stephens<\/p>\n
Ready, or not?<\/p>\n
Having secured the essential signature of the super-talented Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera<\/a> for the hefty price of $2 million a year over two years in August after extending Lyon until 2027 in March, the club has been able to put into effect its decision at the start of 2025 to add established talent to a core of promising youngsters.<\/p>\n \u201cThe pivotal discussion, and there were several of them, was early [last] year, which was, do we press that button now or not,\u201d Bassat said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat you don\u2019t want to do is have this big recruiting spree where you\u2019re too far off it.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2025, St Kilda didn\u2019t just press a button. They detonated a blast which blew away conventional thinking on how best to lure players.<\/p>\n Carlton ruck Tom De Koning, without a top-five finish in his club best and fairest in 100 games and with just eight Brownlow votes, snared an eye-watering and eyebrow-raising contract worth $1.7 million per year for seven years.<\/p>\n His Blues teammate, defender Jack Silvagni, joined him in the red, white and black on a five-year deal<\/a>, as did Suns midfielder Sam Flanders<\/a> and the Eagles\u2019 Liam Ryan. Money was no issue as the departure of Josh Battle to Hawthorn a year earlier and careful salary cap management had left the Saints with a money bin.<\/p>\n New Saint Tom De Koning will be one of the most scrutinised players in the competition in 2026. Credit: St Kilda FC<\/p>\n The cost didn\u2019t do much damage to their draft hand, completed for the price of a first-round pick and a bunch of later picks.<\/p>\n As doubts about key forward Max King\u2019s durability lingered, they retained a frustrated yet contracted Rowan Marshall who had requested a trade to Geelong after De Koning signed.<\/p>\n They also took the hit to their reputation when they left the Giants\u2019 Leek Aleer at the trade altar<\/a> after pursuing him to the point where he told Greater Western Sydney he was out.<\/p>\n Jack Steele was traded to Melbourne in a deal both parties now see as mutually beneficial.<\/p>\n It was calculated and hard-arsed and controversial. The Saints were unapologetic though, as their strategy was executed to compete in a tough competition, one where clubs closer to the top of the ladder find it easier to access top-end talent than those crowding the bottom rungs.<\/p>\n \u201cHistory will prove us right or wrong,\u201d Bassat said.<\/p>\n Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera remains a huge St Kilda drawcard.Credit: AFL Photos<\/p>\n Getting to the starting line<\/p>\n The president understands that when they take the field against Collingwood at the MCG in an opening round blockbuster on March 8, and simultaneously celebrate the 60th anniversary of their famous 1966 flag, many will be hoping for them to stumble.<\/p>\n His view remains firm that radical action was required to gain enough traction to rejoin, if wins come, the contending clubs, which would in turn attract talent. If that meant ruffling a few feathers, so be it.<\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just so easy to have a crack at us. If we cared about that, we wouldn\u2019t have taken the path that we did. We feel we\u2019ve made the right call, and as I said, things could go our way [or] they could go against us, but we feel we made the right calls. We feel good about that. We\u2019re really united as a football club. The noise and negativity almost unites us further,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got some serious talent on the list now, and we had to give them a shot at success.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the words, Bassat\u2019s mood is not defiant. He is filled with the same nervous anticipation as the fan of any team.<\/p>\n He is acutely aware the Saints have done nothing yet and that, in such a hard competition, nothing is guaranteed.<\/p>\n What Bassat is proud of right now is the way the club has stuck to its guns to execute a long-term strategy in an impatient world.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t play finals as we had hoped at the start of the year [but] when we look back on the 12 months, we say we\u2019ve definitely taken a step forward towards the sustainable success we want. That\u2019s my most important objective, really, to take another big step forward. I hope, as part of that, we are playing and winning finals,\u201d Bassat said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou get the fundamentals right first and the outputs like revenue and profit, take care of themselves. That\u2019s what we switched to as a football club \u2026getting games into the younger players, getting accountability happening, getting a system happening, getting people to play their roles, and sacrifice for the team and all those sorts of things.\u201d<\/p>\n He believes only an experienced, hard-bitten coach such as Lyon could have weathered the storms caused by inevitable turbulence as his demanding style kept his and everyone\u2019s eyes trained on the long term.<\/p>\n \u201cHe [Lyon] has kept with him a copy of the review recommendations the whole time because he\u2019s been looking at it,\u201d Bassat said. \u201cI think there were 37 recommendations in there, and he\u2019s been measuring himself by making sure they have made strong progress against all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n Ross Lyon\u2019s Saints made a big splash in the player movement pool.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n The need for such progress meant casualties and missteps were unavoidable.<\/p>\n Bassat admitted communication around some issues arose as an area for improvement when he conducted the football department review at the end of the season.<\/p>\n The president won\u2019t go into specifics, but it was clear a better job could have been done at times last year with ensuring senior players were kept abreast of how the list management strategy was progressing. Marshall has put his head down, but he was disappointed how the year transpired, and Callum Wilkie, who may be captain in 2026, needed reassurance about the club\u2019s direction at key times during the season.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can always do those things better. That\u2019s one of the things we found out that probably some of the communication could have been a little bit better this year, but broadly we\u2019ve communicated well,\u201d Bassat said.<\/p>\n \u201cPlayers understand the reality of the competition, which is moving towards perhaps a US-style reality where there\u2019s five or six players who are paid a lot more than the average. We can\u2019t hide from that reality. We need to embrace it.\u201d<\/p>\n Plenty will fall on Hayes to soften inevitable blows as the pressure on results grows even fiercer this season.<\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n The new-look Saints<\/p>\n St Kilda\u2019s significant turnover of the list can\u2019t be understated; just 19 players remain from 2023 when the Giants beat them in an elimination final under Lyon in 2023.<\/p>\n In the past two seasons, only the Kangaroos have selected more new players than St Kilda (16 playing their first Saints game in 2024 and \u201925), with excellent draft selections by the late Chris Toce and then Simon Dalrymple giving them a youth group to develop.<\/p>\n Six of the top 10 in the Saints\u2019 2022 best and fairest have departed (by comparison, the Eagles are the only other team to have lost as many as six from their top 10 list of that season; Collingwood have lost none of their 2022 top 10 and most clubs have lost between three or four of their top-10 players from four seasons ago).<\/p>\n Lyon took over the fifth-oldest list (on average age) in 2022 after the Saints finished 10th. This year they finished 12th but feel more confident in a profile that had them 14th (in average age). In 2026, they are 10th in the competition when it comes to average age. A dozen established players have between 50 and 100 games experience.<\/p>\n Sources who wanted to remain anonymous to speak freely backed Bassat\u2019s assertion that Lyon\u2019s influence on list management (a media release confirming Hayes\u2019 appointment said Lyon oversaw list management) was for St Kilda to adhere to what could deliver long-term sustainability rather than grabbing the nearest player on offer.<\/p>\n \u201cRoss doesn\u2019t really oversee list management,\u201d Bassat said. \u201cThe risk with a coach being too strong a voice in list management, of course, is short-termism. I have not seen that risk permeating. Ross has a voice, and he is a strong voice, but it is a really good [forum for] debate.\u201d<\/p>\n Until 2025 Bassat said Lyon argued strongly to \u201cstick to the plan\u201d, focus on the draft and resist the temptation to chase whatever player became available.<\/p>\n Now Lyon has the chance, with an even amount of luck, to use his significant coaching prowess to mould the individuals into a winning team. Despite the juggling of hats post-season, he wants to do what he does best: coach.<\/p>\n Having taken his beloved Saints to the edge of flags in 2009 and 2010, only to be beaten by teams stacked with father-sons (Geelong\u2019s Gary Ablett jnr, Matthew Scarlett, Tom Hawkins, Mark Blake in 2009 and Collingwood\u2019s Heath Shaw, Travis Cloke in 2010), he faces an even bigger challenge, with two expansion teams a simple indicator of why life is harder.<\/p>\n Can St Kilda start games better in 2026 having trailed at quarter-time in 10 of their last 11 games? Will their midfield be able to stop momentum when it turns against them? Can they become miserly in defence after sitting 13th for points against in 2025? Can the energy remain high when the demands required to improve are unrelenting?<\/p>\n Can Max King get fit and firing?Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n And the biggest question for many: can King get some continuity after repeated setbacks caused him to miss last season and play just 23 games since Lyon arrived?<\/p>\n The Saints remain confident after some worrisome moments over the past few seasons, particularly relating to King\u2019s knee. A diagnostic ultrasound finally gave them a sense they had identified the issue which had been confounding specialists. Despite having a procedure before Christmas<\/a>, they remain optimistic he can feature in the early rounds.<\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a great kid and he deserves a good run, and if he does have a good run I think people will be reminded about how good he is. He\u2019s never had people like \u2018Nas\u2019 and Max Hall, and some of those players putting [the ball] down his throat,\u201d Bassat said.<\/p>\n \u201cI am excited to see what he can do.\u201d<\/p>\n That sentiment is a microcosm of what many are feeling \u2013 whether sceptical or positive \u2013 about the Saints in 2026. They are excited to see what they can do.<\/p>\n St Kilda\u2019s real review starts in less than 50 days.<\/p>\n![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/7622711dfbce5e4c7cad473410c41f852a95061b035a472194f2296472f67114.jpeg\")
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