BRETT Ratten could be a senior coach again, Alan Richardson believes.
Ratten has been brought in as part of an overhaul of St Kilda's coaching panel to assist Richardson in what looms as a defining season for him, under immense pressure to improve significantly after a four-win campaign.
Ratten was at the helm of Carlton for the final six games of 2007 up until the end of 2012, leading the Blues to finals in three of his last four seasons.
Since then, the Blues have taken part in September action just once – when they finished ninth on the ladder in 2013 but was promoted to the top eight after Essendon was disqualified as punishment for governance failures around its drugs scandal.
After his stint at the Carlton, Ratten spent six years at Hawthorn working under Alastair Clarkson, before moving to Moorabbin and being put in charge of the forward line.
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"If Ratts wanted to, yeah (he could coach)," Richardson told AFL.com.au.
"He's got a lot of really strong attributes.
"I was lucky enough to work with Ratts when he was a senior coach. He was very impressive.
"He's a terrific communicator. He's got really good balance. He can have a laugh with the lads when it's the right time and he can be quite challenging when it's the right time. He's a very enthusiastic person. We're rapt that he's with us."
Brett Ratten leading the forward line meeting. Picture: AFL Photos
Appointing Ratten and Brendon Lade (midfield coach) allowed Richardson to shift his focus away from the minutiae to concentrate on the bigger picture.
"What it's allowed me to do is be really, really trusting of those blokes," Richardson said.
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"The process is that we sit down, decide 'this is the way we're going to play', and then you just need to be able to trust that they're all over it, they're going to coach it really well, they're going to motivate, they're going to stimulate, they're going to challenge.
"You don't need to get as involved there and you can focus more on the overall welfare of the group, and I think that's been really beneficial."
Richardson also aimed to be less controlling in the 2018 pre-season.
"It's a challenge for coaches. I've heard Clarko for four or five years in a row say 'I don't want to be involved in every meeting' and yet, we (coaches) keep saying it," Richardson said.
"There's something in us that wants to be involved.
"I think it does give you a lot of comfort when the person has the experience and the runs on the board themselves, the people we've just spoken about, and then when you hear them present, you get another layer of comfort, 'yeah these guys are all over this'.
"I don't need to be sitting in every line meeting."
