I THINK Ross Lyon deserves the opportunity to rebuild the St Kilda list.
 
Contracted until the end of 2012, the fact remains he has taken this current group to the past two Grand Finals and came within a bounce of claiming an elusive premiership.
 
To move on the coach now or anytime in the next 18 months would be the easy option and would continue St Kilda’s history of preferring to sack its coaches rather than persevere.
 
The Saints should continue to provide every available resource to Lyon and his coaching panel, as he begins the process of reconstructing the list.
 
Lyon has a number of difficult decisions ahead of him.
 
In the short term, he must pick teams that only include players who are willing to make the necessary sacrifices required to play AFL football on a weekly basis. Anything less than this should not be tolerated.
 
Names and reputations should not guarantee selection. If senior players are not delivering to the standards expected, they should not be given preferential treatment.
 
A coach’s primary responsibility is to coach and make decisions that are in the best interests of the team and club.
 
Therefore, Lyon should bite the bullet and use the remainder of the season to expose the likes of Arryn Siposs, Jamie Cripps, Rhys Stanley, Tom Lynch, Tom Ledger, Nicholas Heyne, Nicholas Winmar and Daniel Archer.
 
These players have been starved of opportunities because of the strength of the St Kilda teams from the past two years.
 
But Lyon needs to make informed decisions about which players will help him take the club forward and those decisions can't be made when the potential future of the club is playing for Sandringham in the VFL.
 
The challenge Lyon faces if he adopts this strategy is the potential fallout out with senior players who make way for younger options.
 
No player likes to be dropped, especially a senior player.
 
Your ego takes a hit, it’s embarrassing. You feel let down by the coach and you can find many reasons why you should be playing and someone else should be dropped.
 
But the fact remains, the coach has to do what is in the best interests of the club and any collateral damage from such decisions is the price the Saints have to be willing to pay in order to start the long road back.
 
Lyon has been well served by his experienced players in his four years at the club but the time has come for some of these players to make way for the next generation.
 
David Armitage, Steven Baker, Jason Blake, Raphael Clarke, Zac Dawson, Sean Dempster, Ryan Gamble, Michael Gardiner, Brett Peake, Dean Polo, Jason Gram, Clint Jones, Justin Koschitzke and Andrew McQualter have all had varying degrees of opportunities but won’t be a part of St Kilda’s next successful period.
 
Identifying which players to move on at season's end is matched by the need to begin narrowing in on the type of player Lyon needs to get to the club.
 
The Sydney Swans have shown it's not necessary for a club to bottom out to begin the rebuilding process.
 
After their success in 2005 and narrow loss in 2006, many people predicted the Swans were destined to slide down the ladder.
 
But under Paul Roos and Lyon, the Swans carefully went about identifying and then recruiting players from other clubs to provide experience, while at the same time complementing their draft selections.
 
Shane Mumford, Mark Seaby, Rhys Shaw, Marty Mattner, Josh Kennedy, Ben McGlynn, Ted Richards and Andrejs Everitt have all made significant contributions to the Swans.
 
The recruitment of these carefully selected players has allowed the likes of Lewis Jetta, Gary Rohan, Sam Reid, Jarred Moore, Craig Bird, and Nick Smith to begin to establish their own careers without the added pressure of immediate results.
 
Collingwood have followed a similar model. Leigh Brown, Darren Jolly, Luke Ball, Simon Buckley and, more recently, Chris Tarrant and Andrew Krakouer, have been recruited to fill specific positions to great affect.
 
At the same time, the Magpies have complemented these experienced, hardened players with their draftees Dayne Beams, Jarryd Blair, Brent Macaffer and Steele Sidebottom.
 
Lyon should be blooding as many of the Saints younger players as possible, even if that means sacrificing wins.
 
At the same time he should be compiling a short list of players at other clubs that can fill specific roles.
 
St Kilda should be targeting the following players who are coming off contract at the end of this year, for specific roles: Taylor Walker, Callan Ward, Jordan Lewis.

Walker would help ease the unhealthy reliance on Nick Reiwoldt. Ward and Lewis would help transition the Saints for life after Lenny Hayes.
 
The Saints should also make a big play for Daniel Merrett and Jack Darling, who both come out of contract at the end of 2012.
 
Nick Dal Santo, James Gwilt, Jason Gram, Justin Koschitzke, Farren Ray and Adam Schnieder are players who should be put on the table come trade week.
 
St Kilda looks tired, old and in need of an urgent overhaul.
 
Rather than wait until season's end, Ross Lyon should summon the same courage he played the game with and begin to reconstruct his list by making tough decisions now.