ST KILDA has chosen not to sell a home game in 2023 as part of a wide range of findings unearthed in the club's external review, which led to the sudden termination of Brett Ratten's contract last month and the dramatic renovation of the football department at RSEA Park.
The Saints released the high-level summary and findings of the external review into its football operations on Friday afternoon, almost three weeks after the club appointed Ross Lyon to return as senior coach, 11 years after he departed for Fremantle.
The review identified the club had significant issues in the coaching department, which resulted in the decision to sack Ratten less than 100 days after he had been re-signed for two more seasons. The review found the Saints did not have the program in place to build a sustainable winning culture.
It also recognised the need to "minimise distractions" for the football department and signalled a "a strong football lens" will be applied to any future charitable cause games during the season.
The Saints drew plenty of heat earlier this year when they lost to Port Adelaide by a single point in wet conditions at Cazaly's Stadium in Cairns, having sold their home game to Far North Queensland. Having been 5-1 heading into the match with the Power, the result proved to be somewhat of a turning point in their season as they missed finals.
The club had also previously sold home games to New Zealand and China, but have a combined 0-6 record in Cairns, Wellington and Shanghai.
Under the watch of former CEO Matt Finnis, the Saints had also focused on bigger-picture issues that have made the club one of the more inclusive and in the AFL.
However, the review says on-field matters will now take precedent.
"The Review highlighted that we should continue to sharpen our focus on football, minimise distractions to the Football Program and maximise support. In particular, we have decided not to sell a home game in 2023 and to apply a strong football lens to any cause games we consider undertaking," the review said.
It remains to be seen what the new direction will mean for fixtures like the annual Maddie's Match, Spud's Game and Pride Game.
St Kilda's list management strategy has also been a point of scrutiny following some recent hits and misses, but an external assessment found that the age profile of the list is a positive, with many key players not yet in their prime.
However, the review added the club does need to improve its top-end talent, and flagged there would be some short-term pain as part of a rebuild.
"The Review found that we did not have the platform needed to support a sustainable winning culture and that significant change was needed in the Football Department, and more broadly in the Club, to address concerns with the processes and fundamentals of our Football Program," the summary read.
"Moving forward, we are determined to focus much more on building the team, gameplan and culture to contend over time, even if this does make the short-term more difficult for us."
In addition to the recent appointment of Lyon, St Kilda has already added veteran football administrator Geoff Walsh as executive head of football to sit over David Rath and James Gallagher to lead football operations, following Simon Lethlean's move to the CEO's office.
After signing Lyon two months after favourite son Lenny Hayes decided to return to Moorabbin as midfield coach, the Saints have since secured the services of games record holder Robert Harvey as an assistant coach, two-time All-Australian Brendon Goddard as a development coach and convinced highly-rated high performance manager David Misson to return to the club.
The review indicated that St Kilda requires stronger leadership to implement higher standards, expectations and non-negotiables to help put the club on a path to an elusive second premiership.
"The decision of the Board that followed, to part ways with Brett Ratten as Senior Coach, was a heartbreaking one for the Board given his character and commitment to our Club. But, at the end of the day, our duty was clear and we needed to put the interests of the Club ahead of that of the individual," the review said.
St Kilda CEO Andrew Bassat led the external review along with Lethlean, former North Melbourne coach David Noble, football director Jason Blake and board members Russell Caplan and Dean Anderson, while former North Melbourne list manager Glenn Luff conducted an independent assessment of the current playing list and list management performance.
"The Review found that we had much to do, and needed significant change to build these foundations," Bassat wrote to St Kilda members.
"You will see from the staffing appointments already announced that we are moving aggressively to implement the review's findings.
"The board and management now have a very clear shared view of what needs to be done to ensure success and a firm resolve to deliver on it. I am now more optimistic than ever about the future of our club."
