Culture Crumbling

Could the club leadership at St. Kilda make it any harder on players and fans to find something to cling to?  It seems not.

Their coach of two years is gone, in a bizarre, soap-opera-esque charade that has defined the club since the end of the 2013 season.

So, what's going on?  Well, start with almost a decade of very poor list management, with almost no high profile draft picks (thanks, Lyon).  Then add a seeming inability to hold on to mid-career talent (Ball and Goddard come to mind).  Then mix in the departure of two well-loved, high-caliber players (see: Dal Santo and McEvoy).  Spread this on a team full of inexperienced youngsters who seem to be taking their time reaching their potential (hello Milera, Stanley, Siposs, Maister, Dennis-Lane, Markworth, and others), and a few aging stars who will not be able to carry this group much longer, if at all (Hayes and Reiwoldt).  Finish with a sprinkle of off-field drama (Saad, Milne, and Jones).  And you've got yourself a recipe for disaster.

So what are the ramifications?  First and foremost, the playing group is in disarray, preparing for a trip to Colorado and months of adjusting to new players and a new system.  Secondly, the club will probably have to give away memberships to fill the stands.
But the biggest problem is the disintegration of the club culture.

Positive club culture is essential for sustainable success.  There has to be something for fans and players to believe in, something for them to get behind.  It's what makes great players stay.  It's what makes people want to buy a membership.  It's what makes young players dream of playing at the club.  And it's what leads to great on-field chemistry and, ultimately, victories.

They've got very little to offer right now.  Fans are confused.  Players are worried.  The management is apparently angry and ready to throw out anyone they think is part of the problem.  It's certainly possible that Watters was not all that great as a coach.  And it's possible the Saints will benefit from the trades made this year.  But when it feels like no one can trust anyone else, no one performs well and those who can get out do so at first opportunity.  Remember those players at other clubs who said they wanted to trade to St. Kilda?  They may have been excited to play for Watters, or at least saw something good going on there.  I would be surprised if they still feel the same.

American sports have always been, to me, the model of everything that's wrong with big-time pro sports: no loyalty to anything but money, big egos controlling everything, huge rows between club owners and the city where they play; about the only thing more disgusting is Euro soccer's practice of "loaning" players to other clubs.  But it seems the AFL and its clubs are trying to emulate this dysfunctional state of affairs.

If the AFL doesn't get a grip on how to manage free agency and St. Kilda doesn't figure out what they stand for, things are not going to improve.  And my guess is the current Board of Directors at this club will not be able to sort this out.