Publicly at least, St Kilda’s hierarchy is giving nothing away on the future of AFL senior coach Alan Richardson.
Publicity-shy president Andrew Bassat has addressed the issue this week in a Q-and-A with supporters, posted on the Saints website.
The first-year president said St Kilda are pleased with the extensive football department changes that were made after last year’s disastrous season, but they want to see more.
“Alan and his coaching group are to be commended for the way they have embraced change and adversity, and led our playing group through this,” Bassat said.
“Overall, our performances have been far more consistent, with a very visible and deliberate game-plan that allows us to match it with the best team conversations.
“Our expectations are high, and we must continue to be competitive, demonstrate improvement in team performance and development of our playing group.
This is what will underpin our future success and will remain the measuring stick for everyone at our football club.”
The Saints are 6-6 and their season is at the crossroads, with winnable games to come against Brisbane, Richmond and North Melbourne.
Bassat noted their shocking run with injury and illness so far this year and praised the team for its resilience.
“We have won every game we have played against sides currently sitting 10th-18th on the ladder and lost every game against sides 1-9, suggesting our 11th position on the ladder is a pretty fair representation of our season to date,” he said.
“We want to be challenging for flags and need to start regularly beating Top 8 sides for that to happen, but there are reasons to be optimistic for the future and proud of our performances to date.”
They had good news on Thursday with star utility Jack Billings re-signing for two years.
“All along, it was pretty clear and simple for me … I made my intentions pretty clear that I wanted to stay here,” Billings said.
Meanwhile, Bassat has revealed the Saints have made about $1 million out of their first Shanghai game.
While the trip was plagued by illness and their worst loss of the season, Bassat answered supporter scepticism about the three-year deal.
“From a pure football perspective, in a perfect world our preference would have been to play Port Adelaide at Marvel Stadium,” Bassat said.
“The total benefit to the club in the form of revenue and resources has surpassed $1 million.”
Bassat added playing in China was helping set up sponsorship opportunities for the club.