St Kilda caretaker coach Brett Ratten has urged his players to ignore the hype around Lance Franklin’s milestone game and Sydney’s retiring stars to finish a disappointing AFL season on a high note.
Franklin’s 300th match and the retirements of Jarrad McVeigh, Kieren Jack and Nick Smith have hogged the headlines ahead of Saturday’s clash at the SCG.
But the game is no less important for the Saints and Ratten, who will get one last chance to push his case to become the club’s next senior coach.
“The last game – win, lose or draw – it’s just the way that you play because it can leave a bad taste in your mouth,” Ratten told reporters on Thursday.
“We want to finish strongly whether we win or maybe not get the points but play the way that we want to play.
“I think if we do that we’ll leave this season and move into 2020 with really good energy and a vision of where we want to go whether I’m the coach or not.
“… If we allow the commentary and the hype around (the Swans) to get into our thoughts and distract us then it will be an issue but we’ll just focus on what we can control and respectfully acknowledge those players.”
Ratten remains in the dark over his future, but believes he has put a good case forward to become the club’s next senior coach, guiding the team to three wins from his five games in charge.
He will make his final presentation to the coaching selection panel next week with a decision to follow soon after.
Ratten won’t have Jade Gresham at his disposal in Sydney after he failed to overcome an eye socket injury.
However, Dan Hannebery will play against his old side for the first time and Jack Steven will get the opportunity to bounce back from a flat performance in the loss to Carlton that followed his stellar return from a lengthy mental health break..
“He had a downer on the weekend but he’s a quality player and we’ll let him get back and do what he can do,” Ratten said.
“I think history shows there are a lot of players who have a down second week back and that was his.”
Former Blues defender Sam Rowe will play his 100th and final AFL game, with David Armitage also announcing his retirement after 169 games.