2020 St Kilda Football Club Season Review – Unpluggered Podcast
The last time the St Kilda Football Club had played an AFL Final was September, 2011.
Not anymore.
For the first time in almost a decade, the Saints won an AFL Finals clash, defeating the Western Bulldogs in an Elimination Final, before falling to Richmond – the eventual premiers – the following week.
While it was a disappointing end to the season, it was an exciting year for a young, developing football club, with plenty of lessons learned and still plenty of potential improvement to come.
The likes of Hunter Clark, Nick Coffield and Max King cemented their positions in the line-up weekly. Jack Steele proved himself one of the very best midfielders in the competition, with a maiden All Australian berth and a podium finish in the 2020 Brownlow Medal.
2019 trade ins – Paddy Ryder, Dougal Howard, Zak Jones and Dan Butler – had incredible debut seasons, while the most decorated newcomer – Bradley Hill – still has plenty to prove in 2021.
Brett Ratten and his coaching staff tinkered with the game plan from previous years, playing a more direct, offensive style of football. The Saints led the league in shots on goal from 0-25 metres, directly in front, for most of the season, which had another impact – directly improving the club’s goalkicking accuracy.
The Unpluggered Podcast team analyse ‘the season that was’ and finalise the winner of the ‘Unpluggered MVP’. An illuminating interview with St Kilda FC senior assistant coach, Aaron Hamill, is a highlight of the discussion.
Hamill – a former captain of the St Kilda Football Club – detailed what life was like for the team and staff in the club’s Noosa Hub, while also analysing some of the performances – good and bad – throughout the season, and where some of the improvement will come from to take the next step in 2020.
Listen to the interview with Aaron Hamill on the 2020 Season Review episode of Unpluggered Podcast below, and on Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
