The next year or two will be crucial in the future of the St Kilda Football Club.
The Saints started the 2023 season impressively under Ross Lyon, winning their first four games, but have lost six of their last 10 including two defeats on the trot.
Lyon’s side remains fifth on the ladder but is now precariously placed given the glut of teams below them looking for a pathway into the top eight.
For the club to genuinely contend, David King believes some hard calls must be made in terms of the makeup of the playing list.
King feels the current Saints list is perfect if the club wants to be around the mark, but insists significant changes need to be made if a premiership is on the agenda.
“They need more game-separating talent. That’s the bottom line, to win big finals,” King said on SEN’s Whateley.
“You can set it up to finish fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth. That’s fine, and if you’re happy to do that and roll on, no problem, you’ve got that list now.
“You’ll add a first-round draft pick every year and you can hover in that existence for a decade. Ross is not there to be there for a decade. He’s there to get them back to the pointy end of the competition and that’s finishing top four.
“If you look at their draft, I think they’ve done some really good things the last couple of years. Mattaes Phillipou is going to be an absolute ripper, he’s going to be a top-liner in our competition.
“Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera is going to be a ripper, Mitch Owens, (Marcus) Windhager, they’ve stacked three in a row there. It gives you a real chance when you start to block them (draftees) together like that.
“Over the last short term they’ve got it right and it gives them some flexibility. If they can fatten a few pigs and get high picks from other clubs with some talent that they’ll come for.
“They may have to make some hard calls on guys that you just naturally think are going to be there for the long term.
King asked Gerard Whateley what an expected timeline would look like for the Saints in terms of contending for a flag.
King asked: “So when are they going to win it? When do you think St Kilda are in the window?”
Whateley replied: “2026 which is I reckon what they started to talk about gently coming into the season.”
King continued: “So the guys that are 27, 28-plus, it brings a few in.
“It forces you to make calls on guys that are going to start next year at 28.”
King floated the name of Rowan Marshall.
While he rates Marshall as a footballer, King feels he is the type of player the Saints could part ways with if they want to seriously boost their bank of youngsters for a tilt at success down the track.
King added: “I’ll throw a name up. Is Rowan Marshall absolutely taking you there? St Kilda fans will be saying ‘we love Rowan Marshall’. We all love Rowan Marshall, but is he absolutely taking you there?
“Or is it time to grab something for him now? Or do you wait until the West Coast scenario where it’s just too late and you get nothing for a Jeremy McGovern?
“They’re the sorts of decisions we’re talking about.
“I’m not just targeting Rowan Marshall. I’m saying that player at that age with some cachet at the moment.
“They might say he’s an untouchable, and that’s fine, but they’re the sorts of calls that are (for) this year. Ross Lyon would be sitting back saying, ‘Let’s talk about this bloke’. Honest, hard conversations that they have put Ross Lyon in this chair to make.
“The list is not good enough for top four. You can’t just improve and go past those in front of you with one selection in front of the team that is fourth, two selections in front of the team that is third. You’ve got to find a way to grab extra first-rounders or elevated picks or trade smart or get a free agent.
“They’re in for every free agent that is up at the moment. We hear a lot of conversation. They’ve got to land another one that doesn’t impact your draft hand.
“Those sorts of off-season smarts are what Ross Lyon is there to achieve in the short term.”
The Saints own a record of 8-6 so far this season.
They’ll look to further establish themselves in the top eight when they take on the lowly West Coast at Optus Stadium on Sunday evening.