3 minute read

St Kilda's golden run to finals last year papered over some underlying issues at the struggling AFL club, Saints chief executive Matt Finnis says.

St Kilda chief executive Matt Finnis believes the Saints' horror AFL season has exposed some concerning issues at the under-performing club.

At 5-8, the Saints' ambitions of backing up their first finals appearance in nine years are all but over.

St Kilda appeared to be a team on the rise after defeating the Western Bulldogs in an elimination final last year but have been a shadow of that firing unit with key players on the sideline.

Rowan Marshall, Zak Jones, Jade Gresham, Jarryn Geary have all missed extended periods because of injury, while key duo Tim Membrey and Seb Ross sat out last Saturday night's devastating loss against Adelaide due to family reasons.

Finnis said the club's hierarchy was already reviewing what has gone wrong in 2021.

"I think last year was a unique year and when I reflect on that, I'm really proud that it seems we were able to handle the year better than some other clubs," he told SEN.

"There would have been a whole range of circumstances behind that, including the fact we had a pretty good run with player availability (up until the semi-finals).

"So what that means when you come into this year is the player availability challenges we've had have exposed some of the underlying issues that were probably already there, we just hadn't addressed them to the extent that we need."

Already reeling from giving up a 36-point lead against the Crows, the club's handling of family issues involving Membrey and Ross has also come under question this week.

Dual best-and-fairest winner Ross flew back to Victoria to be with his wife Marnie, who last month gave birth to twins.

Leading goalkicker Membrey also left the Saints' Hub in Sydney to return to Melbourne to support heavily pregnant wife Emily.

A Footy Classified report on Monday night detailed some alleged frustration leaders at St Kilda had expressed about Ross and Membrey missing the game.

"Like any organisation that's in a highly competitive industry, we debate these decisions," Finnis said.

"But once decisions are made, we get behind the players and we give them our support and we get on with our business.

"What we did was to check if there's anything more that the club could do to help the guys feel support.

"We'll always put family first and they'll be supported with those decisions.

"You can be disappointed, but you can be understanding. I don't think emotions are mutually exclusive."