The St Kilda footy club has been accused of being "just happy playing AFL" by former coach, Grant Thomas.
Thomas put the clubs' desire to strive for the top prize into question and called for a change in culture at the board level.
Thomas spoke on SEN Radio on Tuesday, โThere are two types of teams in the competition โ one thatโs in the premiership business and the others that are just sort of playing AFL,โ he said.
The 63-year-old's latest comments come in the wake of similar comments he made to St Kilda's unofficial podcast 'Unpluggered' in June.
During said interview, the former Saints player and steward claimed the Moorabbin-based club was โlittered with incompetency and bad decisionsโ.
Has there been a more polarising figure in the history of the @stkildafc than @Thomo_Grant?!
Like him or not, he loves our footy club like we all do, and he's always willing to chat on our show and share his experiences, views and opinions.#TogetherWeRise #Unpluggered
— Unpluggered Podcast ๐ดโชโซ (@unpluggered) October 19, 2021
The Saints had a lacklustre season in 2021, where their inconsistency in form saw them finish 10th.
โTheir best is finals, but the gap tells me that there is something wrong somewhere," Thomas added.
โYou donโt have wild fluctuations in performances unless thereโs something not quite right."
The Saints now hold the longest-running Premiership drought having not won the top prize since 1966.
โI canโt see us winning a premiership in the next year or two, and if we donโt win it in the next year or two, that listโฆ well where is it?" Thomas continued.
โThat means weโre another decade away and that doesnโt sit well with me.
โItโs achievable and you can do it, but youโve got to make hard decisions."
Thomas suggested that adding influential businessman Larry Benge to the board could help spark the culture change required to enter the premiership race.
Confusion has arisen as a result of the Saints quiet trade period where they missed out on North Ruckman Tristan Xerri. Fox Footy's Tom Morris told Trading Day the "confused" list strategy has only narrowed their small window of opportunity for premiership success.
โWhy are they going so heavily at the draft and not trying to bring players in to play finals next year?โ Morris said.
โBut you wouldโve thought if their list was as it was this year and didnโt play finals โ and didnโt really get close, letโs be honest โ then they should be trying to bring in established players rather than the draft picks if that is what their aim is.โ
