St Kilda head coach Brett Ratten has announced that his side's major aim for their 2022 campaign remains to again play September football.
Ratten's declaration comes off the back of the Saints' slide from the finals after a perennially interrupted 2021 season.
Yet, with a re-energised group that is buoyed by their shared desperation to cease underachieving, the bar of making the eight has now been set publically.
Speaking toย News Corp,ย the chief steward at Linton Street was forthright in laying his cards on the table and explained that repeating his side's deeds from 2020 was the goal of the group.
"Weโve said it every year, even in my first year we hadnโt played finals for 10 years and we ended up playing finals. We didnโt play finals last year and the group is pretty disappointed, and thatโs staff as well," Ratten said.
"Thatโs our ambition, to play finals, there arenโt many teams that get there and thatโs where want to get to as a team."
As a club, St Kilda has, once again, become the current holders of the league's longest premiership drought following Melbourne's resounding grand final victory last season.
And while any lingering tastes of success earned by the class of '66 will be unfamiliar to those currently clad in red, white and black, Ratten has laid down the challenge for his charges to repeat the efforts of 'Stewy' [Ian Stewart], 'Cowboy' [Kevin Neale] and 'The Doc' [premiership skipper, Darrel Baldock].
With seasonal messages coming back into vogue following the release of 'The Last Dance' Netflix series which documented Michael Jordan's final season in Chicago, Ratten has channelled former Bulls' boss Phil Jackson with his own tag - 'why not us?'
"I think the โwhy not usโ is really about challenging the players to push themselves and get the utmost out of themselves," the former Carlton coach explained.
"We are trying make sure we are prepared the best we can be and have the opportunity to play the footy we want to as a team. Over the past two years I think weโve had a good snapshot that we can play some good footy.
"We understand if we are not switched on and ready to go, we can play poorly as well. So that was really the challenge to the group, โwhy canโt it be us?โ. Thereโs no ceiling or rules against it and we still didnโt have the year we wanted and won 10 games. It wasnโt a disaster. It just wasnโt what we wanted it to be."
Irrespective of the fact that the Saints have been forced to complete portions of their pre-season program away from their under-development, heartland home, the 50-year-old claimed his collective - including some new names - had done so with smiles on their dials.
"It has been really positive," Ratten said of the off-season period.
"I think the addition of Nick Walsh to be head of performance โ he has really made a big splash in that area and has been really impressive.
"Then you think of the Corey Enrights that have come in from Geelong to be a backline coach and Damien Carroll to be in that development space. I think those three have had a really good impact.
"But credit to the players, theyโve come back and some of the standards they have set in the time trials, skinfolds and some of the other things.
"Every club looks at them each year and most of the comments are that weโve gotten better but for us, it is actually true so to see the players are trying to be the best they can be. And thatโs all we can ask, if we can give ourselves a chance we will find out if we are good enough."
In spite of this optimism, 2022 will act as the final year on the dual All Australian's contract with the club.
Still, it's not something that the two-stint mentor is desperate to discuss.
"I just leave that up to my management and that," Ratten stated.
"I have a mentor now who comes into the club in Ernie Merrick who will come in this year. I have constant contact with Simon Lethlean, David Rath and 'Matty' Finnis, we talk constantly. So that will be ongoing and there wonโt be any rush with it.
"You donโt want to caught up with 'oh you are out of contract', yeah, you are [and] so are another few coaches. So, it is about what I do as a coach and how we go about things and thatโs what Iโm looking forward to."
Ratten and his haloed crew are currently scheduled to face Carlton and Essendon in pre-season contests across the next month, with their season proper commencing on Friday, March 18 when they take on Collingwood at Marvel Stadium.
