Dear Saints Members and supporters,
I hope this note finds you well.
It is my pleasure to be writing to you this morning to confirm that the club has finalised a two-year contract extension for Brett Ratten as Senior Coach of our AFL team.
As the leader of our men’s program, Brett has secured significant buy-in from his fellow coaches, staff and players alike. In addition to his strong football IQ, our players appreciate his ability to develop strong relationships, which he uses as a foundation to challenge each individual to get better and to deliver their role for the team. This balance, and the ability to unite his coaches, players and staff in a relentless quest for excellence makes Brett the best person to lead us towards our much longed-for second premiership.
We have seen Brett adapt and grow since assuming the position of Senior Coach ahead of the 2020 season. His re-entry into the senior coaching chair has not been easy, tackling two years of COVID interruptions, hub life and the unavailability of players and staff through injury and illness. However, his focus on the continual improvement of not only our players, but his fellow staff and himself has been ever-present.
Over the past four years, changes to our men’s football program have been steady and purposeful. This focus on growth and sustained development will remain at the core of our decision making, now bolstered by a senior coach three years into his journey with the club.
We will continue to be bold and aggressive in our list management decisions via all avenues available to us – trade, free agency and the Draft. In this pursuit, we have brought in some talented players from other clubs – Howard, Hill, Butler, Jones, Crouch and Higgins, to name a few – and look to have found some emerging talent in last year’s Draft – Wanganeen-Milera, Windhager and Owens.
We have invested in our off-field personnel - most recently Damian Carroll as Head of Development, Nick Walsh as Head of Conditioning and Corey Enright as a Senior Assistant Coach - to reinforce the development and levels of professionalism we require. We want our leaders to drive standards on and off the field, making sure our opponents know that every time they face the Saints, they have their work cut out for them.
Our club hasn’t always been in a position to completely focus on and fully invest in football for myriad of reasons. That is no longer the case. Our record membership and sponsorship levels have strengthened our off-field position, and by the end of the year we expect to have halved the club’s historical debt. This all coincides with the establishment of the Danny Frawley Centre back at our spiritual home of Moorabbin at RSEA Park.
We must be unrelenting and embrace each day as a chance to improve. Brett exemplifies this urgency daily, not only through his coaching, but through the transparent and authentic way he draws the best out of those around him. His genuine belief and deep understanding of where we all want this club to go is clear in each decision he makes, and even more so by the way he brings others along with him.
We know this journey won’t be linear. There will be bumps along the way – like our disappointing performances against Essendon and Sydney recently. There will be times when it seems too hard. There will be instances where others will doubt us and our decisions. But, we believe that we are on the right path and with the right people in the key roles to drive this club forward.
Brett and his family embody the spirit of the Saints, and I am proud to have him leading us forward.
Go Saints.
Andrew Bassat.
