At a glance:

  • Brett Ratten says the club's recent injury blows have influenced the selection conversation for Round 11.
  • Hunter Clark, James Frawley, Shaun McKernan and Dean Kent have gone down with short-term setbacks, with three of the Saints' five changes this weekend forced through injury.
  • Luke Dunstan, Mason Wood, Nick Cofffield and debutant Oscar Clavarino come into the side to face North Melbourne.

Senior coach Brett Ratten says St Kilda's most recent injury blows have had a noticeable impact on the selection conversation for Round 11.

Hunter Clark (groin), James Frawley (shoulder), Shaun McKernan (toe) and Dean Kent (concussion) were all brought down during yesterday morning’s main training session, placing a strain on a side looking to respond after last week’s triple-figure defeat to the Western Bulldogs.

The Saints swung five changes ahead of Saturday's match with North Melbourne, with three forced through injury.

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10:54

'It's about being a consistent team': Ratten ahead of Round 11

Senior Coach Brett Ratten spoke to the media this morning ahead of our Round 11 clash against North Melbourne

 “It probably threw some of our plans out,” Ratten said at this morning’s press conference.

“The magnets yesterday afternoon got thrown around and we had to change a few things, but we went through that (based) on the best available group. We've got three out players outside of our emergencies available.

“There’s been conversations around people’s form and what they’ve done so far, and probably a little bit like our season it’s been inconsistent.

It’s easy to say ‘let’s just make all these changes’, but when we’re trying to win the game – which we want to do – and address that performance that we had, sometimes you give players the opportunity to respond.

- Brett Ratten

“Some of the players that we rely on or have relied on are in that space, so there’s been some harder conversations this week about making sure their performance is to the level, otherwise maybe they are on their last chance before they get put out of the team.”

Consistent VFL form from Luke Dunstan and Mason Wood have been rewarded with senior berths, while Nick Coffield has been recalled to join debutant Oscar Clavarino in defence.

Outside of this week’s emergencies, St Kilda has Category B ruckman Sam Alabakis, draftee Matthew Allison and second-year Saint Leo Connolly in reserve.

Bytel, Jack Lonie, Ben Long and Paul Hunter remain on standby for Round 11.

00:47

Clavarino earns his debut

Oscar Clavarino has worked his backside off to make the senior team. It only makes sense that S&C coach Steve, who has been there every step of the way, was the one to tell him he'd be making his debut.

Darragh Joyce (concussion) has also been added to the casualty ward, which includes Rowan Marshall (plantar fascia), Zak Jones (quad), Dan Hannebery (calf), Jade Gresham (Achilles, season), Ben Paton (leg, season) and Jake Carlisle (back, season).

Ratten says the Saints “dug a lot deeper” into why the club finds itself at a 4-6 tally after finishing fifth last season, with four of those defeats coming in excess of 50 points.

Both St Kilda and North Melbourne will be determined to bounce back this weekend after coming off respective drubbings in Round 10, the latter by 72 points at the hands of Essendon.

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“We’ve played some alright football this year, but when we’ve fallen away, we’ve fallen away badly,” Ratten said.

“We had those conversations over a few days, actually.

“It was a harder conversation, but for us to be a better team and a consistent team – and that’s what we’re after – we have to address this.”

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