St Kilda has sacked head coach Brett Ratten after three seasons in charge of the AFL club, just months after signing him to an extension.
Key points:
- Brett Ratten signed a contract extension in July, but has been sacked after a club-wide review
- Saints president Andrew Bassat said the review found the team needs a “different style of leadership and a different voice”
- Chief executive Simon Lethlean said Ratten has “great respect” from the playing group
Ratten took over as caretaker coach midway through the 2019 season after Alan Richardson’s resignation and was handed the full-time job for the following year.
In his first full season in charge he led the Saints to sixth place, for their best finish since 2011, and their first finals win since reaching the 2010 grand final.
They finished the past two seasons in 10th spot, despite starting this year with five wins from their first six games.
After the strong start, Ratten extended his contract for two more years in July, which club president Andrew Bassat and chief executive Simon Lethlean both said was aimed at giving the coach and the team hopes of security going forward.
But the Saints’ results and performances dipped late in the season, with just three wins from their last 11 games.
“Early this year, we gave Brett assurances we would give him clarity mid-year,” Bassat said of the contract extension.
“If we have regrets about that, we cannot let those regrets get in the way of making decisions about the future of the club.”
After missing finals for a second straight year, the club also endured a quiet trade period, missing out in their pursuit of Collingwood star Jordan de Goey.
While acknowledging Ratten was not completely set up for success, Bassat said after a club-wide review it was decided they needed a “new style of leadership and voice”.
Lethlean and Bassat did not say whether they had a target in mind, and were unwilling to even say what qualities they were looking for in a new coach.
Bassat said Ratten “was pretty blindsided” and had a seven-hour meeting on Sunday night with club powerbrokers to try to convince them they were making the wrong call, but he was unable to do so.
“I don’t think Brett had any inkling,” Bassat said.
“The fact that we signed him to a new contract probably made that harder to see coming.”
Lethlean said Ratten still had “great respect” from the playing group but the team was not performing well enough on the field.
“We lack consistency, we lack our best players playing at their top level all the time,” Lethlean said.
Ratten’s previous head coaching role was from 2007 to 2012 with Carlton, the same club for which he played 255 games through the 90s and early 2000s.
After his time at Carlton ended, he joined Hawthorn as an assistant coach under Alastair Clarkson, winning premierships with the club from 2013 to 2015, before leaving to join St Kilda in 2018.
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