Bradley Hill says the Saints’ playing group as a whole needs to take “more of a role” in correcting their scratchy form to-date in order to return to the style of play they have trained.
Hill, into his 13th season at the highest level and fifth at the Saints, has been one of his side’s most consistent performers this season, however it’s been a season of inconsistency for Ross Lyon’s troops after nine rounds.
Euro-Yroke - the Boon Wurrung translation of ‘St Kilda’ for Sir Doug Nicholls Round which the club will use over the next fortnight - sits with a 3-6 ledger following Saturday’s five-point loss to Hawthorn, with wins against Collingwood, Richmond and North Melbourne punctuating a series of varying losses which has the side sitting in 14th on the ladder.
Hill says he and the club’s senior players in particular need to take greater accountability and shoulder more responsibility for the on-field outcomes to shake off the “frustration” and form of the past month.
“There’s probably been a little bit of frustration throughout the year… (we’ve been) very inconsistent with how we’re playing,” Hill said at the Sir Doug Nicholls Round launch at the MCG.
“I think our ball movement has been a little bit frustrating and a little bit stagnant, and it’s not the way that we want to play.
“We’ve definitely got to fix it and it starts with us as players. That’s not the way we’ve been trained to play, so it’s a little bit frustrating.
“I feel like Ross has taken a lot of that blame, and us as players definitely have got to have a bit more of a role there. Especially as older players, we know the way we want to play; we train it, we review it, we have meetings, so we need to be better as players out there.”
Hill’s leadership is on track to continue in Saints colours for several seasons yet as he closes in is closing in on a new contract extension.
Within the next three weeks, Hill is expected to surpass the 95 games he registered in Hawks colours and officially see the bulk of his career take place in red, white and black.
“There’s been talks, I’m not sure how much has come out but there’s been talks to extend. I definitely want to play out my career at St Kilda,” Hill said.
“It’s all just getting it signed off and what-not. I’m letting my manager do all his stuff, but on my end as long as we get it all ticked off and approved, I’ll be at St Kilda. I don’t want to go anywhere else… I’ve been at a few clubs!
Euro-Yroke will host Walyalup (Fremantle) this Saturday night at Marvel Stadium in the opening week of Sir Doug Nicholls Round, with a contest against Narrm (Melbourne) the following week to help close out the fortnight.
The Saints are one of six clubs to adopt an First Nations name for Sir Doug Nicholls Round, also adopting two guernseys — a home and away variant — as the league comes together to celebrate and acknowledge the contributions of First Nations people.
“I reckon early on, I don’t think a lot of people had a great understanding but as it’s gone on it’s got bigger. Everyone has a better understanding now and knows a lot about our history and our culture,” Hill said.
“I think it’s going to keep on growing. AFL has been behind it and been a big driving force with these rounds and how big it’s getting now.
“It’s definitely growing and hopefully this keeps going like that.”
