St Kilda head coach Brett Ratten does not believe his future hinges on the Saints making the top eight in the 2022 AFL campaign.
St Kilda are priced at 8/5 to make the eight after missing out on finals footy in 2021 and there is a bit of pressure on Ratten heading into the new campaign.
Out of contract
Ratten will be out of contract at the end of 2022 and it has been suggested he may not get a new one unless they play finals again this season.
Ratten was a big hit in his first year as coach in 2020 when he took the club back into the eight after a nine-year absence, but 2021 proved to be a disappointment.
Related St Kilda news
Steele to lead St Kilda in 2022
Following a slow start to the campaign they picked up 10 wins to finish 10th on the ladder and Ratten admits the season did not go to plan.
However he did have to contend with an injury list that robbed him of key players and he says a number of factors have to be taken into consideration, not just ladder position.
Finals the aim
"When you talk about trying to play finals, well we didn’t play finals for 10 years and in my first year we made finals and in my second year the expectation was to back it up.” he told Afl.com.au.
"There's a competition of 18 teams and you want to be in the top eight, you want to be in the top echelon. That’s the challenge each year and that's what we'll keep striving for each year.
"We won't shy away from playing finals at all; that's the carrot out there. I don’t see too many win the flag from outside the finals. That’s the end result, but it's how we go about it. That will probably determine whether I get a contract or not."
