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Sport Nation
The club captain Hodge believes must be deployed in a new role
Jaiden Sciberras • April 30th, 2025 10:35 am
St Kilda has struggled to find form in the midfield.
Within their last two contests, the Saints have amassed a concerning -39 in total clearances, finishing -21 against the Bulldogs followed by -18 against the Brisbane Lions.
The club made headlines over the weekend as young midfielder Hugo Garcia fell victim to an old-school spray at the hands of coach Ross Lyon.
While the issues on the inside track far beyond the club captain, Jack Steele caught the eye of Hawthorn legend Luke Hodge.
Steele’s performance against the Bulldogs left a lot to be desired, finishing with 16 disposals and just three clearances in the 71-point loss.
A 29-disposal, nine-clearance game against the Lions was a clear improvement, however with the engine room conceding an unacceptable 52 clearances, the attention falls on the captain’s back.
“I went back and watched a bit of Jack’s game,” Hodge told SEN’s Whateley.
“Some of the stuff he is doing is okay. He came into the AFL as that hard-nose tagger who will shut down someone, and then all of a sudden, he got a bit of freedom because he did it so well, he was able to find the ball.
“It looks like he is stuck in between. There were a few times that (the Lions) got goals from Jack either leaving or not manning up, little simple things that you’d expect guys to do, especially leaders.
“It just looks to me that he is second guessing himself. He is hesitating and as soon as you hesitate in a game against a team like the Brisbane Lions or Collingwood, or someone who wants to move the ball quickly, you get found out.
“Unfortunately, when your team is not going well, the focus does come onto you as the skipper. You can hide in a group when you’re winning and there’s a few other guys playing good footy, but when you’re losing the spotlight does shine on to you.”
Despite his struggle for form and the Saints’ evident lapses in midfield, Hodge believes there are stronger alternatives than to omit the captain of the club.
“I think there’s other ways to go before you drop a bloke like Steele because he is an energy person,” Hodge continued.
“I’d give him a simple role, whether it’s a high half-forward where he shuts down someone or whether it’s just a negating tag.
“He played on Lachie Neale; from what I saw on the weekend Lachie got his first goal coming off Steele. I’d go back and say don’t worry about getting the ball, he left him because he was ball hunting in the defensive 50.
“I’d be giving him a job to go and just shut down someone, I wouldn’t be dropping him. When he is full of confidence and has clarity of what his role is, he is good around the football club, and he is a good teammate if you hear a lot of what the St Kilda players are saying.
“I’d be giving him a purpose role and just say you go and stick this out for your side and prove that you deserve to stay in here.”
With a prime-time contest against Fremantle and the likes of Andrew Brayshaw and Caleb Serong awaiting, the Saints require a major response in the middle of the park to turn around their current three-game losing streak.
