St Kilda confident in depth after ‘disappointing’ AFL Tribunal ruling

St Kilda’s stand-in senior coach, Brendon Lade, admits it is “disappointing” the AFL Tribunal upheld Paddy Ryder’s two-match suspension, but says he’s confident the Saints have the depth to cover for the ruckman’s absence.

Ryder’s bump on Hawthorn’s Will Day was assessed as “Careless Conduct, High Impact, High Contact” by the match review officer, who slapped the Saints veteran with a two-match ban.

St Kilda opted to challenge the penalty but was unsuccessful and the AFL Tribunal upheld the original sanction.

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Ryder is unavailable for upcoming clashes with the Gold Coast Suns and Greater Western Sydney Giants, both of which the Saints must win to prove their 3-1 start to the season hasn’t been a fluke.

Filling in for Brett Ratten, who has been ruled out through the AFL’s Covid-19 protocols, Lade said the side would miss Ryder.

“It’s disappointing, obviously; two weeks is going to be a long time without Paddy,” said Lade.

Lade said Ryder was likely to be replaced by one of two players.

Jack Hayes played in St Kilda’s first three games of the season, kicking three goals on debut against Collingwood in round one, before missing last week’s win over Hawthorn.

VFL Premiership player Tom Campbell is also considered a chance to line up against the Suns.

“We have Jack Hayes, who was probably unlucky to go out of our side a couple of weeks ago,” said Lade.

“We had Tom Campbell win Player Of The Week last week in the VFL. We have a couple of options there to bring into the side. We’re pretty confident we can fill (Ryder’s) shoes.”

Lade said he was “really looking forward” to making his senior coaching debut against the Suns on Saturday.

“It’s something a bit different; I haven’t done it in a real AFL game yet,” he said.

“It’s just a good experience and I’m really excited for the opportunity. Hopefully I can get the boys up and we can have a win.”

Lade said Ratten would be making his presence felt from afar and that the coaching staff would “call the shots” together.

“I’m sure ‘Rats’ will still have some input from home. I’m just the face at the moment,” he said.

“We’ll collaborate on all the decisions and come to a consensus and get that out.”