Saints see Richardson as man for long term
ALAN Richardson is on track for an early contract extension as a key show of faith from St Kilda’s powerbrokers.
The fourth-year coach is yet to lift St Kilda into the finals but has been methodically building a list towards a premiership window.
St Kilda chief executive Matt Finnis confirmed yesterday the club would soon start discussions with Richardson’s management.
He is contracted until the end of 2018 but with the Saints adamant he is their man he will not go into next year without more security.
Despite setbacks like last week’s horror last-minute loss to Port Adelaide, Richardson has proved an unflappable and impressive figure.
If Richardson could take St Kilda into its first finals series since 2011 it would be the perfect launch pad for what the club hopes is an era of success.
Finnis said yesterday the Saints would not be hurried with the extension but were on the same page as Richardson.
“It is certainly on our mind and we are very confident Richo is our man for the long term,’’ he said.
“We know it’s just a matter of what is the right time to have that conversation and what that starts to look like going forward.
“They are all conversations to have internally and at the right time we will do those.”
North Melbourne seems certain to offer Brad Scott a contract extension at year’s end but Roos chairman Ben Buckley refused to confirm it yesterday.
“You’ve got to look at the circumstances, Brad’s contracted. If we decided to have a discussion with him about the future beyond next year, well, that’s something we’ll consider at the end of the year,” Buckley told SEN Radio.
“He’s been doing a really good job and we’ve been happy with the performance of the team this year.
“We’ll sit down at the end of the year and start to review not only next year but the years ahead, and I’m sure at that point in time we’ll have some discussion about the coach’s position.
Buckley confirmed News Corp’s report that the club was keen to secure Ben Brown past his contract for 2018.