Blessing in disguise: The Saint stacking up career-highs in Nasiah's absence

St Kilda superstar Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera is set to miss a further two weeks with a calf complaint… an injury that could be a blessing in disguise for one player in particular.

The star midfielder was a late withdrawal in the Saints’ Round 9 clash with the Gold Coast, missing the Darwin clash and remaining out of the side in St Kilda’s win over Richmond in Round 10.

Expected to be absent for at least another fortnight, Champion Data has suggested that there is no need to fret the void of their superstar.

While the side is obviously far better with Nasiah in the team, Champion Data’s Daniel Hoyne has suggested that Wanganeen-Milera’s absence opened up an opportunity in the midfield for another of the club’s top talents in Max Hall – a move that could be influential for the club moving forward.

“When Brett Deledio left Richmond, Buddy Franklin left Hawthorn, Gary Ablett Jnr left Geelong and Patrick Dangerfield left Adelaide – their footy clubs were all fine,” Hoyne told SEN Sportsday.

“A few of them went on to win flags, Adelaide went on to make a Grand Final, they were okay. I think the same can be said from an individual sense.

“When Callum Mills goes down with injury last year, it was a blessing in disguise for Isaac Heeney to then get those midfield minutes, and Isaac Heeney has not looked back for two and a half years.

“Errol Gulden goes down in Round 1; Justin McInerney has pretty much played permanent midfield time since. He is not going to go out of that midfield mix, even when Errol comes back.

“Think back to last year; Lachie Neale goes down towards the back end of the year. Brisbane then has a look at Zac Bailey as a centre bounce midfielder. He has played more centre bounce time as a result.

“You go back a couple of years with Brisbane, Keidean Coleman goes down in Round 1 of 2024, and it was considered disastrous. Little did you know that Dayne Zorko was now going to be one of the great half-back flankers that the game has seen.

“You think back to five years ago, Patrick Dangerfield goes down for a five- or six-week period in Geelong’s 2022 campaign, and they’re short on midfielders. Let’s have a look at Tom Atkins in the midfield. Tom Atkins has played midfield permanently ever since and has been integral to what they do.

“Why am I talking about this? I think Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera going down for St Kilda has potentially unlocked Max Hall now to be the next permanent midfielder.”

Against the Suns in Wanganeen-Milera's absence, Max Hall tallied a season-high 52 per cent centre bounce attendance rate, finishing the contest with 23 disposals, nine marks, seven score involvements, five clearances and a goal.

The week following, Hall bettered his centre bounce tally with 65 per cent against Richmond - the highest in his AFL career so far - shining with 26 disposals, 10 score involvements, seven clearances, five marks and two goals.

If this move becomes a more prominent feature of the Saints' game, it presents as a highly exciting prospect for the future of the club's core unit.

“We have always rated him reasonably highly – he had a bit of a flat patch for about a four- or five-week period,” Hoyne continued.

“When he is involved in a clearance chain, not the starter, but when he is involved, St Kilda is scoring 40 per cent of the time. No one has a greater return in the competition than that.

“If you’re a St Kilda supporter looking at Nas going down – and I’m not for one second saying that you want Nasiah out – but now, you can look at this midfield group coming through. This is another two years away until they are properly challenging but look at this midfield group.

“Charlie Banfield plays his first game on the weekend; he is only an 18-year-old. Then you’ve got Darcy Wilson, Mattaes Phillipou and Hugo Garcia – all 21.

“Then you’ve got Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera and Marcus Windhager who are 23. If you add Hall in, he is 24. There’s six of them that are all under the age of 24.

“Look at what Freo have done. Freo have taken a bit of time to get there. It takes a little bit of time. But I think if you persist with this, persist with Max Hall as a midfielder, that group can just come together.

“This might only be 30 games, 40 games away from seriously being potentially where Freo are right now. You’re not there just yet, but you might be building towards that in another 30-40 games time.”

The Saints head to Perth to face Fremantle this Friday night, with Nasiah also expected to miss the club’s clash with Hawthorn in Round 12.