Ratten set to be announced as St Kilda's senior coach
A St Kilda board meeting on Thursday night was expected to ratify the appointment of caretaker coach Brett Ratten as senior coach for next year and beyond.
While Ratten had not been told he had the job earlier on Thursday – prior to the board meeting – multiple sources within the club viewed his appointment as inevitable. An announcement was expected on Friday.
Ratten's anticipated appointment means he will be the third caretaker coach to win the senior coaching job in the course of a remarkable 2019 for the coaching fraternity, following the hiring of David Teague and Rhyce Shaw at Carlton and North Melbourne.
The Saints had told their former champion, Collingwood assistant Robert Harvey in recent days that he would not coach the club, paving the way for Ratten's return to senior coaching.
Ratten did his final in-depth presentation to St Kilda's coaching subcommittee on Thursday last week.
St Kilda also spoke to Collingwood assistant coach Justin Longmuir, who, unlike Harvey, did not make a full presentation. Ex-North Melbourne coach Brad Scott appeared to have ruled himself out, with suggestions he could land a job at the AFL.
Harvey was one of few known candidates for the St Kilda coaching position, which has been viewed as a near lock for Ratten since the late rounds of this season, given the strong support theSt Kilda caretaker has received internally from players and staff.
Within St Kilda, there has been a view that Ratten was the clear frontrunner for some time, the former Carlton coach and Hawthorn assistant having joined the Saints at the behest of football boss and ex-AFL football operations chief Simon Lethlean.
Lethlean brought Ratten and Brendon Lade into the coaching panel to support the since-departed Alan Richardson, who had little hope of keeping his job this year, given the club had not played finals in his five previous seasons.
Ratten was controversially sacked by the Blues in 2012 following an 11-win season, three previous finals appearances and a winning percentage of 53.
Ratten's appointment leaves Fremantle still seeking a coach. Longmuir is viewed as the frontunner for that job, although the Dockers have some distance to travel in their process for finding their next coach to replace Ross Lyon, who was sacked with a year to run on his contract, becoming the fourth coach to exit his club during 2019.