Chief operating officer Simon Lethlean fronted the media on Monday to accept full responsibility for the list rebuild,and to ease the pressure on coach Brett Ratten.
Bassat later also attempted to defuse supporter unrest in a letter to members,declaring the Saints were not in genuine premiership contention despite fielding the third-oldest side in the competition last weekened.
He even suggested last season’s effort,when the Saints finished sixth during hub life in Queensland,may not have been what it had seemed.
“Reflecting now,we can appreciate that the circumstances of the previous season impacted us favourably,” Bassatt said.
“We had a good run with injury until later in the year and adapted to hub life better than some others. We knew that with our list profile we would need to be patient to be competitive every week against the better sides and that our genuine window would more likely start in 2022 than 2021.
“We need to be able to turn it around when things are not going our way and our backs are against the wall. We need to find a way to address this,both with short-term solutions and a long-term plan.”