One hundred thousand screaming fans on the edge of their seats as they had never been before. The sun on that perfect day, on the 25th of September 2010, was just starting to lose its edge when Adam Schnieder's awkward hand pass to St Kilda champion Lenny Hayes put him under pressure, forcing him to hurry a kick to the top of the square, city end of the MCG. Brendan Goddard, like he had all day, rose to heights greater then he ever had before, greater than most men on the last Saturday of September. Using Harry O'Brien as his platform to immortality and with ex-Saint Captain and great in waiting Luke Ball trailing in behind him, it seemed the perfect backdrop to the moment every Saint's fan had been waiting for their whole lives. The moment the Saints would finally come in from the cold, a moment that seemed destined a year earlier when the Saints came within eighteen points of the perfect season, the moment that had been building for ten years.
If only we could stay there in that moment because what has happened since is as heartbreaking, amusing and sadly as consistent with the St Kilda Football Club as anything in their one hundred plus year existence.
Goddard had to come down to earth and his downward trajectory continued in spirit. Although he kicked the goal, a ball got through to Travis Cloke that allowed him to kick the easiest of replies, and of course the cruelest of bounces to Stephen Milne. A bounce that if the football Gods had any sense of empathy, any sense of occasion, any sense of redemption, would have allowed to bounce in a direction at least away from the goals, not at a 90 degree angle between the goal and point post.
What came next? The smother of the century, a certain delusional and severely emotionally impaired schoolgirl, young men doing what young men do on a pre-season trip to New Zealand and an absolute horror first 10 rounds of the 2011 season. Culminating in a coach obviously with an eye on St Kilda's track record of trigger happy, finger pointing at coaches when things go bad. St Kilda's golden era is finally over. Once again there is financial trouble, no coach, an ageing core group of players, and no obvious successors in sight. Just like 10 years ago. Right?
How did we get to this point? This was supposed to be the group of players that would bring St Kilda supporters to the gates where the patrons of the name of the club originate. Their was a pact between the players to stick together until they had achieved that illusive goal but Luke Ball has a premiership medallion and Matt Maguire toils for the Brisbane Lions.
Saints fans would be fine with the apparently set in stone fact, ten years of pain to come, if one of the four flags within reach in the last ten years was won. But they were not, they where lost, most spectacularly in all four cases. One with Brent Guerra's missed soccer in the dying seconds against Port Adelaide. Two with Barry Hall's punch to the midriff of Matt Maguire and O'Keefe's tearing apart of the game in the last quarter. Three with Matthew Scarlett's toe poke and Chapman's heroics (also a blatant poster by Tom Hawkins that stunningly is almost never mentioned), and the fourth we have already covered.
Yes, there has been bad luck, Aaron Hammill would have made a huge difference in the finals series of 04 and 05, but there has also been huge mistakes.
Contemplate that Luke Ball was not deemed good enough by Ross Lyon, yet in the following years Grand Final played against Ball's Magpies, Robert Eddy, Andrew Mcqaulter, Farren Ray and Brett Peake were. It is true Collingwood have done a wonderful job of fixing Ball's physical problems, seemingly the main reason for Ball's departure was his lack of speed and running power, but I have never seen Andrew McQualter or Robert Eddy break open a game with their electrifying speed. It doesn't matter how good a coach Ross Lyon is, and he is as good as they get, that is a mind boggling mistake. Especially since St Kilda lost Ball to the Magpies for nothing, when Ball was desperate to get a trade done, and what was on offer was Sharrod Wellingham (recently called the most underrated player in the game by Mark Williams).
The class, grace and sportsmanship shown by Ball after the siren of the 2010 Grand Final show the worth of the man, and that he is back to his best is also a testament to him. Ross Lyon "retiring" Robert Eddy and Andrew McQualter before jumping ship also rubs salt into the wound. There are many again questioning St Kildas culture, saying it was a driving force behind Ross Lyons departure. To quote Mick Malthouse on Luke Ball, since he has arrived at Collingwood, "Luke's been oustanding for us on and off the ground". His work ethic off the ground at training is absolutely second to none, but more importantly he is a very smart man who drives the culture of a football club by example. His departure and lack of respect shown his way sets an example too. The less said about the Lovett debacle the better.
Nick Riewoldt, Justin Kositzke, Luke Ball, Nick Dal Santo, Leigh Montagna, Sam Fisher, Xavier Clarke, Matt Maguire, Brendan Goddard; these were the players, acquired by the horror years in 2000, 2001 and 2002, that were the nucleus for the success. Lenny Hayes and Stephen Milne are also in there, but came via different circumstances.
There are two very different teams in this era. One a star studded, young, energetic, confident and attacking team. The other a dour, defensive, maniacally focused, game suffocating beast. The first team included imports from other clubs (Aaron Hammil, Frasier Gehrig), warriors from the past (Robert Harvey, Justin Peckett, Aussie Jones) and was a serious contender when the group of players, that would be the senior group in the next era, were very young. They regularly beat opposition teams by over fourteen or fifteen goals and particularly in the midst of the ten game winning streak at the start of 04, seemed unstoppable but ultimately very fragile, come finals time. The next era was vastly different in personnel, style and substance. The apprentices now the masters, backed by a team of tryers (with no great skill or talent), were moulded into a machine capable of outlasting anyone in dour physical contests. But when it came down to it, in two grand finals, they didn't have the killer edge needed and clearly were too reliant on a small group of stars.
The rumblings out of St Kilda at the moment are very familiar, and every article written paints the picture of a club in a very fragile state. Poised on the brink of something? Dropping off a cliff? A slow tumble down a long hill with a bottoming out period that will last a while? St Kilda are again the butt of many jokes about sinking ships and knives in backs.
This group of players, instead of being congratulated on the most sustained period of success since 1965 to 73, are being written off and all ready, it seems, being forgotten. Would it really have been different if the ball had bounced straight into Stephen Milne's hands? The players still put in the effort and in that first Grand Final of last year really could not have done much more to win the flag.
Instead of being hailed as the players that dragged a club on the edge back to the top of the hill, they are thought of as failures, great players who couldn't find the way to win when it mattered most. Nick Reiwoldt, the flawed champion, seems to sum it up best; such a polarizing figure outside the club, beloved inside it. Too much pressure put on his back to perform and couldn't quite pull his club over the line as he so desperately wanted. I hope in years to come, a cool head and a mind not influenced by the current media climate, will remember these players differently, because they deserve more.
With the AFL entering a vastly different landscape over the next few years, St Kilda would be wise to ignore outside noises in the media. The picture painted is not anywhere near as accurate as people think. Arynn Sipposs and Jamie Cripps have showed a hell of a lot in there few appearances so far. In the absence of Lenny Hayes, Jack Steven and David Armitage had breakout years and will lead the St Kilda midfield in years to come. Likewise, Ben McEvoy has broken through and responded to the step up to number one ruckmen brilliantly. He is also leader who could one day captain the club. Rhys Stanley excited the St Kilda faithful immensely 2 years ago, and if he can get on the park could be anything.
It may be neccesary to trade Brendan Goddard, GWS seems the best outcome, with their abundance of young talent. But nothing less then a top three pick and another first round pick will be worth it. He is the obvious successor to Nick Reiwolt and if not traded in the next month, St Kilda should move hell and high water to lock him away in a long term deal, as he comes out of contract next year and GWS will come calling anyway.
All you have to do is look at the Geelong side of the late eighties and nineties, so many close calls and grand final defeats, but a decade later they are on the verge of a third premiership in five years. The team that beat St Kilda so dramatically last year only had to look back six years for the same motivation.
The future at St Kilda may not be as bleak as many predict, with the right coach and the right plan in place, St Kilda will not fall off the cliff, as has happened so many times in its history. Most importantly the winning culture created in the last decade should be held onto tooth and nail. St Kilda has been a team feared over the last decade and "St Kilda football" should not leave with Ross Lyon. A culture of success has been built and will not die easily.
Brendan Goddard may not have to come down to earth quite so hard. St Kilda supporters may not have to pause that moment in their minds for decades to come as the highest St Kilda flew, but the high point of the decade St Kilda became one of the most consistently successful clubs in the AFL.
Daniel Garrood
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