Welcome BigFooty Saints Board Introductions - What's your background in following the Saints?

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prophetic1 said:
could also be that Sen Sgt Yabby JEANS was a pretty busy member in 1966.
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We are a big Catholic club apparently, they were meant to have a strong presence in the force too. Maybe linked.
 
gringo2011 said:
We are a big Catholic club apparently, they were meant to have a strong presence in the force too. Maybe linked.
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We'll take membership fees of all of the above without prejudice embracing all denominations Catholics, Muslims, any Buddhists, Jehova's, Jews, Gentiles and even Engineers IF they declare allegiance to the SAINTS ...and may the Force be with us all in 2020 ....To infinity and Beyond......throw in Chewbacca at CHF or CHB for that fact and maybe Ja ja BINGKS...we got his bro just a matter of time and the FAMILY will be reunited...ALL SAINTS day presumably.
 
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Pull up a chair, pour yourself $LIQUOR-OF-CHOICE and get ready for a tale ...

As a youngster living in Brisbane in the early 80s (pre-dating the Broncos and Bears, with the NBL Bullets being the main show in town) I started to notice that on the weekends there was this game unlike anything I'd seen, playing on the TV.

I took a bit of an interest, and slowly learned the rules of the game, found myself appreciating the big hits, high flying, and obvious skills, and slowly got to where I was watching every weekend. Back in those days it was mostly a game of the week, so saw a lot of Hawthorn, Essendon, Carlton and Collingwood, plus an appreciation for the goal-scoring of Lockett and Ablett Snr, and the complete insanity of Wacko Jacko.

I basically appreciated the game itself, rather than closely aligning with a club (though I did have a favourite team through that time, at least until the Bad News Bears came to town, and everyone did, indeed, dare to beat the bear :) )

Fast forward to 2000, and I'd moved to Sydney for work. Finally attended my first live game at the S.C.G., a cheap ticket to the Kangas vs Port, which I attended with 7333 other people who probably still wish they hadn't ;) On the plus side, I did get to see the wonder that was Spider Burton live, which was probably worth it.


In 2001, Sydney moved some games to the Olympic Stadium, and I picked up a package of tickets to those games, which I attended with a work colleague, and did a similar thing in 2002. Real life then stopped me from attending any games until '09.

My wife discovered the Saints in 2008, and started to follow them. In '09 she bought her first membership, and we made occasional trips down to Melbourne for games, and really splurged to be able to attend the GF - which was heartbreaking for her.

Kept doing the same sort of thing in 2010 and 2011, but relocated to our current home before the 2012 season, and progressively ramped up our involvement, moving from 5-game memberships, to volunteering at home games (How I Want To Be Crew), and finally to Cheer Squad.

It's been an interesting journey, but it won't be complete until there's a second trophy at RSEA Park ...
 

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I grew up in a largely rugby league supporting family despite the fact we live in Victoria. I go for St George in the NRL so the Saints stuck out for me a bit. My dads favourite AFL side is the Saints, although he hardly ever watches them. Other reasons include their colours, the coastal feel (I love the sea), some Saints supporting friends and the fact that I spent a quarter of my childhood at Luna Park.
 
In 1965 moved from Bristol, England to East Bentleigh,Vic. So no need to state why we, started barracking for the "Mighty Sainter's" back then. My childhood memories, are of Kevin Cowboy Neale & Barry Lawrence bashing up the opposition down at Moorabbin, often in the mud. And Trevor Barker's soaring marks, time & time again.
 
As a kid I thought I followed the Dees. My Grandmother thought different. She bought me a season ticket for 10 shillings. Gran and I watched the Doc, big Carl, Ian Stewart, Ross Smith, the Cowboy, Verdun Howell and others play at Albert Park, Moorabin, Waverley, Princess Park and the G. By the end of the season I had just about forgotten who Ron Barrassi skippered.
 
G'day. A Queensland born and raised Saint here, was passed on the St Kilda genes from my old man who was a fan ever since he was a boy down Mornington Peninsula way.

Born in 83 so growing up I was easily hooked into St Kilda fandom thanks to our stars of the 90s - Winmar, Loewe, Harvey, Bourke etc.

One memory that always makes me laugh in hindsight is a post match function at Brisbane's Pineapple Hotel after a thumping at the Gabba, must of been around 99/2000. Definitely Watson era as coach and we had lost by 90 or so. My parents became Lions members just to support footy in Qld so I copped endless grief all game from the Lions fans I was surrounded by, as I was decked out in my Saints gear. I was so excited to meet the team after the game, and they were all very accommodating, but geez the boys were so glum, the mood was dismal. Felt like a wake! I definitely picked up on that down vibe, however I ended winning a ball signed by the team so it turned into the greatest arvo of my young life. One happy kid, 40 something sad saints players and officials 🤣.

Random aside: Nick Reiwoldt was a year older than me but I was lucky enough to play against him for one junior game (I filled in for numbers for an older team). Obvious then at 16-yrs-old that he was bound to be a star. Funnily enough, David Hale was a gun key forward around that same age group on the Gold Coast and they both seemed to be on the same level. Didn't think he'd end up a ruck!
 
Saints Governance is dedicated to following Governance issues at St Kilda.

We're interested in ensuring the club maintains a healthy and functioning democratic approach with its Members.

NB: St Kilda is a member-constituted Club, where all Members are entitled to vote matters at each year's Annual General Meeting. That means you can stand for the board, vote at AGMs/EGMs etc.

We'll endeavour to keep a thread updated and edited with all matters so that Members stay reliably informed.
 
This is a bit like what I imagine Alcoholics Anonymous to be like.....

OK here goes....after migrating to Earth from Saturn in 1961 my Earth family on my father's side were 3rd generation Saints supporters
living in Elwood. My mother's side were Swans supporters - also going back to 1900's living in Albert Park when a wharfie could afford a house there.
My grandmother was a mad StKilda supporter who worked in the Public Bar at the Prince Wales for 50 years - until the early 90's. According to
my family tales this was the club's watering hole for decades when they were at the Junction Oval.

As a kid I grew up in East StKilda. Unfortunately I suffered a fractured skull coming home from school when I was 7 on a tram that was hit by a semitrailer
which went through a red light resulting in me not having really any memories from the 1966 win.

However my family folklore is that after the game - which my grandma and father went to, the players kicked on back at the Prince and some later went
back to my grandma's place in Elwood to kick on some more.....the Doc, Ian Stewart, etc., and no doubt half of the pub.

The household was awoken early on Sunday morning by Ian Drake banging on the door looking for the Premiership Cup which was apparently in
her lounge room on the couch. The players, pissed, had left it behind !

My brother and I were dragged along to most games from the late sixties. From age about 15 at high school I started going to games with my friends rather
than my family.

I went to Melbourne HS and played junior footy for their Old Boys teams in the amateurs. My father arranged for me to do a pre-season try out for
the StKilda U19's in the summer of 77/78. My dad still had some contacts at the club as he played a few reserves games in the early 50's. Pretty sure he played for StKilda Colts at the Peanut farm.

Anyway, after 6 weeks pre-season training twice a week, I played 3 practice matches against other VFL U19 clubs in early 1978. In one of them I kicked the first three goals in the first five minutes of the game, the last being a "Joe the goose" handball to me in the goal square which I proceed to get dragged for for being a "lair" according to Bob Murray who was the coach as I kicked the ball out of the ground. Played in the curtain raiser (on the bench) against a combined Tassie team in the last practice match before the season proper. First and only time I ever played in front of a real crowd. Managed to take a real hanger at half forward in front of the Members stand in the last quarter to the deafening roar of the crowd. As I was getting up off the ground someone ran past and gave me a round arm clip for which I got 15 metres and just missed the goal from about 30 metres out on a 45 degree angle. Got a goal about 5 minutes later luckily. In the rooms after that game the señiors were getting ready for their match - Carl, Sidebottom, etc. They looked huge up close to a nervous 16 year old. Needless to say I didn't get onto the main list and went back to the Old Boys a lot fitter and more confident.

Edit: Michael Roberts attended our first training session where we were told by Murray if we wanted to make the squad we'd need to attend all training sessions, on time and if we didn't, you'd have no hope. We didn't see Roberts again until the last practice match with a suntan to die for. Needless to say he made the squad and was named captain. He was also a year above me at MHS. Other "stars" I played with were Matthew Vane and Chris McAsey who also went to MHS and also Paul Temay, who was a nice guy.

In my 20's I was a musician - a sax player and studied at the VCA, did gigs and teaching so stopped playing footy due to concerns about my teeth and hands.
Still followed the Saints heavily at Moorabbin with a few friends under the clock in the outer. Never liked the Animal Enclosure, preferring to engage with the opposition fans. Got hit over the head by an old lady's umbrella (Carlton fan) when Lockett kicked his 10th (out of 13) on Steven Silvagni to ice the game against Carlton after the siren in '89.

Went to the 1971, 1997, 2009 and 2010 GF's. I gave the replay a miss. As a 10 year old I left the 1971 GF halfway through the last quarter and
walked home which seriously freaked out my parents.

My kids sort of follow the Saints but not really. At least they don't go for anyone else. They are just not that into football or sport for that matter.
I now live in South Eastern Queensland having recently retired after 30 years in the Federal Public Service doing stuff I can't talk about.
Couldn't afford to buy a place in Victoria after separation and giving the Ex the million dollar house in Melb. So I bought a cheap old Queenslander up here. Oh well. Fishing up here is good. Still missing Melbourne heaps.

Fingers crossed for 2022.
 
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Sun Ra said:
This is a bit like what I imagine Alcoholics Anonymous to be like.....

OK here goes....after migrating to Earth from Saturn in 1961 my Earth family on my father's side were 3rd generation Saints supporters
living in Elwood. My mother's side were Swans supporters - also going back to 1900's living in Albert Park when a wharfie could afford a house there.
My grandmother was a mad StKilda supporter who worked in the Public Bar at the Prince Wales for 50 years - until the early 90's. According to
my family tales this was the club's watering hole for decades when they were at the Junction Oval.

As a kid I grew up in East StKilda. Unfortunately I suffered a fractured skull coming home from school when I was 7 on a tram that was hit by a semitrailer
which went through a red light resulting in me not having really any memories from the 1966 win.

However my family folklore is that after the game - which my grandma and father went to, the players kicked on back at the Prince and some later went
back to my grandma's place in Elwood to kick on some more.....the Doc, Ian Stewart, etc.

The household was awoken early on Sunday morning by Ian Drake banging on the door looking for the Premiership Cup which was apparently in
her lounge room on the couch. The players, pissed, had left it behind !

My brother and I were dragged along to most games from the late sixties. From age about 15 at high school I started going to games with my friends rather
than my family.

I went to Melbourne HS and played junior footy for their Old Boys teams in the amateurs. My father arranged for me to do a pre-season try out for
the StKilda U19's in the summer of 77/78. My dad had still had some contacts at the club as he played a few reserves games in the mid 50's. Pretty sure he played for StKilda Colts at the Peanut farm.

Anyway, after 6 weeks pre-season training twice a week, I played 3 practice matches against other AFL U19 clubs in early 1978. In one of them I kicked the first three goals in the first five minutes of the game, the last being a "Joe the goose" handball to me in the goal square which I proceed to get dragged for for being a "lair" according to Bob Murray who was the coach as I kicked the ball out of the ground. Played in the curtain raiser (on the bench) against a combined Tassie team in the last practice match for the year before the season proper. First and only time I ever played in front of a real crowd. Managed to take a real hanger at half forward in front of the Members stand in the last quarter to the defining roar of the crowd. As I was getting up off the ground someone ran past and gave me a round arm clip for which I got 15 metres and just missed the goal from about 30 metres out on a 45 degree angle. Got a goal about 5 minutes later luckily. In the rooms after that game the señiors were getting ready for their match - Carl, Sidebottom, etc. They looked huge up close to a nervous 16 year old. Needless to say I didn't get onto the main list and went back to the Old Boys a lot fitter and more confident.

In my 20's I was a musician - a sax player and studied at the VCA, did gigs and teaching so stopped playing footy due to concerns about my teeth and hands.
Still followed the Saints heavily at Moorabbin with a few friends under the clock in the outer. Never like the Animal Enclosure, preferring to engage with the opposition fans. Got hit over the head by an old lady's umbrella (Carlton fan) when Lockett kicked his 10th (out of 13) on Steven Silvagni to ice the game against Carlton after the siren in '89.

Went to the 1971, 1976, 1997, 2009 and 2010 GF's. I gave the replay a miss. As a 10 year old I left the 1971 GF halfway through the last quarter and
walked home which seriously freaked out my parents.

My kids sort of follow the Saints but not really. At least they don't go for anyone else. They are just not that into football or sport for that matter.
I now live in South Eastern Queensland having recently retired after 30 years in the Federal Public Service doing stuff I can't talk about legally.
Couldn't afford to buy a place in Victoria after separation and giving the Ex the million dollar house in Melb. Oh well. Fishing up here is good.
Still missing Melbourne heaps.

Fingers crossed for 2022.
Click to expand...


That's a novel waiting to be written, what an awesome life.
 
Sixty years ago I started playing footy for West Broken Hill Mosquito Fleet when I was 4 years old. I remember putting on my boots, shorts & guernsey on a Saturday morning at first light & walking to the training oval at Railway Town about 15 minutes away. What stood out for me was the oval was nearly alway white with frost on arrival. Later in the day we played our main game.

I had three brothers, none of them were remotely interested in sport at all & nor were my parents. I was the weed of the family but I played every sport I could, although there were few opportunities growing up in Broken Hill. Footy was the game I loved the most. I don't recall any of my family ever watching me play any sporting event ever or driving me to training or that sort of thing.

I played for two teams... my local school & my local club. Both strips were the same as Essendon's but for some reason & I don't really know why, I've always followed the Saints... probably at the time I thought it was the only team with red & black.

My sports teacher at school always played me in the forward pocket or half forward flank but at my club I played just about everywhere. I made the Combined Under 12's & under 14's side for Broken Hill but missed selection in the under 16's. By that age most kids, that were still playing footy, had matured & were built like grown men. I still had the physique of an 11y/o. I stopped playing when I was 16.

My daughter has inherited my love of the Saints. She once said to me "following in your footsteps & barracking for St Kilda is tantamount to child abuse because every other bloody team has won a flag" lol. She now lives in Melbourne & plays for Diamond Creek... she's pretty damn good too.

My first St Kilda hero was Carl Ditterich my favourite all time player is Robert Harvey but there have been many players over the years that I have adored watching.

I love the Saints with a passion & I watch every game & ride every bump.
 

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Drake Huggins said:
Hi Austinn. First let me qualify my role. I did the psych.testing and interpretation for Bevo. Mine were recommendations. He always had the final call, except when GT overrode him. I started in 1997, by introducing psych. testimg for the first time to the AFL draft. I went on to do psych. work with the group and coaches under Timmy and MM (very briefly ) and then GT. I also worked closely with John Peake, who I felt was very much unfairly maligned for reasons I'll outline later. I also worked closely with Brian Phelan and PHIL Anstey our HR managers and Waldo, who was our best CEO, but fell out with GT over some extra curricular activities, that I believe have been well documented in the public arena. The stories Brian Phelan and I have about Blighty could still become the subject of a book (if the lawyers let us!).

The start of our problems was the total lack of budget for Bevo. Until the end of GT's tenure it was 70K per year, which largely went on Bevo's salary. There was no organised interstate or suburban network, when many other clubs were spending ten times as much on recruiting. THat Beco did as well as a sole operator was a minor miracle. Unfortunately, we also picked players sight unseen, like PHIL Raymond and Justin Sweeney. Ouch!

The biggest blue in my experience was the non selection of Chris Judd. IMHO, and that of just about everybody else, he was by far the best in his draft. The plan was to take Luke Ball at pick 2 (I believe at GT's strong insistence, a Xavier man, you see) and Judd at 5. This theory was based on the Intel that picks three and four would be used by the WA clubs on Sampi and Polak. You can imagine Bevo's horror when WC, smiling and looking straight at our table, read out Judd's name? Done like a dinner! To make matters worse, we took the mercurial but physically fragile, Xavier Clarke at 5 ahead of a Geelong kid called Jimmy Bartel! We clawed back ground by getting Dal at 13, Goose MaGuire in the 20's and Joey at 37. Not bad overall, but overlooking Judd cost us at least one flag.

2002 was a no brainer in Goddard. Raph Clarke in 2003 was a blue in that he was injury prone as a junior and had undiagnosed epilepsy. He was also one of those kids who was physically imposing at junior level, but others caught up to him. McQualter in 2004 was so-so, although RL was a huge fan, 2005 was unlucky in the Fergus Watts had his career ended by one injury. Nepotism was also a factor. Brooks doing his ACL ruined him, as he lost his ability to leap and therefore his confidence.

2006 is where I recommended we go Riewoldt ahead of Armitage. Overruled. No biggie, because Armo was the type we needed, but Jack had leadership qualities we could use. 2007 it was McEvoy over Rioli. There were concerns over Rioli's psych. Profile, which I tried to assuage, but in fairness they needed a ruckman and Ben was a great candidate. That draft was good as we got the Stuv with a pick in the 40's, pinching him from under the filth's nose. Heheh!

Lynch and Stanley were good picks we couldn't develop and hang on to. So Sainters. Lovett? Say no more. Fiora? Not great, but not our worst in a time we were topping up. My last draft, and Peakey's was 2011. Ross, Newnes and Webster. Given our late picks, not the worst way to go out, but I knew we were handing over to clueless gees. I predicted then the rebuild under Pelchen and TFWF would fail. A couple of pud pullers claim I'm bitter because I was given the arse. Yes, I was given the dcm, but I was off to work for another club and was relocating to Canberra for a four year contract with the APS. I was on the way out the door .

I posted it many times on SS in case you think I'm using 20/20 hindsight. A pair of clowns who had no idea and have proved their incompetence since. They tried to rebuild a list, beginning with three compromised drafts where the GC and GWS got all the cream. What did the smart clubs do? They topped up, used the rookie draft and chose the best available from the leagues. Just look at 2012 and 2014. Two critical drafts for our rebuild that are now complete write offs. Even 2013 is looking wobbly. They stuffed it and JP and I could see it coming a mile away. Bevo's been there all the way as an advisor because he's been there for 35 years and is in semi retirement. What else would he do?

So that's about it , Austinnnn. I took a bit of time to explain and there is more to this, but I wanted the people on the forum to have the real story, not just the slings and arrows of the know nothing, so called itk's. If you have any questions, PM me. I hope I haven't posted anything libellous. Like the rest of us, I love the saints, have dedicated my life to them and even though I was paid for my services, I gave them a pretty heavy discount. Like the rest of us, I just want to see one friggin' premiership!
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What happened to this poster? I always valued his stuff. I wonder if Drake Huggins is enjoying the revival under Ross
 
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ike2112 said:
Just came on to update mine but can't find my post.

We just had our own father-son nomination so the St Kilda faithful (and membership) increased by 1 in September. We had girl names agreed but if a boy I was pushing to name him after a Saint, with Jarryn top of my list. Lenny doesnt go with the surname, and theres already a Nick, Jack and Josh in the family. In the end we settled for Brodie.

So whilst I've never been his biggest fan, I'm now hoping Brodie Murdoch works a steady AFL career so I have some highlights and a Wikipedia page to show my son in a few years time!
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What happened to this guy?
 
Reading this thread again has been so bittersweet.

It's felt great remembering the stories of some of the posters that are still around and reminding myself of what a disparate (no, not desperate) bunch we all are.

But it's also sad to see so many names that aren't part of the conversation nowadays and how richer we were for their involvement. Who knows if they simply got tired of the bickering, got tired of the club, or something worse. Real life can be treacherous, and it's quite possible that some have passed away. Maybe they are still around and just never post.

Wherever they are, I wonder what they are making of the 2023 season so far. Hopefully, they are as positive as we are about it.

It was also sad to see so many circa 2015-8 posts about us being in the "right hands" (I still partially agree) and so much love for JB and Armo no offence to them but its sobering to be reminded of the sheer amount of false dawns and fool's gold we've lauded over the years. Time will tell us if This is any different. It feels different, but, well, you know...

BTW, I noticed a lot of current day posters conspicuous by their absence. If you are one of them, why not take the time to share your story? We're all more than some words on a screen.
 
I was indoctrinated by my mum as a kid (2005 is the earliest I can remember watching). I used to watch every game on free-to-air every week, was obsessed with statistics and always a nervous wreck watching us play. Because of 'certain events' I got burnt out and didn't watch a lot of footy from 2012-20. Unfortunately I have been sucked back in again and I thought I should make an account after lurking here most of the year.
 
Bill Crouse said:
I was indoctrinated by my mum as a kid (2005 is the earliest I can remember watching). I used to watch every game on free-to-air every week, was obsessed with statistics and always a nervous wreck watching us play. Because of 'certain events' I got burnt out and didn't watch a lot of footy from 2012-20. Unfortunately I have been sucked back in again and I thought I should make an account after lurking here most of the year.
Click to expand...
Welcome to your nightmare friend.
 
pretty sure my story will be unique

i went to a primary school where everyone barracked for richmond,i started there in grade 1 so i just went along with that,then a couple kids my age entered the school in the next 2 years and both barracked for carlton,i think we had a crack at making them change but they stood firm

must have got four of us to thinking,because sitting around the grade 2 and 3 classroom floor(we were older,maybe grade 5,but i think some event/excursion had many kids away,so they lumped the remaining in one classroom)we decided that we were going to pick a new team & not be followers,

while we did this the twin brother of one of us rolled pencils down his desk choosing his new favourite color,whichever pencil won the race,it was green

but anyway the 4 of us immediately threw out the 5 powerhouses of the 70s,carlton collingwood hawthorn north and richmond of course,my mum barracked for essendon so we threw them out,fitzroy geelong and south melbourne just lacked any semblence of cool so we eliminated them,something made us eliminate the dogs,i dont recall what,but my guess would be the location compared to where we lived 30 ks past lilydale in the sticks,i guess someone knew where footscray was,terry wheeler played for them,so that would have been a big plus from our home town,but no

so melbourne and st.kilda remained,the clincher,get this,the scanlon footy cards for melbourne had a pink border,st.kilda had a green border,4 boys from the 1970's were never going to choose a team with pink on their footy cards,so the saints it was

one of us switched to collingwood soon after,he has since passed,the rest of us stuck with the saints and still live,i saw one in the crowd for the final against brisbane in 1997
 

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As of November 9th there's a new Saints supporter - just wish the club had some better gear to dress her in (they need bodysuits with zips, bloody Bonds has stopped making Saints stuff for the moment)
 
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