News With St.Kilda

[Brains Trust66]

On the Saints Web page they have started putting up videos of former players and long time supporters saying why they will still be there next season. I thought maybe we should do the same on here except it's just us Big Footy Saints fans.

I'll go first.

I'm 54 years old and have followed the Saints since I could first walk and talk. I was 2 years old when we won our only flag. My dad and older brother went to that Grand Final but I was too young to go. All my family supports the Saints except my Mom who is a Carlton supporter, booooo.
As every Saints fan knows we have spent most of our life down the bottom of the ladder. We have been thrashed by every team at some time. There were years in the 80's where season after season we only won 3 games each year. But even through those cold wet days at Moorabbin, and later at VFL Park, us supporters had each other. Unlike most other clubs there is a sort of kinship between Saints fans that other clubs could only dream about. Yes it's probably built on years of losing but it never goes away.

Last year we almost made the finals so we all had high hopes for this year but of course things don't always go the way you hope. But unlike those years in the 80's there is still a big hope that next year we will do a lot better. We have a lot of young kids like Gresham, Hunter, Coffield, Paton, Phillips, Paddy, Battle, Rice, Clavarino, Long, Langlands, Marshall, Pierce, Austin and White, all of who could develop into being good players in the future if they aren't already.

Then we have guys like Sinclair,Ross, Webster, Acres, Billings, DMac, Dunstan and Steele who could all have breakout years or continue to improve next year.
Plus ad whoever we get with pick 4 and Hanners and Kent.
Also Robbo and Bruce hopefully back next year as well.

Suddenly things don't look so bad any more. In fact you could say it might be an exciting year next year. I'm sure I left out some players but I am writing this off the top of my head lol.

If you don't think we will be much good next year I suggest you sit down and select the team for round one next year and see who you have to leave out. Some good players won't get in the side for the first game will they.

We had a poor 2018 but that happens to teams in any sport sometimes.

I know one thing, I will always support the Saints and no matter what I will always be excited for a new season to start.


Go Saints

 

[Brains Trust66]

I forgot to say the excitement of the team being back at Moorabbin which means I might be able to get to training some times next year as well.


Go Saints

 

[AFLOnline]

I'll still be at the saints next season because I'm dumb

 

[tomjoad]

Strength through loyalty is how we sell ourselves...and it works for us. We also have a commendable capacity to don our rose tinted specs to stare intently at half full glasses whilst being optimistically selective with the evidence before us. This is why I am with St.Kilda...we make the hopeless hopeful, and it may just win us another flag one day.

 

[George]

I'm 28, supported the Saints since I can remember. Born into it from my old man who began supporting them in 1963 when he moved to Australia from Greece.

Seen plenty over the last 30 years. Lockett, Frawley, Winmar, Loewe, Burke, Harvey, Everitt, Heatley, Jones, Lappin who became my favourite players. First number on my back as a kid was Winmar's. Used to love the trips down to Waverley with my Dad in the mid-late 90's, was a great place to watch the footy.

Converted my Collingwood supporting primary school teacher to St.Kilda in 1996. Each week we would have to do 'show and tell' - tell the class about what we did on the weekend. I always went to the footy, and in those years we had a good side, so most of the time we'd win. I guess I retold so many stories of our wins that she jumped on board. I remember vividly the morning of the '97 Grand Final she visited our family home and gave me a St.Kilda themed rain jacket - I needed it hours later as I was in tears watching Darren Jarman tear us a new one.

Been to most finals since. Standing room for the '09 Grand Final - left the game after Chapman's goal and sat outside the MCG by myself with my head in my hands wondering if we'd ever get back. We did a year later, and I was in the cheersquad for the first 2010 GF. In all my years of supporting St.Kilda the one moment where I finally thought our dream would be realized is after BJ took that hanger and converted with 5mins to go. I thought we'd done it. Week later I was back again to see us get mauled. Perhaps it's the life of a St.Kilda supporter. My dad always told me that being a Saints supporter built character, guess he was right.

I would have to say that my favourite ever Saint would be Nicky Winmar, followed by guys like Peter Everitt, Lenny Hayes and Brendon Goddard.

I have a few memorable games that have stuck with me for years.

Round 6, 1998 vs West Coast in Perth.
Without Hall, Loewe, Burke and Thompson. Eagles were 2-3 and we were 4-1 having come back from the heartache of '97. We were 28 points down with 9 minutes remaining and kicked 5 unanswered goals to snatch it at the death - Gavin Mitchell the hero with the winning goal and Daniel Healy kicking 6 goals on his 24th birthday. It was a defining win for me because I felt as though if we were going to contend for a flag again in '98 this was a game that would show if we were still hungry for it or not. It was a fantastic game. Years later in an interview Stan Alves did for the AFL he mentioned that this game was the best he had ever been involved in during his time as coach.




2005 Qualifying Final vs Adelaide in Adelaide.
What more can be said? Adelaide were red hot favourites and it was an absolute slog but we kept fighting and it became probably the best Saints win I've ever seen.

Others would have to be Round 14, 2009 vs the Cats and the '09 Qualifying & Preliminary finals.

Whilst we haven't tasted the ultimate success it's been a pleasure watching such a historic football club over the past 30 years. We have had some absolute characters, and some of the very best players in the games history played for our club.

As for next year I am optimistic. We had a horror season in 2018 but I firmly believe it was an outlier. No rebuild is linear and this may have been the best thing that ever happened to us. Our football department is above and beyond what we had in 2018, and the inclusions of Hannebery & Kent, coupled with another pre-season for all of the young boys and I think we will get back to the type of football that we all know we are capable of.

I can't even try to think of how much I've forked out over the years to help the club out and I don't think it'll ever stop. We are a resilient and loyal bunch and I look forward to the month long party we'll have after we win our second flag.

 

[RWBlyf]

My whole family is St Kilda. When I see red white and black my eyes light up, it’s innate. I love the club it’s something in my life and many others that makes us happy, we feel the emotions hard. 2018 hurt, but as others have mentioned it could be the best thing to happen to us and I’m glad it happened sooner rather than later.
Membership every year no doubt, I’ll wear my colours proud and never give up on the best club in the land.
Fortius Quo Fidelius.

 

[borderbarry]

I had no hope. Born in Northcote, lived there till I did National Service,Police Training, then married. My father was born in St.kilda, Mum in Sydney, but when she met Dad she was living in Elsternwick.. Dad played footy for St.Kilda City. and Cricket for St.Kilda. Mum was a staunch Saint supporter too. We used to sit in the same spot between the grandstand and the race at the Junction Oval. A lot of our relatives would meet up with us at the footy, all Saints supporters of course. Woe behold anyone that criticised Neil Roberts within Mums earshot. She would be into them. It was a sad day for me when the Saints moved to Moorabin. My parents never saw a game there. I was a Detective at St.Kilda for four years, and once or twice, ahem, together with some other keen Saint supporters we happened to catch up with the Saints game.
In later years when a Detective Sergeant at Springvale and Dandenong I also caught up with St.Kilda games at Moorabbin and Waverley.
I was at four St.Kilda grand finals. 1965, 1966 oh yes, 1971 against the Hawks (we should have won that one), 2009 against the Cats. I was working on the 1997 grand final in the country and missed it. The two 2010 games my lack of mobility caused me not to go. Our next one, probably not.

 

[gringo2011]

I had no hope. Born in Northcote, lived there till I did National Service,Police Training, then married. My father was born in St.kilda, Mum in Sydney, but when she met Dad she was living in Elsternwick.. Dad played footy for St.Kilda City. and Cricket for St.Kilda. Mum was a staunch Saint supporter too. We used to sit in the same spot between the grandstand and the race at the Junction Oval. A lot of our relatives would meet up with us at the footy, all Saints supporters of course. Woe behold anyone that criticised Neil Roberts within Mums earshot. She would be into them. It was a sad day for me when the Saints moved to Moorabin. My parents never saw a game there. I was a Detective at St.Kilda for four years, and once or twice, ahem, together with some other keen Saint supporters we happened to catch up with the Saints game.
In later years when a Detective Sergeant at Springvale and Dandenong I also caught up with St.Kilda games at Moorabbin and Waverley.
I was at four St.Kilda grand finals. 1965, 1966 oh yes, 1971 against the Hawks (we should have won that one), 2009 against the Cats. I was working on the 1997 grand final in the country and missed it. The two 2010 games my lack of mobility caused me not to go. Our next one, probably not.

You should write a memoir Baz, you'd have some good stories.