There's nothing quite like being a St Kilda supporter.
I've been one for 41 very long years. I grew up on the outer wing at Moorabbin - it's in my DNA, even spending part of my wedding day there! These days, I co-host a show about the Saints called “Unpluggered” - check it out on YouTube or Podcast platforms if you're so inclined.
We've all heard the jokes and taunts before … can't swim between the flags because we only have one. Record wooden spoons. Financial ruin. We get it. I promise you, nobody knows failure like we do.
Despite the failures, we also have a loyalty like no other. A passion not bound by success, but by eternal hope. Hope brought on about by people, and by singular moments like Goddard's soaring Grand Final mark. Centurion Plugger's fists-in-the-air celebration. Harvey on his haunches. Riewoldt running back with the flight.
So while never having the team success of (nearly) every other V/AFL team, the Saints have been jam-packed with individual talent, and when building a Top-10 list of St Kilda players of my lifetime, it is tougher than you would imagine - but let's give it a go.
Before we start, there's a heap of honourable mentions. I know he should be on this list, but I only saw the tail end of Trevor Barker's storied career, and, albeit live and in the flesh, I was a baby. So, it's hard for me to keep him in my personal top 10.
If we'd won the 2010 Grand Final, Brendon Goddard is a lock for this list. One of the all-time great St Kilda moments probably becomes the all-time V/AFL moment... if the Saints get up, instead of again snatching defeat (or in this case a draw) from the jaws of victory. Likewise Nick Dal Santo, who was at the heart of most things good on the bayside during the second most successful period of Saints Footy.
Max Hudghton, heart and soul. Spida Everitt, unique, authentic, quality. The scintillating Aussie Jones. There's plenty more.
So, without further ado, here's my Top-10 Saints of the last 40-ish years.
1Tony Lockett
The one you've all been waiting for. Harves at three? Rooey at two?!
He's not just the greatest St Kilda player I've ever seen play. He's the greatest player, period, that I've ever had the privilege to see pull on a pair of footy boots.
It's a shame the younger generations only remember him as the big-boned Swans full forward who broke the game's goalkicking record, but those of us lucky enough to remember the first decade of his career know different.
In my eyes, ‘Plugger' is the most dominant player the game has ever seen. He could do everything. Incredibly agile and quick off the mark, a vice-like marking grip, and the most beautiful kick for goal you could dream of.
He averaged 4.92 goals per game for the Saints, which, when you think about it, is simply incredible given he played in 115 losses and just 68 wins for the club.
His 1991 season is the stuff of legends.
Missed the first six weeks with a serious back injury, returning in round 7 to kick bags of 12.6, 10.3, 12.2. He then finished the season with a streak of 13.3, 10.6 and 11.1, before kicking 9.5 in the Elimination Final loss to Geelong. In all, he kicked 127.51 in just 17 games that season.
That's an average of 7.4 goals per game, 10.5 scoring shots a week, folks.
He's the club's all-time leading goalkicker with 898 goals from 183 games. He's the 1987 Brownlow Medallist. He led the club's goalkicking ten times. He won the Saints' Best and Fairest twice.
He's Full Forward in the St Kilda Football Club Team of the Century, and an Australian Football Hall of Fame Legend.
"Plugger" is not just the greatest player to ever run out for the Saints… he's the greatest ever.
Agree or disagree? If you're a Saints fan, check out Unpluggered Podcast on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
