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.
5Lenny Hayes
Everybody loves Lenny.
Never has a club's marketing campaign held truer. Lenny Hayes embodied everything St Kilda stood for during its most competitive modern era, building a reputation as one of the toughest and most selfless midfielders in the game.
Renowned for his contested ball-winning, tackling pressure and willingness to put his body on the line, he set the standard for effort and accountability.
Lifting to an even higher level in the biggest moments, he actually averaged more disposals in finals (24.6) than in home and away games (22.4). A three-time club best and fairest, three-time All Australian, and the club's only Norm Smith Medallist in history, Hayes was the heartbeat of the Saints team that consistently challenged throughout the 2000s.
