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.
2Nick Riewoldt
He was the defining figure of St Kilda's most successful modern era, combining elite athleticism, skill, leadership and work rate to become one of the game's premier key forwards, leading the Saints through their sustained period of contention in the late 2000s.
You'd call him a unicorn today. His unique ability to both lead the league in marks (and contested marks) while getting up and down the field to burn his defender/s into the ground is legendary.
Second on the all-time Saints' games played leaderboard with 336, "Rooey" is a five-time All Australian, six-time Trevor Barker Medallist, four-time club leading goalkicker (and 3rd all-time goals), #1 draft pick, AFL Rising Star, AFLPA MVP and Hall of Fame member, and now St Kilda's longest-serving captain.
His highlight reel is immense - high-flying marks, gut-bursting runs and plenty of goals - punctuated by THAT MARK going back with the flight of the ball at the SCG.
Today, Nick Riewoldt remains one of St Kilda's most respected and commanding figures, with a legacy defined by an unwavering commitment to team success.
