If ever there was a sporting organisation that required a change of direction, it was the St Kilda Football Club.
Since their foundation in the winter of 1873, the side now known as 'The Saints' has proven a perennial sinner, constructing almost artful ways to pass up victory in favour of defeat.
Now just shy of 150 years on from their fledgling days on Albert Park's 'Alpacca Field', little has changed by way of silverware, with the competition's jabronis largely whipped, whacked, and dunked on, as they shuffled between Moorabbin, Mulgrave, and the marshes of Seaford.
Success was found one afternoon, sending long-suffering members of the club's congregation into ecstasy. But as broken clocks are wont to, the Saints have sat out of touch and out of time for almost every other hour of their lifespan.
Though losing has been thatched into St Kilda's DNA, internal and external scars have been earned after a series of fairytales ended at the altar. Challenges, chokes, and come-from-the-clouds performances have scuppered the Saints at almost every turn for over a century - a truly torturous stretch that has left all but 20 Saintly travellers without reaching the summit.
Following the men from Moorabbin's latest campaign - one that ended well shy of steering a drought-breaking deluge to the southern suburbs - St Kilda's front office called for change, ousting contracted head coach Brett Ratten in a paradoxical show of revolution.
While the ink had barely dried on Ratten's contract extension, irrespective of sentiment, the choice to shred it in an effort to turn a new leaf acted as the method amongst the madness. Yet, with a subsequent decision to walk backward to go forward, the Saints haven't left no man's land. They have only wandered deeper into the barbed overgrowth.
As seen on both the big and silver screens of late, bottom lines mean far more to production houses than originality and creativity. Time and again, popular characters are dug from the crypt in the hopes of recapturing hearts and minds. They say sex sells, but it has been nostalgia that has proven the biggest box office in recent years. Why else would viewers be subjected to a Karate Kid returning on the precipice of senior citizenship?
St Kilda's own methodology has mirrored that of Tinsel Town, with the beloved cast of Ross Lyon, Lenny Hayes, Robert Harvey and Brendon Goddard wheeled back through the Moorabbin door some 11 years since Lyon initially called it quits. While it is yet to be seen whether this sentimentality will lead to success, the quartet's homecoming has been given a resounding tick of approval from a supporter base all too familiar with a diet of sugar hits and ensuing comedowns.
Conversely, cynics of this choice to go back to the future can push an alternative narrative. One built on a desire to buy time and bolster finances behind the safety of club legends and the promise of on-field success.
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Remember, not all Hollywood reprisals have won over audiences. After all, LeBron James' self-serving 'Space Jam' sequel earned identical reviews to 'Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel'.
It is also worth bearing in mind that red, black, and white fanatics have seen the end of films containing this exact cast before. And while the bar has historically rested at ankle height down on Linton Street, no season during Lyon's opening tenure closed with an entirely happy ending.
Despite playing off in a trifecta of deciders during this five-year term, still, only one cobwebbed cup sat in St Kilda's cabinet before Lyon signed on the Dockers' dotted line. In his wake, the steward born in the same year as the Saints' only triumph left a jaded list that somehow lacked overall experience yet still had the salary cap at the point of combustion.
Messrs Harvey, Hayes, and Goddard sought greener pastures - or careers beyond the boundary - while instrumental skipper Nick Riewoldt was asked to soldier on manfully with middle-of-the-pack teammates and routinely botched draft assets.
As a five-win 2013 season devolved into a 2014 campaign comprised of just four victories, it became clear that the Saints had, once again, reached rock bottom. Without the ability to dare their horde of fans to dream, alternative avenues were explored to remain relevant and keep the wolves from the club's cash-strapped bay.
Under the watch of recently departed CEO Matt Finnis, the perennial pretenders pivoted a portion of their focus to means away from the field of play, becoming champions for causes such as mental health, blood and bone marrow cancers, and equality for the LGBTIQA+ community.
While Finnis' legacy would also include the once ambitious, now depressing 'Road to 2018' blueprint, aimed at correcting long terms ills on both the scoreboard and balance sheet, the recently departed powerbroker made Moorabbin an undeniably more inclusive workplace.
Consistent aid from both federal and state governments didn't go astray either.
In the eight years since Finnis succeeded Michael Nettlefold and Terry Dillon, the ailing club has aligned its premiership hunt with external causes and congregations requiring airtime and allies. And while finals appearances have remained a rare treat, St Kilda's staunch desire to shatter stigma and embrace diversity has won them plaudits from far beyond the turnstiles.
But as that second flag is still yet to fly in Bayside, the administrative odd couple of Andrew Bassat and Simon Lethlean have cracked their whips, pulling the reins in a different direction.
As the swelling from their rapid facelift subsided, with Sainters everywhere swooning over the results, St Kilda released the results from their football department review. Though 10 findings were stamped throughout the six-page document released to members last Friday, the most glaring came second to last, wedged between list management woes and governance qualms.
Beneath the header of 'Relationship between football and the rest of the club', St Kilda powerbrokers stressed that:
The Review highlighted that we should continue to sharpen our focus on football, minimise distractions to the Football Program and maximise support. In particular, we have decided not to sell a home game in 2023 and to apply a strong football lens to any cause games we consider undertaking.
With a 4-10 record when selling 'home' games to interstate or international markets, St Kilda fans will be rejoicing at the fact that often momentum-halting trips to Launceston, Wellington, Shangai, and Cairns, are no longer on the cards.
However, after rounding out their Cairns experiment with a final - losing - score of 4.18, the side inherited by Lyon in October has bigger problems than just jetlag to contend with. Add in that the club still holds a historic debt sitting just shy of the eight-figure mark, and the choice to pass up the $650,000 on offer in order to bypass the tropics will have raised the eyebrows of creditors.
Despite an opening-round loss to Craig McRae's resurgent Collingwood outfit in March, St Kilda entered the mid-season bye period with an 8-3 win-loss record and a place in the top four. Yet, by mid-July, the cracks could no longer be papered over, with only three further wins collected before the curtains closed on the Saints' Ratten era.
Fatigue - both mental and physical - became palpable on both sides of the boundary line.
The rot truly reappeared during the Saints' 35-point loss to the lowly Bombers in Round 14 under Friday night lights. A night in which all arms of the club congregated to pay respects to one of its dearest haloed heroes and to press his posthumous message.
Though initially delayed by COVID constraints, St Kilda's mid-June fixture against Essendon acted as the second-annual 'Spud's Game', a point in the season in which the memory of club icon Danny Frawley is honoured, and those within the game are implored to speak out about mental health.
As a footballer, Frawley took no prisoners. Often required to lead a depleted defensive line, the Bungaree native did so with aplomb, asking for no quarter and granting none either. As a human, Frawley was warm. Always up for a laugh and a barb at the expense of those closest to him, the All-Australian representative was also staunchly loyal, speaking up for those around him and tackling his demons with every ounce of his fibre.
Yet, despite his best efforts and sunny facade, Frawley took his own life in 2019. The demons won. He was 56.
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According to research presented by Beyond Blue, suicide remains the leading killer of men in Australia aged under 45. In 2021, 3144 Australians ended their own lives, alone and at the end of their tethers.
Depression, anxiety, and internal struggles are not picky in who they attack and erode. And for Australian men - so often caricatures of stoicism who crack wise when the chips are down - the ability to be forthright about their feelings is still something that remains unsettling.
By using football as the conduit, and the legacy of a larrikin, St Kilda joined the fight to help eradicate this toxic stigma, even when the contest crept out of reach.
The same good grace has been extended to the Riewoldt family, following the loss of club superstar Nick's younger sister, Madeleine, in 2015. In the seasons to come, St Kilda has partnered with Maddie Riewoldt's Vision, helping to raise upwards of $12 million in funds so far to help aid research into Bone Marrow failure.
Since 2000, St Kilda has also partnered with Hawthorn to do battle for the Blue Ribbon Cup, named in honour of Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller who were killed in the line of duty in Moorabbin, in 1998.
In all, St Kilda took part in nine 'cause games' throughout the course of the 2022 AFL season, including:
- Round 3 vs Richmond (H) - Maddie's Match
- Round 4 vs Hawthorn (A) - Blue Ribbon Cup
- Round 6 vs GWS (A) - ANZAC Weekend
- Round 10 vs Adelaide (A) - Sir Doug Nicholls Round
- Round 14 vs Essendon (H) - Spud's Game
- Round 15 vs Sydney (A) - Pride Game
- Round 16 vs Carlton (A) - Carlton Respects Game
- Round 18 vs Western Bulldogs (A) - Road Safety Awareness
- Round 20 vs Hawthorn (H) - Blue Ribbon Cup
Though several of these contests are either coincidental or unavoidable, administrations from years gone by have either conjured the idea of representing the majority of these causes or have entered into agreements with other clubs to do so.
Even while you will find large sects of the Saints' supporter base morally opposed to dated stigma and prejudice, by the cessation of the 2022 season, vocal portions of the club's congregation were wearily praying for change.
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As another promising start gave way to a familiar-yet-sobering sense of melancholy, rather than steering into the skid to shake it off like in seasons past, the fires were stoked. The strength of some loyalties was clearly waning.
Spruiked as genuine contenders by their own brass, St Kilda fans voiced fatigue at the number of causes the club had aligned itself with as the main order of business fell by the wayside. Irrespective of sexual identity or preference, it is hard to have pride in a side that only has two goals on the board entering time-on of a game played just three weeks after a bye.
But with Bassat and Lethlean heeding such calls from the outer, claiming that on-field results would take precedence over any aligned cause, what are the ramifications likely to be? Are the Saints in too deep to simply give their duties the boot?
In the late 1970s, the UK's National Canine Defence League concocted some of the snappiest, socially conscience marketing, producing copy that still gets run every December. Following a spate of pet shop purchases ending up at the pound once the mistletoe came down, the NCDL stressed that 'Dogs are for life, not just for Christmas'.
And while we are speaking of human lives here, the same messaging applies: an ally is for life, not just when you are winning.
For numerous reasons, the St Kilda Football Club made the choice to act as a visible member for change on several fronts. So, not only would a choice to cull these causes from its calendar be cowardly, it would be downright dangerous.
Further research promoted by Beyond Blue contends that Australians that identify as members of the LGBTIQ+ community have the highest rate of both suicidal thoughts and attempts. 15 percent of gay, lesbian and bisexual Australians are also said to be currently experiencing grapples with suicidal ideation. Members of this community are also 14 percent more likely to make attempts on their own life than Australians from other walks of life.
These are people that St Kilda chose to unconditionally stand with for reasons both selfish and selfless. However, with the scoreboard now skewed and the members revolting, backs might be turned at the first sign of resistance.
Sure, St Kilda's review hasn't explicitly outlined that they will be walking away from all of their commitments, but if a "strong football lens" is being applied to each of these causes, just how much of the original show of support will survive?
Will a repeal of goodwill be on show for Maddie's Match, or will a recent win over Richmond prove that this fixture serves them between the sticks?
Might it be 'Spud's Game' that gets the chop, or will it be Frawley's revered name that sees his message kept?
The flow of government funding attached to the latter fixture will also play a role in just how heightened or diminished the message is next season.
Either way, the needle is being willingly moved.
With more wooden spoons and the worst rate of seasons played to premierships won than any AFL team, no supporter base has been put through the wringer quite like St Kilda's.
And, with the club's suits spruiking a ruthless message where footy comes first, it isn't hard to see why so many of this bunch have become reinvigorated, no matter the cost.
While these diehards have every right to be irate at a range of ills extending from governance to goalkicking, whether you want to shift the goalposts or not, allowing a change of fabric to be blamed for a falloff in form is ludicrous.
For the past 89 seasons, St Kilda has entered the field of play adorned with its ubiquitous crest. Convert the Latin between the red and black ends of the wreath, and you will find the club's apt motto. Fortius Quo Fidelius.
Strength Through Loyalty.
For a club that has dealt with pain over joy, time after time, these words have rung true for fans in the stands. They keep coming back. With the olive branches extended and the causes already championed, the strength and the loyalty of this new task force will be tested if these same offshoots are taken off the table.
But before any more rain flows under the bridge and the subsequent rainbow presses high across the sky, it is worth remembering that real care is unconditional and that any care that comes with limitations is as fraudulent as the people that place them.
If you or someone you know is in need of help, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
