Silvagni, De Koning and ‘Saint-flation’: How St Kilda became the AFL’s disruptors

St Kilda’s campaign against what they see as compromises that have corrupted the core purpose of the draft has gained a reasonable level of traction among a chunk of the 18 clubs.

Their campaign, voiced largely by president Andrew Bassat, will not see the northern academies abolished outright. The father-son rule – another impurity in the draft that the Saints have complained about – is increasingly under bombardment or scrutiny from some clubs.

It appears more likely, though, that the AFL will reform the progeny rule to make it fairer – by increasing the price of romance, or sequestering the top 10/first round from bidding – than put a line through it.

Bassat and the Saints have drawn ire for their campaign, in part because St Kilda has had so many own goals in list management and strategic blunders over a 15-year period.

Their drafting has been much-improved over the past several years, but the non-drafting of Christian Petracca, Marcus Bontempelli, Aaron Naughton and/or Ed Richards, and the acquisition of B- and C-graders that have taken St Kilda on a road to nowhere, are far more responsible for their long period out of flag contention than any structural impediments or rules.

But, as Bassat can reasonably argue, whether the recruiting/draft rules need reform is a separate issue from whether the Saints have been the authors of their own failure (which they have).

Intriguingly, the push for a fairer, or less impure, draft coincides with the most aggressive pursuit of players from rival clubs by the Saints since the Brighton cowboys Rod Butterss and Grant Thomas – flanked by executive Brian Waldron – took over at Moorabbin 25 years ago, when they leveraged a bottom-of-the-ladder platform to land Fraser Gehrig, Aaron Hamill and, most contentiously, hired mercurial coach Malcolm Blight, only to sack him after 15 games.

Today, a quarter-century later, the St Kilda Football Club have reprised their role as a disruptor, and this time, the disruption is on two fronts.

The first is the player marketplace, where Stephen Silvagni and his old mate Graeme Allan – backed by Bassat – have made a succession of godfather offers to players, headed by Tom De Koning, who has signed the richest deal in the game’s history, despite never having achieved the benchmarks of All-Australian team or best and fairests, and playing a position (ruck) that many list managers and coaches place well down the pecking order of importance.

They’ve offered Giant Leek Aleer, an athletic tall defender who may or may not become a good player, a lucrative four-year deal that the Giants won’t even try to match; they’ve enticed Jack Silvagni, the son of their list manager, via a five-year contract worth more than $4 million – putting Collingwood and the Bulldogs in the shade and making Jack the second Blue free agent to cross to Dad’s new team.

They’re pushing to purloin Gold Coast midfielder/half-back Sam Flanders (who is contracted), have Eagle Liam Ryan wanting to join them on a hefty contract and, by the time you read this, they might have another player or two heading down the Nepean Highway.

The Saints say they managed any potential conflict of interest on the Silvagni dealings internally, with Stephen removing himself from the process. In fairness, such overlapping relationships are commonplace in the AFL.

The Bassat campaign has had a measure of success, in part because of a) the already-stacked Brisbane Lions gaining cheap access to a pair of Ashcrofts, the Bulldogs proving the most adept breeders of current players (followed by Collingwood); and, b) Gold Coast’s success in growing local players who are rated highly via their academy.

So, on that score, the disruption to business as usual has scored a victory – more clubs broadly agree with St Kilda (Fremantle a prime example) than when Bassat first voiced his complaints some time ago.

The company that Bassat and his brother Paul founded, Seek, was a disruptor in the information technology/advertising landscape, eviscerating the rivers of gold from classified advertising that the old Fairfax (then-owner of this masthead) counted on.

Carlton aren’t overly concerned about losing De Koning and Silvagni – they will gain handy draft compensation. The Bassat campaign could be far more damaging if the Blues lose access or have to pay a hefty price for gun father-son Cody Walker next year (when changes could take effect).

But the recruiting disruption is viewed as reckless by several rivals, who are pondering the inflationary impact and question the wisdom of paying certain players – none of them proven A-graders – nearly double (De Koning, Aleer) what they would command from stronger clubs.

Saint-flation struck the Saints, themselves, first, when considering that Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera became the game first $2 million per-season player. Logically, Wanganeen-Milera had to get more per annum than De Koning, and so it proved.

Is the recruiting spree good business? Those who believe in paying players what they’re worth would say not.

Sick of losing and of nearly 15 years of mediocrity, many Saints fans will be applauding the gun-slinging approach to recruiting, on the grounds that it’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees.

The colourful ex-president Butterss himself is among those backing the disruption by the Bassat regime. Back in 2000, he took the view that the Saints - without the size or coffers of the powerful clubs - had to take risks to prosper, and yes, had to be prepared to disrupt the competition. He likened the approach to “guerrilla warfare.”

The Saints, Butterss said, “needed to be bold and brave” to succeed. “Don’t die wondering,” he added.

It’s unclear where this disruption of 2025 will take the benighted St Kilda Football Club. What can be safely said is that, for a club that has never mastered winning, the Saints are masters of commanding our attention.

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