Former St Kilda coach Scott Watters believes the club’s move to Seaford was a negative one, as it represented everything the Saints had lost.
On Fox Footy last night, St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt slammed the decision to move to Seaford, saying there is “no doubt” it ripped the soul out of the club.
Watters backed up Riewoldt’s comments, explaining how the move away from traditional home Moorabbin meant more than simply shifting addresses.
“I think there are always a multitude of reasons, it is never just one line or one thing,” he told SEN Breakfast.
“I think it was really tough for the senior players in particular.
“The new players coming to the club, there are a lot of young kids, I don’t think they knew any different.
“For the senior players who had been through the Moorabbin experience and been through some Grand Finals, I think in the end, Seaford became a symbol for what they missed.
“Seaford certainly wasn’t a place where the senior players wanted to be.”
Watters also added how the new facilities compounded the Grand Final defeats in 2009 and 2010.
“The lost Grand Finals took a toll mentally on a lot of the players,” he said.
“It was taking them a while to come out of that.
“I think Seaford on top of that, it felt quite soulless for that group, who had such a strong attachment to Moorabbin.
“Whilst they were at Moorabbin, they were in their premiership window.
“Seaford symbolised everything they had lost, so it was pretty tough for them.”
Riewoldt didn’t mince his words when discussing the move.
“I’ve heard the last couple of days now that we’re out of Seaford, everyone saying what a great facility it was for us along the journey,” he said.
“I mean, that’s rubbish. That’s spin, because it wasn’t a world-class facility and geographically it was tough for the players.
“For the group at the time, on the back of a Grand Final in 2009 and 2010, arguably the best list that we’d accumulated in the club’s history, and then to go down to Seaford, away from the spiritual home, it crushed the group at the time.”
The Saints moved from Moorabbin to Seaford in 2011, after disagreements with the Kingston City Council.
However, the club moved back into their spiritual home earlier this week.
