The St Kilda Football Club is the unenviable holder of the longest active premiership drought in the AFL.
The Saints last won a premiership in 1966 meaning it’s been 57 years since they held their one and only senior premiership cup aloft.
It is a club that despite being close on several occasions has ultimately been starved of success. The lengthy drought is there to be broken and many hopeful and expectant Saints supporters believe Ross Lyon could be the man to deliver.
There is another St Kilda person - Mattaes Phillipou - who also has faith that success can be achieved. The youngster even told the coach that he is intent on wining a “special cup” in red, white and black.
“He was rapt to come to St Kilda. He said, ‘I didn’t want to stay in Adelaide’,” Lyon told reporters on Wednesday.
“We’re one of the last bastions of real excitement. There’s cups and there’s cups, and we’re a special cup.
“He wants to be a great player here and achieve a special cup. They’re his words.”
Those comments from Lyon regarding an ambitious 18-year-old have not been lost on SEN Breakfast’s Simon O’Donnell, a former St Kilda player, and his co-host Sam Edmund.
O’Donnell in particular believes the mindset of Phillipou is a “great statement” of intent to turn around the misfortune of the starving Saints.
“I think it’s a great statement,” said O’Donnell, who played 24 games for the Saints across 1982 and 1983.
“It would be a different cup because St Kilda just hang out there now. It’s been the longest drought in the AFL.
“I love the psyche of that young fella (Phillipou). I think most youngsters coming into a sport are very similar. They set themselves, they want an end result, not just being a great player.
“Part of team sport is the team objective, saying where do we get to? It’s sort of the final sign-off of your individuality to say, ‘and this is what we did and I played a part in what we did’.
“They’re very important words to hear from a youngster in seeing it as a little bit of an old mindset of where he wants to be.
“He’s still taking into account not just the bank account, not that it’s great playing for St Kilda, but he’s thought it through further to say, ‘Hey, I can contribute to get there, this is special’.”
Edmund took it a step further, referencing the examples of Tom Lynch and former Saint Luke Ball who would both begin their respective careers without success before moving to clubs who would win a premiership immediately.
Lynch joined Richmond from the Gold Coast Suns prior to the 2019 season which resulted in an immediate flag while Ball was a No.2 draft pick at the Saints, came through a decent era, only to be traded to Collingwood and win a flag with them in his first season, ironically against his former club.
He likes the fact that Phillipou has bought into the messaging that the Saints are determined to break that pesky drought by fully throwing themselves into their work and being a key part of a journey with one club.
“I’ve never heard a coach put it like that, but I often think as a player,” Edmund said.
“Let’s use Tom Lynch as the example. Drafted to the Suns who have never played finals and obviously never won a premiership. I’m going to say as good as Tom Lynch would have found it going to Richmond, winning a premiership, everything he would have wanted in his career, he would have got more joy and more satisfaction - I’m willing to bet - by winning a premiership at the Suns than he would have at Richmond.
“When you’re part of the journey all the way through, there’s got to be more satisfaction in that, doesn’t there?
“Would Ball have got as much satisfaction out of that (2010 Magpies flag) as he would have if he’d got it done at St Kilda?
“Undoubtedly he would have got twice the satisfaction at the Saints.
“I find it really interesting, but it only gets you so far before you’ve got to start thinking about yourself.
“That gets you loyalty, I reckon. Being part of something special like that, and we’re seeing that at the Suns now, and hopefully as Ross says something at St Kilda. It only gets you so far. Tom Lynch gets to his mid-20s and thinks it now probably is time to think about me because this isn’t going anywhere, I need to look after myself.
“But certainly for the first six to 10 years of your career, I think this sort of message, if you can sell it correctly, gets you a long way in terms of player buy-in.”
O’Donnell added: “I see your Tom Lynch scenario where he’s doing the same thing over and over and hasn’t had success.
“If it doesn’t change, where are we going? It’s time, I’ve got to get out of here because I’ve got to give myself a chance of getting some silverware.”
Edmund replied: “But I don’t want to get to the end of my career and I’ve achieved nothing because of factors outside of my control.
“I’m sure all those questions were going through Tom Lynch’s head.”
O’Donnell concluded, saying the mindset of Phillipou is a positive sign for St Kilda.
“That mentality still to be at the forefront is fantastic because it means that the cup still means something,” he added.
“These days in professional sport it’s great to see that endeavour there, but (putting it first) that the team achieves.”
The Saints played finals this year after finishing the home and away season in sixth position with 13 wins in Lyon’s first season back at the club.
They have seen the likes of the Western Bulldogs, Richmond and Melbourne break long-standing premiership droughts in recent years and will be ever to follow suit as soon as possible.