GEORGIE PARKER: St Kilda’s Josh Battle best-and-fairest ban petty as Christian Petracca skips Demons awards

The AFL has a new version of Game of Thrones — the best and fairest awards.

While they have not quite descended into the bloodbath that was the Red Wedding there have been some cutthroat calls with stars not attending their club’s big night for different reasons — but most of them controversial.

Melbourne’s horror season had one final chapter with Christian Petracca missing Friday’s awards, he got club approval but it was not a great look, and Clayton Oliver’s future dominated the evening after he met with several Geelong players and forced the Demons to declare he would not be traded.

Then there was the schmozzle that was the Saints’ function, where Hawthorn-bound Josh Battle was told not to attend and, despite polling third in St Kilda’s best and fairest award, his name was not mentioned all night in an odd Shakespearean twist.

The final event of an AFL club’s season should be all about who wins the awards, respecting past players for their legacy and saying thank you to those who will be departing the club.

It also reveals how a club values its players.

Petracca’s non-attendance was questioned by many but for me, given the context of his season, it was fine he did want to come back halfway through his holiday break to spend a night being reminded he didn’t play most the year.

I’d argue that all clubs should be having their awards night within a week of finishing the season instead of after the grand final, but I guess they have to plan in advance and probably plan on being in the decider.

The Petracca backlash was a storm in a teacup given Melbourne’s issues over the past two years, fuelled by the reports that Petracca is unsettled at Melbourne following his season-ending and life-threatening injury mid-season.

St Kilda chose a pretty petty and ridiculous hill to die on by shunning Battle.

Battle, who has played over 100 games for the Saints across seven years, is headed to Hawthorn.

It is a tough loss for the club, but instead of thanking him for his service and wishing him the best, Battle was told to not head to the Trevor Barker Medal.

Battle ended up finishing third in the count and in a childish move, neither coach Ross Lyon, nor president Andrew Bassat mentioned his name on the night.

That pettiness was a far cry from the way Sydney coach John Longmire farewelled departing champion player Luke Parker.

Longmire was still pulling himself together after another nightmare grand final result, but showed real class by congratulating the team for their best start to a season before praising Parker for his dogged worth ethic and commitment to the club.

I can understand the range of emotions at a club when a player leaved, particularly one you would desperately like to keep, but what message does the Battle antics send to the rest of the playing group?

A message that we only care about you while you’re here? A message that now you’re doing something that fits what you need right now, you’re not important?

That’s a dangerous game to play because that message may make other players think about their own position in the club and how valued they really are.

This is a big reminder that loyalty barely exists in the modern game, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

There is so much money and so much riding on clubs and their performance and success now that tough decisions are made by both players and clubs.

That’s not to say when a player is at a club they don’t put everything in to the team, but it means clubs and players both need to drop their ego when there is a change. And there is and always will be a lot of change.

Every year at the end of the season, contracted or not, players wonder whether it will be their name up on the whiteboard to shift some cash or free some space up for the next big key forward.

Contracts don’t mean much anymore it seems, just ask Brodie Grundy.

So, when a player leaves, be it off their own bat or marched out the door, both the club and player need to shake hands, thank each other for what they’ve given and be adults on their way out. Throwing the toys out the cot isn’t the way to do it.