Nick Riewoldt fires back as St Kilda accused of ‘poor sportsmanship’
AFL great Nick Riewoldt has pushed back against Caroline Wilson’s claim that St Kilda should be silent in the face of inequality.
In the first Caro’s Call on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters, Wilson said Saints president Andrew Bassat’s public complaints about the draft system “only reinforces the impression that the club is rolling on a doom loop”.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Caro takes aim at St Kilda.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“It’s bordering on poor sportsmanship at times, and I’m sure it is bad for business,” she said, arguing his best-and-fairest remarks were “beyond the pale”.
Bassat has since “talked down” their home ground Marvel Stadium — something Wilson believes is giving “the club another excuse for failure.
“My advice for Andrew would be to fight the good fight behind-the-scenes for a while and rethink the rules of engagement,” Wilson added.
“I know, Andrew, you have taken responsibility for the litany of errors your club has made in the past, but cut the negativity for a spell.”
Riewoldt, who captained the Saints in three grand finals, was given the first opportunity to respond to Caro’s Call — and admitted he “had a little chuckle about halfway through”.
“The Saints have been silent forever, Caroline,” he said.
“They’ve kept their mouths shut forever, they’ve been silent because they are on the AFL drip. But the time’s come for the Saints do not be silent in the face of inequity. What would you like him to do? Just sit there and cop it?”
Wilson reiterated her belief that “finger-pointing at other clubs” cannot be good for business.
Also acknowledging the Saints’ Marvel Stadium deal is “probably not good”, she said it did not excuse Bassat effectively telling his own members not to attend home games until they are at the MCG.
“He’s not saying that at all. You’re twisting that to suit your own narrative,” Riewoldt replied.
“The Saints love Marvel. I loved playing there. (But) the Saints would be far better off financially if they were allowed to play three or four games at the MCG every year. They’re not asking to leave Marvel as a home ground.”
Perhaps expecting to find some common ground, Wilson pressed Riewoldt on whether he supported Bassat criticising Brisbane’s draft advantages days after the Lions won the 2024 premiership.
But that question only served to reopen the debate on the father-son and academy system.
“Is it flawed?” Riewoldt asked, to which Port Adelaide premiership winner Kane Cornes responded: “I think they’ve got to get rid of it.”
The draft index will be adjusted this year to play down the father-son and academy advantage but not scrapped.
“(Bassat has) managed, through his influence, to downgrade it at the end of this year,” Wilson noted.
Riewoldt said that proved his point.
“So why would you be quiet then if you can manage to downgrade it through being vocal?” he said.
“Give me a president that errs on the side of being a bit aggressive at times rather than acquiesces to the league and the status quo that is not a fair system.”
Father-son products have aided several clubs in their pursuit of a premiership but the Saints can count their second-generation stars on one hand.
Looking to break the cycle after just one finals win in more than a decade, St Kilda have also repeatedly thrown big offers at potential recruits.
Finn Callaghan received what Wilson said was an $18 million, 10-year offer, plus “a seven-figure property line on beneficial terms”, but he opted to stick with the GWS Giants.
“Sell him a real vision and not a vision that’s a bit higgledy-piggledy and seems no one really knows where the offer’s coming from,” she said.
“St Kilda could do a lot of things a lot better.”
Asked by Riewoldt to clarify if that was what happened, Wilson replied: “I’m not sure that there was a clear vision offered to Finn.”
The Saints have previously thrown significant proposals at Jordan De Goey, Andrew Brayshaw and Zach Merrett and are still pushing to lure Tom De Koning from Carlton.
They were on the wrong end of the money race when Josh Battle took up a big offer from finalists Hawthorn at the end of last year.
Originally published on 7NEWS Sport
