I love the St Kilda Football Club, honestly I really do.

When I moved back to my home state of WA in 1995 for a few years, the Dockers were established and my friends thought it would be a fait accompli that I would be a member given I was born and bred a ‘south of the river’ boy.

No. It never crossed my mind and even as I write this and wish The Dockers well for their Prelim tonight, I would never betray the club I fell in love with in 1971.

Like plenty of others I’ve invested thousands into the club via memberships, merchandise, the bloody raffle every year and even when the club moved back to Moorabbin I donated $1500 to help build the new facility.

In return we’ve had the second coming of Ross Lyon, the self-professed genius at the expense of Brett Ratten, who had to be paid out after having just been given a fresh two year contract.

Our list management has been woeful. I hate it when I mention the so called ‘what could have been’s’ referring to players such as The Bont, Petracca and Murphy Reid, and all I get is, “well you know it’s a bit of a raffle isn’t it?”.

No it’s not! We’ve always made shit recruiting decisions. Does anyone ever say that about Stephen Wells at Geelong and his legacy? Of course not. Recruiting is incredibly important and it takes enormous skill and capability.

Does anyone honestly think Geelong’s sustained success is down purely to Chris Scott and his vast wisdom?

Premierships are won with the cattle, not the coach. Chris Scott doesn’t know what it’s like to coach an under-performing team.

Of course he excels at what he does, but I’d rather be coaching the New York Philharmonic than the Heidelberg High School Band…with all due respect to my partner’s former alma Marta.

Our coach over-rode the decision to recruit Murphy Reid because of something his son mentioned to him in regards to Reid’s character at Caulfield Grammar.

Well done Ross. There’s some selfless critical thinking for you.  Rising Star year one, All Australian Year two and he’s barely hit puberty.

Players always leave St Kilda for greener pastures, not come to Moorabbin….unless of course there’s a CEO’s salary on offer.

Recently Alex Tauru, who has just completed a walloping 19 games over his first two years, has been looking around at rival clubs because his manager feels he should be earning a million dollars a season over five years.

This is a kid whose actual impact in games has been microscopic albeit momentarily exciting, and has spent more time suspended from VFL indiscretions than out on the AFL park. It’s ludicrous.

This is the wake and precedent caused by Nas’s and TDK’s contracts. I don’t blame Nas or TDK for negotiating these contracts but you can see what it’s doing and it must be culturally  unsettling within the playing group.

We may well lose a fan favourite in Rohan Marshall because of it.

So be that as it may, I’ve had some amazing times watching my beloved Saints.

Lyon’s first stint bringing his defensive methodology from The Swans to The Saints was perfect for our players at the time. 2009 and 2010 are forever in our hearts despite the tragedy of the losses.

I thought both Stan Alves and Grant Thomas coached some brilliant teams that sadly under achieved and we have always had some amazing individuals in Barks, Plugger, Nicky, Harves, Buckets, Joffa, Lenny, Roo and the list goes on.

The fact is, when all is said and done, we are a club that has mastered under achievement. I think the last few years though, there has been a level of mediocrity that I’ve found hard to swallow.

Although winning is great, I’m only ever concerned with the effort. You have to adopt that mentality as a Saints supporter or you will go mad.

The last few years haven’t been good enough on field. I know the injuries have hurt but where is the contingency planning and development to cover for the losses? We had several players on one leg or arm in the last few games this year. Why not just rest them and blood some new players?

The decision to bring Lyon back beggars belief. You never go back to an old girlfriend/boyfriend, especially one who disappears in the night and turns up at a rival’s presser within 24 hours!

He also left The Dockers in controversial circumstances that clearly weren’t looked into when they offered him the job without any process or homework whatsoever.

The further Lyon’s tenure runs, the quieter Nick Riewoldt gets in the media. I have no doubt he and other players from the 09/10 era had a say in bringing him back. He mustn’t be given an extension next year unless we make top 6.

So in the midst of all this fog of discontent, the marketing department, under instruction from the board, have just informed us members of the new memberships and asking us to roll them over for 2027.

Strangely enough when I checked along with thousands of others, my membership which is a permanent seat in Level 2 at Marvel, has increased from $820 to $999 with no prior warning.

Now, even in the Trumpian scale of increased prices due to The Straight of Hormuz, this on first glance would seem a tad stiff.

My friend Michael who sits next to me at Marvel, didn’t have his altered because he’s been a 40 year member and I’m pleased for him don’t get me wrong.

If we were a successful club I imagine the increase could be justified because of the demand from fans, but sadly we are not. We never fill Marvel, ever.

There’s no ‘Fortius Quo Fidelius’ here when it comes to loyal fans.

So Michael sent me a comparison of member costs per club for reserved seating per year.

STK – $999

Blues – $850-$1100

Pies – $950-$1350

Bombers – $890-$1300

Hawks – $790 – $950

Roos – $719- $850

Bulldogs – $650-$820

Tigers – $850 – $1150

I would think we should be near the Dogs if you look at crowds. The Dogs crowds and their expectations next year with Butters and a fit Darcy will rise exponentially and will still be cheaper than us.

Its not so much the money because of course we will dig deep to see the team play, it’s the intent that shits me up the wall.

The club hoped in all seriousness to sweep the increase under the carpet. This is poor business culture and it reflects heavily on our CEO and President. Transparency is vitally important if you want to be successful in any field and they have failed yet again.

Supporting The Saints is love/hate. At times it’s such a crappy marriage you wonder how you can escape without committing adultery, but as soon as I arrive at Southern Cross and walk across the overpass, it feels like home again.

Thus nature balances itself. Bring on 2027…..(sucker!)