Garry Lyon: Callum Wilkie embodies everything great that my great mate Danny Frawley brought to St Kilda

Danny Frawley would be proud of the way Callum Wilkie carries himself and leads the St Kilda backline. It’s because he embodies everything which made Spud great, writes Garry Lyon.

Danny Frawley held the St Kilda backline together for the best past of 12 years.

These were tough times for the Saints when Spud made his debut back in 1984.

They ‘won’ the wooden spoon in four of his first five years.

In the first seven years of his time at St Kilda, they won just 37 games and lost 107, before breaking through in 1991 and appearing in the finals for the first time since 1973.

He made his debut as a 20-year-old in 1984, having been recruited from his beloved Ballarat.

For much of his career, he was opposed to some of the most brilliant forwards the game of football has ever produced.

The Coleman Medal winners during the time he played for the Saints were Bernie Quinlan, Simon Beasley, Brian Taylor, Jason Dunstall (three times), Tony Modra and Gary Ablett Sr (three times).

He can be thankful that a bloke by the name of Tony Lockett played in the same jumper.

Otherwise, Spud played on them. Week in, week out.

You can add the names of Paul Salmon, Terry Daniher, Warwick Capper, Stephen Kernahan, Dermott Brereton, Allen Jakovich, John Longmire, Wayne Carey, Michael Roach, Peter Sumich and Chris Grant to that list.

And a host of others that represented the greatest threat to St Kilda during that time.

There was no easy ride for a defender back in those days.

No cruising around half back without giving a second thought to an opponent, racking up double figure marks and uncontested possessions in the 30s.

The full back of the day rarely left the side of his opponent. And the full forward of the day never made it easy for him by vacating the forward 50 at every opportunity to become part of “team defence”.

Put simply, the full back ran down to the goalsquare, shook hands with the full forward – or didn’t – then engaged in two hours of physical and mental combat.

No quarter asked for, none given.

The boundaries were pushed, often broken and tempers flared constantly.

Liberties were taken and apologies were neither sought or given.

And it was in this environment that Spud was at his magnificent best.

The only way you could front up to these superstars of the game, constantly, was if you had an unnatural and almost unhealthy competitive streak.

And Danny Frawley was one of the most competitive men I have ever met.

Danny Frawley struggles against Allen Jakovich.

Callum Wilkie flies for a mark against Fremantle last round.

It didn’t matter what you were doing, Spud made it into a contest.

And once you were involved in that contest, he would do whatever it took to make sure he prevailed.

In the footy sense, it was the one quality that he was convinced he was superior to compared to his opponents.

He knew Dunstall and Modra and Ablett and Co had more ability, but he would never concede that they were prepared to go to the lengths he would go to win, or half a contest.

That mindset allowed him to be the very best version of himself.

His athleticism was an attribute that sometimes gets overlooked, but it carried him to the heights that these demigod forwards existed in, and if he eventually reached his limit, then the rules that the game were governed by became superfluous.

He had no hesitation in testing the officials of the days boundaries.

If he stepped over and was called on it, he’d give that sheepish grin that allowed him to get away with more than most.

And it wasn’t just football that he applied this attitude to.

Danny Frawley (L) and Tony Lockett (R) enjoy a Saints win.

Of all his mates that may be reading this, whether they be reminiscing about a game of tennis, a hit of golf or, as we often did in our days as AFL promotions officers, a spin around the go kart track, coming second, for him, was simply unacceptable.

A close line call, when he was 5-2 up would be generously adjudicated. When he was 2-5 down, however, the 50-50 call would quickly be decided in his favour!

If he was in danger of not recording the fastest lap time on the track, he would have no hesitation in cutting you off and driving you into the wall.

Jason Dunstall (left), Brian Taylor, Garry Lyon and Danny Frawley recording a song during their days on Triple M together.

Any protest post race would be met with a “bad luck mate” and off he’d swagger, and I swear he’d be happier than Oscar Piastri after his most recent Formula 1 victory.

I reminisce, of course, as we’re celebrating Spuds game at the MCG on Friday night.

And I simply can’t believe we lost this man almost six years ago.

As I set about writing this, I couldn’t help but think how proud he would be of the man who currently holds down the position on the field that Spud coveted and made his own back in the day.

Callum Wilkie, who made his debut in Round 1 of 2019, is the embodiment of everything that Danny Frawley stood for.

In a week that we celebrated Jack Crisp becoming the consecutive games record holder, it’s appropriate that we acknowledge the stunning resilience of the Saints’ No. 1 defender.

He has not missed a game since his debut.

Taken as pick No. 3 in the 2019 rookie draft, Wilkie has played 140 games in a row.

And, like Frawley, he is deployed on the oppositions best forward, week in, week out and rarely gets beaten.

Pick a team, and name their best forward and there is every chance that Cal Wilkie has played on him. And beaten him.

Danny Frawley was All-Australian and won his club’s best-and-fairest in his fifth year.

Wilkie was All-Australian in his fifth year and won the club’s best-and-fairest in his sixth.

Frawley played at 191cm and 95kg and regularly gave away height and weight to his opponents.

Similarly, Wilkie stands at 191cm, and while modern protocols don't provide players weights, I’m guessing it’s not far off the 95kg mark.

Opposed to the likes of Nick Larkey (198cm), Riley Thilthorpe (202cm), Harry McKay (204cm), Eric Hipwood (203cm), Ben King (202cm) and Sam Darcy (208cm), Wilkie, too, punches above his weight.

What’s the saying?

Garry Lyon speaks before St Kilda’s Spud’s Game. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but rather the size of the fight in the dog.

What’s really impressive about Wilkie is that while his competitive instincts do Spud proud, he has also adapted to the modern game and become an intercept force for the Saints.

For a player of his experience – 140 games – there has been no St Kilda player that has had more intercept possessions than him.

He has taken the third-most marks during that time and effected the second-most spoils.

In the past three years, he has had the fifth-most intercept possessions of any player in the competition.

But, critically, none of these numbers, as impressive as they are, have come at the detriment of his fundamental role, and that is to play on the oppositions best forward and restrict their impact on the scoreboard.

So far this year he has restricted Darcy Fogarty to one goal, Jesse Hogan to two, Aaron Naughton to one, Eric Hipwood to one and kept Josh Treacy goal less last week in their rout of Fremantle.

He has mastered the art of making early body contact with his opponent and then manoeuvres them in such a way that they are incapable of getting an unimpeded run at the ball, which allows him to either work them under the ball completely, effect a spoil or complete the intercept mark.

Much of this work is done early in the flight of the incoming ball.

Danny Frawley is revered as a legend of the Saints.

Callum Wilkie plays with the same courage Frawley did.

It speaks to his ability to read the flight of the ball and the potential drop zone, and he reacts accordingly.

You get engaged in a tangle with Cal Wilkie at your peril.

And the one are of his game that Spud would love the most?

He rarely, if ever, loses a pure 1 v 1 contest.

The gladiatorial element of the game that we highlighted as the cornerstone of Danny’s game and forms such an integral part of his footballing legacy.

Since the star of 2024 he has been involved in 74 on v one contest and lost 10.

Only Jacob Weitering has a better 1 v1 record of the top 50 players for contests defended.

St Kilda fans, and football fans in general, will take a moment this weekend and remember one of footy’s great competitors.

Whose family continue to raise awareness and provide valuable resources for those that are being challenged in the mental health space.

How thankful we are that the neanderthals of yesteryear, who chose to doubt rather than understand, the mental health confronting so many people, footballers included, are disappearing, being replaced by an understanding and empathetic community determined to help, rather than alienate.

Those same St Kilda fans will be grateful that, once again, they have a player such as Callum Wilkie playing with the combative spirit of Danny Frawley.

Originally published as Garry Lyon: Callum Wilkie embodies everything great that my great mate Danny Frawley brought to St Kilda