Plot thickens over leaks in Caroline Wilson-St Kilda backlash

Caroline Wilson has revealed new details about the headlines dogging St Kilda as a footy legend weighed in with a damning call.

Caroline Wilson has been in the wars.

Footy legend Matthew Lloyd has questioned whether Seb Ross and St Kilda are the right fit for each other while journalist Caroline Wilson suggested it was more than just the Saints talking about senior players’ decisions to skip a crucial game during the season.

Wilson said last week St Kilda fans and sponsors had reason to be disappointed with Ross and Tim Membrey, who missed the six-point loss to Adelaide in Round 13 after returning home for family reasons.

Stream selected Fox Footy shows on Kayo Freebies completely free this June including AFL 360, On The Couch, Bounce & more. No Credit Card. No Brainer. Register Free Now >

Ross’ wife gave birth to twins six weeks ago and Membrey’s partner is expecting. Last week Ross released a statement about the uproar, while St Kilda CEO Matt Finnis also responded.

Wilson reported senior figures at the club were disappointed with Ross and Membrey missing such an important fixture after encouraging them to stay, and was surprised the pair had gone back to Melbourne rather than lace up the boots against the Crows.

Ross has played more than 150 games for the Saints but Lloyd has cast doubts over whether the relationship between club and player is fractured beyond repair. The Essendon great suggested leaks to journalists about discontent within the inner sanctum about Ross’ call to go home to his wife would not have sat well with the St Kilda star.

“For Matt Finnis to come out with — he was saying there pretty much was a discussion around what you (Wilson) broke, the story,” Lloyd told Footy Classified.

“That there was a discussion around, ‘Should he play, shouldn’t he? But we gave him our blessing’. No one else was really coming out to have their say about it.

“If I was Seb Ross I would have been thinking, ‘OK, who internally at this club is speaking about me with journalists?’

“That’s where a lack of trust would come from Seb and for me that would be a hard one to get over.

“I’d be questioning whether (St Kilda is the club for him) and also maybe, do good clubs handle themselves that way? Do good clubs speak the way they did?”

Seb Ross found himself in the middle of footy’s biggest story last week.

Wilson hinted St Kilda may not have been the club who first spoke to her about angst within the ranks about two senior players missing the Adelaide game when the team’s season was on the line, revealing it was a talking point that extended well beyond the four walls at the Saints.

“You don’t know that St Kilda were the club who first spoke to me about this. And it was only after some significant digging that I was aware of (the issue),” she said.

“I knew it was a question because clubs all over the AFL were talking about it.

“Maybe there’s a bit of lack of trust on both sides now with Seb Ross and St Kilda.”

Many in the AFL world, including Melbourne legend Garry Lyon, AFLPA boss Paul Marsh and Richmond star Jack Riewoldt, hit out at those questioning the commitment of Ross and Membrey after they chose to go home for personal reasons.

Wilson has repeatedly defended her reporting of the matter, maintaining she has “never criticised the wives of either of those St Kilda players”.

“I hate it when people get nasty and personal about me and I think that’s not fair,” Wilson told ABC’s Offsiders on the weekend.

“No (I don’t regret it). It was a legitimate story. I don’t regret reporting it at all and if I can’t have an opinion about something sensitive, then something’s changed.

“Obviously I regret it if there has been extra pressure put on a young mother, clearly, and that was never my intention, to criticise the wives of these players.

“I was at pains to ascertain that there wasn’t a serious emergency here and because I made that point, that was even worse because I assumed to understand, and I thought that was a bit rough.”