St Kilda still plans to host a ‘Danny Frawley Tribute’ game, but only when fans return to the footy

It was meant to happen in Round 2, but St Kilda’s planned tribute to one of its favourite sons Danny Frawley has been put on hold, with the club set to wait until fans can be part of the celebration of the legend’s life.

Danny Frawley’s tribute deserves to have a packed house. Picture: Rob Leeson

St Kilda still has plans for a tribute match for one of its favourite sons Danny Frawley, but only when fans get the chance to return to the football.

The Saints had been looking at a special match to allow fans to pay their respects to Frawley — who was killed in a car crash last September — with the club originally pinpointing the Round 2 Marvel Stadium clash with West Coast as the most likely option.

The coronavirus shutdown ended those hopes, but Saints chief executive Matt Finnis has confirmed a tribute game will still happen “at the earliest available opportunity”.

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Danny Frawley’s tribute deserves to have a packed house. Picture: Rob Leeson

It won’t go ahead until crowds are allowed back into venues to allow fans and those closest to Frawley to be a part of the special tribute.

“There have been many aspects of our plans for the year ahead that have been turned upside down, but one of the moments we were looking forward to the most was being able to give Saints fans the opportunity to celebrate Danny's life and contribution to the club,” Finnis said.

“I am sure we will not miss the opportunity to do that at the earliest available opportunity.”

Finnis said the club would continue to look at tangible ways to honour Frawley's sizeable contribution to the St Kilda Football Club.

Last pre-season St Kilda's playing list went on a camp to Frawley's hometown of Bungaree where they learnt about his legacy from teammate Stewart Loewe. The club wants it to become an annual tradition.

“We talk about bricks and mortar being really important, but ultimately footy clubs are about people,” Finnis said.

The Saints set up a shrine to their fallen club great at their best and fairest count last year.

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“That's as much about your current people as those who have gone before.

“To have people like Stewie Loewe connect with the footy club and share the stories of ‘Spud’ (Frawley) with the players, they are moments that go to the DNA of the footy club.

“We will keep looking at ways to nurture that.”

Finnis said Saints fans had rallied behind the club during the shutdown period and would undoubtedly be cheering the team on from afar when footy resumes without crowds next month.

“In Round 1 we watched the footy feeling like there was something missing and that was the fans who weren’t there,” he said.

“My sense is now we’ve had it taken away from us, we will take it back in whatever form we can.

“Then we can all look forward to the day when we can open the stands again to have the Saints army there to support us.”

Danny Frawley was a lifelong Sainter.

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RATTEN FEARS SOME SAINTS WON’T GET UP FOR ROUND 2

—REBECCA WILLIAMS

St Kilda coach Brett Ratten concedes the speed the club will have to accelerate players’ training to get them match-fit means some might not be ready for the AFL’s Round 2 return.

While he was buoyed by the shape in which his players have returned to the club this week after the AFL’s coronavirus shutdown, Ratten acknowledged preparing the players for games in less than four weeks was the biggest concern.

“(The biggest challenge is) probably how quickly we accelerate the program to games,” Ratten said.

“To think it’s only going to be three weeks of training and then the lead-up to the first round (back), that will be a challenge.

“It might mean that we can’t pick everyone in Round 2 when we get back, it might mean that we have to wait a week or so.

“But I think with the crew that we have got and the medical staff, that’s a big challenge, but I think it’s one that we can overcome.”

Saints coach Brett Ratten says he is happy with the way the Saints have returned to training. Picture: AAP

Ratten admitted the club would take a cautious approach with players who have had a history of soft-tissue injuries during the mini pre-season ahead of next month’s return.

“Our approach on day one might have been a bit slower than others, but it was about gathering the information so then we could push forward pretty quickly,” Ratten said.

“Today we lifted the bar a fair bit higher. But most clubs will be taking risks somewhere in this first week about trying to get moving quickly.”

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Ratten said Dan Hannebery, who had an injury-plagued first season with the Saints, had “trained really well” upon his return.

More generally, Ratten was pleased with the shape his players had returned after the shutdown.

“They have come back in really good shape,” Ratten said.

“I think it is a challenge for most clubs when you can’t see the players every day and watch what they do … out players have come back in great shape, which is great.”

Ratten said having to make cuts to the football department had been tough.

“That’s the hardest thing to think people have been stood down from this period and they did nothing wrong,” Ratten said.

“But you look in society and people have lost businesses and still not working and it goes across every suburb and every state and there are some very hard stories.

Oft-injured former Swan Dan Hannebery has trained well. Picture: Getty Images

“There has been some good people in our organisation that haven’t come back from this period which is tough for them, but we are still keeping in contact and hopefully when we get back to next year … we can bring a few of those people back.

“We really went down the generalist model – if you have got multiple skills that will help the organisation – people who did have that first up, they got a gig.

“But very tough and not great to have those conversations.”

Ratten said he did not have an issue with players having to travel on game day when the season resumed and was also comfortable with the interchange bench numbers remaining at four.

“I think if they keep the minutes the same as round one I don’t think we need to,” Ratten said.

“The AFL is giving themselves a bit of room to move. If the game requires that for the last five games to add one (interchange) I think they would be up for it if the injury rate was too high.”

Originally published as St Kilda still plans to host a ‘Danny Frawley Tribute’ game, but only when fans return to the footy