Why Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera’s departure would rip Saints’ hearts out
Lance Franklin, Chris Judd … Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera? If St Kilda lose their talisman it will rip the hearts out of Saints fans. Will he stay or go? Jon Ralph has the latest.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
If St Kilda lost Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera just as he is reaching the peak of his stardom, it might be the most heartbreaking trade of this century.
There have been more iconic players move clubs, with Lance Franklin escaping the fishbowl of Melbourne and Brownlow Medallist Chris Judd moving back east after sating his premiership thirst.
There have been captains that have departed, and certainly Gold Coast would argue that losing Tom Lynch from a team ravaged by southern raiders would be on a par with ‘Nas’ heading home.
UNPACKED: WATCH HOW THE SAINTS’ 55 SECOND HIEST UNFOLDED
Tom Scully left for Greater Western Sydney as the No. 1 overall pick while the Demons were in despair and the Pies ditched Adam Treloar in a fire sale.
And Jason Horne-Francis left the rudderless Roos but he had shown none of his blinding starpower as a petulant first-year player.
Few other trades or players movements in the past 25 years have had such a specific set of circumstances that mean the jilted party will feel so distraught and short-changed.
When Hawthorn lost Lance Franklin for pick 19 as free agency compensation he was footy’s brightest star.
But the Hawks were just days on from the 2013 premiership and had Jarryd Roughead, Jack Gunston and Cyril Rioli to fall back on in their forward line.
When West Coast lost premiership captain Chris Judd they asked for and received the king’s ransom, securing pick 3 (Chris Masten) and in Josh Kennedy a generation forward who would become the club’s leading goalkicker.
Both Masten and Kennedy would play in the 2018 flag together.
But what has St Kilda fans utterly terrified is that if Wanganeen-Milera left it would be to a pair of clubs who seem utterly incapable of giving St Kilda fair compensation.
WHAT THE CONTENDERS CAN OFFER
Port Adelaide doesn’t have a first-rounder and would start any package with two first-rounders for 2026 and 2027 that will be pushed well back by academy and Tasmanian selections.
Adelaide’s first-rounder this year is currently at pick 17 and might end up at pick 27, with the same concerns about their future stocks.
Wanganeen-Milera isn’t just a player – he represents the hope of a downtrodden fanbase and the idea of a rebuild.
He would be leaving a club that has played finals just twice in 14 seasons, with the 2008-2011 glory years so distant in memory.
Anything is possible when Wanganeen-Milera kicks two goals in nine seconds and drags St Kilda over the line.
He is St Kilda’s Andrew McLeod.
And if he stays, he might be capable of doing what McLeod did on the biggest stage as the centrepiece of that methodical rebuild.
Players want to be on the same field with him, such is his pull.
He is one of the reasons Tom De Koning is interested in coming to St Kilda although thankfully TDK seems pot-committed now even if NWM does leave.
The question is whether it is harder for him to leave after iconic moments like his heroics against Melbourne.
St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt said last night of his jaw-dropping feats: “He established himself as a St Kilda legend today”.
He must feel that love, feel that appreciation, realise he would tear out the hearts of so many St Kilda fans if he did depart just when he is entering the conversation as the game’s best player.
What makes the decision even more agonising for St Kilda fans is that Wanganeen-Milera has football’s ultimate poker face.
As one of the clubs keen on him said recently, he has ice running through his veins.
Most seismic player departures are foreshadowed by months of hints and breadcrumbs.
Lachie Neale’s departure to the Lions was a bombshell, while the Tom Boyd-Ryan Griffen swap took our breath away.
But by the time Franklin, Judd and Patrick Dangerfield departed the fan base had got their head around the inevitable.
Richmond lost Shai Bolton and Daniel Rioli but to clubs stacked with draft picks in an impending superdraft.
St Kilda, Port Adelaide and Adelaide truly have no idea what he will do, which is why moments like the Marvel Stadium Miracle raise the stakes even higher for Saints fans.
As Red tells Andy Dufresne in every footballer’s favourite movie: “Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane”.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE SAINTS’ OFFER
St Kilda’s current offer is $1.4 million over two seasons.
It isn’t linked or compromised in any way by their $1.7 million a year deal for De Koning.
They have money to go around, they have scope to improve that offer if it is the only thing that will keep Nas there.
As recently as a month ago they believed Adelaide’s offer was eight years at $1.2 million but even that looks woefully inadequate now.
Those clubs are prepared to open the chequebook on deals of 8-10 years of $1.5 million or more and could front-end those deals to hit $2 million in early years given their cap space.
But as the Herald Sun has reported this year, he isn’t especially homesick, he loves Ross Lyon, he loves his housemates including Mitch Owens and Marcus Windhager and he is keen to finish what he started at St Kilda.
Still, there is the pull of his Yo-Chi mates Jase Burgoyne and Jason Horne-Francis at Port Adelaide, who he caught up with over frozen treats across the bye round.
Adelaide hopes its on field fortunes mean he is considering them seriously but in the background they fear that if there is smoke there is at least some fire over his reticence to join them over Taylor Walker’s previous racist controversy.
His manager Ben Williams is keen for him to be paid fairly as St Kilda’s best player, even if De Koning would trump his deal.
Williams is aware St Kilda would offer any contract length to satisfy him – a two-year deal, four years to free agency, any long-term triggers he wants.
But Williams has asked St Kilda to present that two-year deal in a sign they have to be in the race.
In June in his most definitive comments he told the AFL website: “ “I am happy playing here. I’ve got great relationships with the boys. I love Ross, I love all the coaching staff. I want to be part of something special here at St Kilda.”
And yet we are at round 21 and St Kilda is still waiting, still nervous, still not especially confident in his decision.
Williams will get his wish to get his client paid vast fortunes just as he has for the likes of Isaac Heeney, Connor Rozee and Jack Lukosius.
But he is also able to execute big deals to get his men home just as he did when Jason Horne-Francis jumped ship to get to Port Adelaide.
So the Saints fans wait nervously for their hearts to be ripped out or their wildest dreams to be realised, daring to hope but aware when a player’s contract drifts this late into the season it usually only goes one way.
Originally published as Why Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera’s departure would rip Saints’ hearts out
Goodwin to front Dees board after Sunday horror show
A scheduled board meeting at Melbourne will occur just 24 hours after the Dees’ horror show against the Saints, and as pressure rises on Simon Goodwin, change in some form is almost certain.
The Tackle: Why Jezza demolition could be Roos’ worst loss yet
Fans have once again watched shell-shocked Roos players walk off after a massive loss, with no end to the misery in sight. Jay Clark unpacks another blue and white disaster in The Tackle.