SACKED podcast: Brendon Goddard reveals he pleaded to stay at St Kilda before sealing Essendon switch
Brendon Goddard thought the Saints had the 2010 Grand Final sewn up when put St Kilda a goal up late in the final quarter. He says there are two key moments that he wishes the Saints could have back.
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Brendon Goddard's mind was swirling as he bludgeoned golf balls in frustration at Metropolitan Golf Course.
He wanted to stay at St Kilda; he thought coach Scott Watters and the club were happy for him to leave.
It was late 2012 as the 'D-Day' on Goddard's footballing future came to a head.
He was being courted by Essendon who were prepared to give him what St Kilda was not – the security of a four-year deal.
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RELIVE PART ONE OF SACKED: BRENDON GODDARD’S ESSENDON YEARS
"I had to get out of the house, hit some golf balls and clear my head," Goddard told the Sacked podcast.
"Essendon needed to know, because they had to clear a few blokes out with list management.
"(They were calling) … I was like 'Just give me an hour'."
As he stood on one of Melbourne's most prestigious 'Sandbelt' courses, Goddard made one final call to St Kilda head of football Chris Pelchen.
"In that hour, I got back on the phone … I said 'Give me a fair deal, I don't want to leave'."
But the salary-cap stretched Saints stood firm, eliciting an emotional response from the player who had called St Kilda home for 10 seasons.
"I was nearly in tears … saying "Give me a fair deal because you know it's not fair."
The stalemate couldn't be resolved.
Goddard punched James Hird's number into his mobile – "I called Hirdy, and said 'I'm in … I am leaving … I’m going to Essendon."
THE LAST SEASON
Watters and Pelchen were attempting a dramatic realignment of the Saints’ bursting salary cap – which they had inherited – at a club sorely lacking elite talent.
But in the brave new world of the first year of free agency, Goddard never felt he was brought along with the club’s plans and wonders if he had been set up to fail.
He had spoken to St Kilda about a new deal as far back as December 2011.
But it was agreed to park the conversation for a time.
Then about two months into the 2012 season, Goddard felt it was time to commit.
"I said to 'Ned' (manager Craig Kelly), 'I’m pretty comfortable, let's sit down with the club and start talking'."
When the parties eventually met, he felt the Saints were stalling by suggesting they needed board clearance.
To make matters worse, Goddard felt he was being deliberately played out of position as the season went on.
“They were playing me at half forward for most of the second half of the year — the hardest position to play in.”
He convinced Watters to let him go head-to-head with Bulldog Matthew Boyd in his 200th game then he played on Collingwood’s Scott Pendlebury the next week before being moved forward in the last term.
“I was blanketing (Pendlebury) and all of a sudden ten minutes into the last quarter … the runner goes out and say ‘Go forward’. I was like ‘What are you talking about?’. I go forward, the ball doesn’t go near me and we lose (by six points).
“I walk in the next week and I was like ‘What was up with that?’ (Watters) said we needed another marking target up forward. That didn’t make sense. I didn’t play consistently in the midfield for the rest of the year.”
When the contract offer came late in the season, the club offered three years – not the requested four – and Goddard claimed it was a "low ball figure."
"Looking back, this was all pre-planned," Goddard said.
"I'm not p*ssing in my pocket, but I was (going to be) the next captain of the club … I was old enough to know this was BS."
Goddard told the club he wanted "a fair deal", asking for a fourth year and a slightly higher figure.
He was told the club wouldn’t move on either.
"I thought this is bullsh*t, this is the final straw. That's when I said 'No, let's start looking elsewhere'."
BECOMING A SAINT
A lifelong Carlton fan, Goddard had been told by the Blues he would be the club's 2002 No. 1 draft pick.
Then in the early hours of a Saturday morning – the day before the national draft – the AFL handed down massive draft penalties on Carlton for salary cap rorting.
Disappointment faded when the 17-year-old was St Kilda’s No. 1 draft pick.
He was shocked when Saints coach Grant Thomas said to him: "We'll see you tomorrow at training."
Goddard had planned a massive party for family, friends and schoolmates from Caulfield Grammar that night in the paddock beside his home at Glengarry, 160km southeast of Melbourne.
Thomas arranged to have Saints recruiting manager John Beveridge as Goddard’s chauffeur.
"True to their word, Johnny Beveridge was at the door at 7.15 (am)," Goddard recounted.
"I got to bed at 6.30.
“I got to the club and did the introduction.
“Thommo taps me on the shoulder and says 'You are No. 18'. I was like 'Is No. 9 available?'. He says “No, you are No. 18, because that was my old number.”
Thomas ended up “a father figure” for Goddard – “he had a huge impact not only on my footy, but my life.”
WE WERE 2009’S BEST TEAM
Goddard was always driven.
"I wanted to work harder. I wanted to be fitter. I always wanted to be a better kick than anyone else," he said.
"My brother used to push me hard.
"That's where I got my competitiveness and my hot streak from.
I was playing against my older brother and his mates.
"All my mates in town were about three or four years older than me. To compete they used to bash me up and I used to scratch finger and nail to get better."
He took that competitive edge to St Kilda.
"I quickly figured out who were the best players," he said. "I chased Harvs (Robert Harvey), 'Sammy' (Aaron) Hamill, Fraser (Gehrig) and you realise the work horses like Andrew Thompson and what makes them great.
"Rooey (Nick Riewoldt) was clinging onto the back of them and Lenny (Hayes) was a little bit older, and I thought I’m going to jump on their coat-tails."
Goddard maintains St Kilda's 2009 side – which won its first 19 games – was the best team across the season, even if a Matthew Scarlett toe-poke and Paul Chapman snap derived the Saints of the ultimate prize.
"We were the best team (of 2009)," Goddard said, other than the Grand Final which the Cats won by 12 points.
"I think a lot of the Geelong people have said that. But it doesn't mean much (if you don't win) on Grand Final day, does it?"
THAT MARK
Goddard sat down with his kids recently and watched the St Kilda Grand Finals.
It wasn't cathartic, but he pushed through, even if a few key moments left him wincing.
“It hasn't been until recent times that I have had the backbone to sit down and watch (them)."
The 2010 drawn Grand Final was "a blur … you remember particular moments you were involved with or moments other guys were involved with."
"You sit there and go 'Sh*t, geez, how close was that. It makes me feel sick watching it again."
He took an extraordinary mark just before time-on in the last term. His goal put them in front by six points.
Goddard said: "I thought we had it won and it's not a good thing."
"A few guys admitted that a couple of weeks later, sitting around having beers. The supporters thought it and the boys did too at the time.
"It's a natural reaction, but it is not a good thing to be thinking it with five minutes to go."
TWO CRITICAL MOMENTS
Goddard accepts as much blame as his teammates for what happened next.
But on watching the game again, two key moments stood out that he wished the Saints could have back.
The first came with four minutes left – with the Saints five points ahead – as Sam Fisher cleared the ball out of the Magpies' defence.
Goddard recalled: "Sam Fisher … wheeled onto his right foot coming into the corridor … and I was just lateral to him.
"As I was looking up, Kosi (Justin Koschitzke) was in the middle of the ground standing by himself … (Fisher) screwed it around his body and kicked it down the line and (Nick) Maxwell came in to mark.
"(If he had got it) Kosi would have literally ran inside 50m and had a shot.
"I remember thinking at the time it was huge. I thought (Fisher) had actually seen him but when you watch it on the television, it is even more dramatic.”
Maxwell played on, leading to one of the game’s most important passages.
Maxwell found Alan Didak who chipped to Steele Sidebottom and onto Brent Macaffer who launched deep.
Goddard recalled: "I got filthy at Grammy (Jason Gram) … because he didn't hold out Heath Shaw. I floated back (and looked ready to take) an uncontested mark. But Grammy got caught ball watching a bit and Heath Shaw slipped in behind and spoiled me from behind."
"Then the ball bobbled out."
It spilt to Chris Dawes on the ground, and he shot a handball to Travis Cloke who regained the lead.
Then came the much talked about Milne bounce of the ball moment that saw Lenny Hayes’ behind tied the scores, setting up the third Grand Final draw.
“We will feel like this forever, this hollow feeling,” he said.
"(But) we deemed our careers at the Saints as a success. Ultimately we don't have a medal or a cup to prove it, but it was a success. "
CULTURE CLUB
Goddard remains fiercely resistant to Watters’ claims – aired in the former St Kilda coach’s Sacked podcast last year – that the Saints’ culture was broken.
He admitted the St Kilda schoolgirl nude photo scandal was turbulent, but stressed it did not reflect the club’s overall culture.
“Look at the origins of how that happened … someone going through someone’s computer and stealing photos and sending them to themselves,” Goddard said.
“That is crazy, but how does that reflect on our culture?
“It was like every day, every week she would do something different.
“She rocked up to training one time and had these flyers she was handing out on the edge of the oval.
He said Nick Riewoldt – one of the innocent parties – almost became a recluse after an altercation with a heckler at a fish and chip shop.
“Someone threw a smart-arse remark at him and he dropped his food and pushed this guy and told him where to go,” he said. “After that, he said ‘I am not leaving the house.”
He also dismissed criticism of the club’s decision to recruit former Bomber Andrew Lovett, who was sacked without playing a game after contract breaches and a rape charge that would eventually be dropped.
“We tried to deal with Andrew culturally early days for the few days he was there,” he said.
“Rocking up to training when he rocks up on Saturday fat club ten minutes late with a coffee in his hand and he’s like ‘Sorry I am late’ and it's like ‘Mate, you've got time to stop for a coffee’.
“There will be guys who slip through the cracks.
“So that’s why (with) anyone involved with Saints at that time, no one will say it was a cultural issue.
“The only reason Scotty is doing it is to defend himself and his lack of success at the footy club.”
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