St Kilda president Andrew Bassat reflects on lifelong Saints fandom from Animal Enclosure to boardroom
Andrew Bassat is a lifelong Saints fan so he knows what decades of waiting for success feels like but as president he believes he is getting the pieces into place for sustained success.
St Kilda
Don't miss out on the headlines from St Kilda. Followed categories will be added to My News.
As a St Kilda fan who grew up in the famous Animal Enclosure at Moorabbin nearly five decades ago, Andrew Bassat knows what it is to wait.
The Saints president also knows it is tough asking any fan base for patience, particularly one that has seen so much disappointment.
But Bassat is steadfast the revolving door of personnel movement that has shaken up the offices at Moorabbin and the long-term plan he and coach Ross Lyon have committed to has the club on the way up to a pinnacle that will finally deliver a second premiership.
An uber-successful co-founder of Seek with his brother Paul, Bassat needed to be talked into leading the Saints before his takeover in 2018 but now can finally see success is just over the hill.
“I’d love us to win a flag. I needed some convincing (to become president) because it is easier to not be involved and complain from the outskirts for sure and I don’t need the work or I certainly don’t need my name in the paper,” he told this masthead.
“I just got convinced I could help and it got to the point where we all do our bit and what we are asking from our supporters is exactly that. it feels like we are all pushing a trolley up the hill and when you get to the top of the hill, you can go down a lot faster, but in the meantime we just all need to keep pushing and we have seen that in the last few years.
“So many people have played their role to the best of their ability and I can feel like we are getting to the top and getting that momentum to go downhill.”
The many stops and starts over the 58 years since St Kilda’s lone premiership probably had the club’s fans feeling like they were pushing something else up hill.
This time, Bassat has promised there will be no rushing in experienced players despite a 2023 finals appearance.
And while there will be no prolonged rebuild, there will also be no quick fixes.
The Saints started this season with two wins from their first five games but ran likely finalists Geelong and GWS Giants close, while throwing one away against Essendon.
St Kilda hosts the Western Bulldogs on Thursday.
The Saints will have to find diamonds in the draft – like recent winning picks Mitch Owens, Mattaes Phillipou and Darcy Wilson – before landing the big fishes to vault them into the top four.
Bassat and the Saints have pledged to become a regular top-four finisher but he said the club’s rise may not be linear.
“I have been a long-suffering fan which is why I got involved to be honest,” he said.
“I thought I could help. It is hard to ask for patience but we need to do it right and to be frank, in the past St Kilda has taken short cuts. Probably even in the recent past.
“Flags are hard to win, there are 18 sides all trying to do the same thing and there are the draft compromises. It is hard enough if you do it properly and it is impossible if you take short cuts. Ross has been very clear on what we need to do, (footy boss) David Misson has been very clear that as a football club we want to be competing for flags. But we have got to get there properly.”
Bassat believes Damian Carroll and Lenny Hayes lead “the best development team in the country”.
While he didn’t want to get caught in a trap of putting a time frame on hitting premiership contention, the president said the young crop of Saints have them on the right path.
“If you fast forward a year, or two years, and those players are up to 50, 100 games, we should be challenging,” he said.
“You need to retain your players and you need to get your salary cap in order and then be smart and bring in free agents possibly. We are working on all of those things and I think we have a better run club now to give us the best chance of success down that path.”
The sons of a St Kilda fan “who didn’t care very much”, the Bassat brothers caught the bug in the rough and ready 1970s and 80s at Moorabbin – where there was as much colour off the field as on it and the standing room ‘Animal Enclosure’ was as wild as any area at any VFL ground.
The club is still waiting to win but the fans, including Bassat, hold on to their faith.
“We grew up in the Animal Enclosure in the days of (Geoff) ‘Joffa’ Cunningham … we grew up as diehard fans and nothing has really changed and we wanted St Kilda to have some success,” Bassat said.
THE ROSS QUESTION
There was no surprise on Bassat’s face when he was thrown the inevitable question about his coach.
No coach across the league gets spoken about as running his entire club as often as Ross Lyon.
The Saints have reworked almost the entire football department around the experienced Lyon since he returned to the club in late 2022 but Bassat again batted away talk that he has too much influence.
Former CEO Simon Lethlean was the latest high profile departure in January, amid talk he wanted to be more involved in football.
Former North Melbourne CEO Carl Dilena appears likely to be appointed full-time in his stead and Bassat confirmed St Kilda had not spoken to ex-Fremantle CEO Steve Rosich after his recent departure from leading the Victoria Racing Club.
“Ross is a good coach, I think we have the best coach in the AFL,” Bassat said.
“Ross has not even remotely sought to interfere with the football club beyond coaching. We have a very trusting relationship, he trusts me to run the football club and trusts Carl Dilena to run the football club beyond football and he is coaching and doing very well. The stories about him trying to influence beyond coaching are just not valid.”
So why do those stories keep bubbling up?
“People like to write these stories and people jump on them,” the president said.
“He has a strong personality, Ross, and I am loving the extent to which he has imposed that personality on our football department alongside David Misson and guys like (recruiter Graeme) ‘Gubby’ Allan and (list manager) Stephen Silvagni.
“We have a lot of strong people in football right now and none of them have sought to influence the football club beyond their remit. And I have been very pleased to see that.”
More Coverage
Originally published as St Kilda president Andrew Bassat reflects on lifelong Saints fandom from Animal Enclosure to boardroom
Saints star makes call despite last-ditch $6m bid
St Kilda interceptor Josh Battle has made a call on his AFL future, with a huge compensation question emerging from his near $6 million contract.
Revealed: Saints’ $6m last-ditch bid to keep Battle
St Kilda’s last-ditch attempt to keep Josh Battle at Moorabbin has been revealed as the defender explained why he chose Hawthorn after months after haggling from both clubs.