AFTER 30 senior games in his first four seasons in the AFL, major milestones were not foremost in Leigh Montagna’s mind.
The pacy on-baller had suffered injury setbacks and battled to find a regular senior game while his contemporaries Nick Dal Santo, Luke Ball, Brendon Goddard and Nick Riewoldt established themselves in what was widely regarded as the most exciting young group in the AFL.
But it wasn’t until 2006 that Montagna hit his stride and became one of the Saints’ most resilient players. Since round two of that season he has missed just five of St Kilda’s 174 games to become a mainstay in the Saints midfield.
Montagna said reaching the 200 mark was a privilege.
“It’s very special. Something I’m very excited about and we have a 200 club board (in the gym) with all photos of past champions and to be able to join that is something I am very proud of,” Montagna said.
The highlights of his career came in 2009 and 2010 when he received back-to-back All-Australian selections, top three best and fairest finishes and Grand Final appearances.
But Montagna said he still hoped to get more out of his career.
“That was probably the peak of my career as a team and probably individually as well. I’m really enjoying my footy at the moment and I am still enjoying playing,” he said.
“Hopefully I can play for a few more years yet.”
Montagna said he was taking a particular interest in helping younger teammates develop into regular senior footballers while doing all he could to win games for the Saints.
“I’m still hanging on to the belief that if I can play for three years, I’ve been around long enough to know things can turn around pretty quickly at clubs,” he said.
“It might take a while but it might not. I’ve got to make sure I can do all I can to still be a part of the footy club. I’ve got a lot of faith in Scott Watters and the direction the club is going. If I hold my end of the bargain up and continue to play good footy, I can be part of another successful era.”
The Saints have blooded five debutants this year and in Saturday’s game against the Bulldogs had nine players with fewer than 50 games experience.
[ RELATED: Development a priority ]
Montagna said he had been impressed with what he had seen from the younger brigade.
“I’m enjoying working in the middle with Jack Newnes and Seb Ross. I think they are going to be quality footballers. I’m really liking Nathan Wright in the back line, he is hard and tough and is going to be playing a lot of senior football,” he said.
“There are lots of sprinkles of potential in guys and they need to get games into them and develop. That will be part of my role at the club and hopefully I can be a part of it when they are all up and coming superstars and I’m still hanging around and can hang off their coat tails.”
