It is no wonder that footy fans look back at the 1990s as a golden era full of stars and classic contests.
And St Kilda was right at the forefront in that wonderful era, breaking a long finals drought and reaching the 1997 Grand Final.
The 1990s Decade Lunch was organised by our St Kilda Past Players and Officials committee and set the tone for the season.
The concept of the Decade Lunch was driven by STK PPOA committee member Simon Meehan and followed on from the lunch which honoured our best players of the 1980s. That memorable get-together in 2019 marked the last St Kilda function attended by Danny Frawley who was master of ceremonies.
The beloved “Spud” was announced as the skipper of the 1990 Team of the Decade. Anita Frawley spoke of the 1990s era, and Spud’s great mates Stewart Loewe, Rob Harvey and Nathan Burke added some heartfelt words.
Ken Sheldon who in 1991 guided the Saints to our first finals series in 18 years, and Stan Alves who was at the helm for the 1997 Grand Final were joint coaches. Stan gave a memorable speech that struck a chord with everyone at the lunch.
The team was selected by an independent panel, and took into account the impact of players during the 1990 to 1999 period. It was no easy task as many of our all-time greats donned the red, white and black over those 10 seasons.
|
B |
Justin Peckett | Danny Frawley | Max Hudghton |
|
HB |
Tim Pekin | Darryl Wakelin | David Grant |
|
C |
Jayson Daniels | Andrew Thompson | Austinn Jones |
|
HF |
Barry Hall | Stewart Loewe | Nicky Winmar |
|
F |
Brett Bowey | Tony Lockett | Jason Heatley |
|
R |
Peter Everitt | Robert Harvey | Nathan Burke |
|
INT |
Steve Sziller | Jamie Shanahan | Lazar Vidovic |
|
|
Tony Brownn | ||
|
Coaches |
Ken Sheldon | Stan Alves |
Of the 131 players who represented the Saints during the 1990s, 36 now live interstate so it was not possible for everyone to get to RSEA Park. But Big Spida Everitt spoke to the room via Zoom and fellow Queensland resident Danny Craven headed south for the day.
It was hard to make this glittering line up and players such as Dean Greig, Gilbert McAdam, Dean Rice, Russell Morris, Mick Dwyer and Frank Coghlan could describe themselves as unlucky. But it was a day when anyone who played a senior game in the 1990s was welcomed with open arms. Only downside to the day was that StKPPOA president Sean Ralphsmith, a 90s player himself and a key figure in organising the function, was waylaid by illness and could not attend.
Sam Cranage, Steve Newport, Brett Moyle, Justin Plapp, Jason Cripps and Brad Campbell joined in the festivities as did the man still hailed as “The Pres” – Andrew Plympton.
St Kilda are always wanting to keep in contact with our past players. If you have not been contacted by email or text message in the past 12 months, contact Emily Orrell on (03) 8765 4359 or email emily.orrell@saints.com.au
