Fifty-eight years on from St Kilda’s maiden premiership, fanatics say they would die to see a long-awaited second flag and for the club to have sustained success. Many say that tongue-in-cheek, however there are some very generous souls who are taking that expression more literally.
Those patron Saints are all members of the reinvigorated Saints Bequest Society; a St Kilda Football Club Foundation initiative established to ensure the longevity of the red, white and black for future generations.
Such generosity from some of St Kilda’s longest-serving donors will now see their lifetime of support extend well beyond that, among them John Lattanzio.
John’s passions stretch across a fascinating canvas. He’s a professor at Monash University working in the School of Physics and Astronomy (specialising in stellar nucleosynthesis) and has even travelled to Antarctica, of which he had a detailed conversation with club legend and leader at Mawson Base, Neil Roberts, at last month’s Bequest Society morning tea. But the deep connection he has to St Kilda is paramount.
Raised by his mother and grandmother, his first introduction to St Kilda came through television icon and Saints fan Graham Kennedy on the family boxset, however it was a meeting with and letter from premiership player Brian Mynott in 1967 which truly ignited his passion.
“He was very, very nice to me. I didn’t know him obviously at the time, but he came down and spent a weekend with us out at Phillip Island once. I played kick-to-kick with him out on the main street. That was a big thrill for a 10-year-old kid,” he said.
“The memories I have of Brian are so important to my Mum and Nanna, which I didn’t realise at the time.”
After spending time overseas studying, a chance encounter with his mortgage broker back in Australia, former player Brett Moyle, introduced him to St Kilda’s corporate offerings and rekindled his boyhood recollections.
From there, the moments of great significance have flooded in. Among them the friendship he built with the first player he sponsored, Raphael Clarke, a reunion with Mynott and the time Steven Baker, Stephen Milne (his mum’s favourite player) and Lenny Hayes visited his late mother’s house in 2009 for a surprise cup of tea.
Those memories have been priceless in the scheme of John’s life. Becoming a member of the Saints Bequest Society is his way of showing his gratitude.
“I’m even trying to persuade some others to sign up!” he said with a laugh.
“I’m leaving something a bit bigger because I don’t have any dependents. I’m telling my friends that once they’ve taken care of their family to maybe leave something for the team they’ve supported all their life.
“Someone once said to me ‘we’re a club, we’re not just a team’. The team is perhaps the reason for the club and the front face that everyone knows, but the club and its people have shown me a lot of kindness over the years; kindness that was neither expected nor required, but was very much appreciated."
“That’s incredibly important to me.”
