Callum Wilkie had a sneaking suspicion he may be in with a chance to win this year’s Trevor Barker Award when his parents, Sally and Richard, said they were coming along for the evening for the first time in almost five years.

They hadn’t been in attendance the seasons he’d finished runner-up, and it wasn’t long into the night that his hunch was proven correct after establishing what was an unassailable lead at the halfway point of the night.

Wilkie admitted in his acceptance speech that he’d dashed out to jot down a few notes just prior to the final round of votes, but despite the tight timeframe ensured that his biggest supporters from day one were the first to be thanked.

“First and foremost it starts with mum and dad,” Wilkie said in his winner’s speech.

“I don’t know if anyone actually told them I was going to win, but this is only the second one (they’ve) actually been to the night! They didn’t come the last two years when I came runner-up, so they must have known something was going on.

Wilkie’s latest distinction is the latest in a superb string of accolades which has turned what was an unassuming rookie selection into one of the most impressive and reliable defenders across the entire competition.

Since joining the club with pick No. 3 in the 2018 Rookie Draft, Wilkie has earned All-Australian (2023) selection, served as the club’s vice-captain (2023-present), won the Lenny Hayes Team Trademark Award in three consecutive years (2022, 2023, 2024) and is yet to miss a game since his debut in Round 1, 2019.

Earlier this year, Wilkie also made club history as the Saint with the most consecutive games to their name (currently 132), surpassing the shared record held by Premiership Saint Ian Synman and Jack Newnes.

With such a football résumé, it’s astounding now to think that Wilkie had been overlooked in the past four drafts prior to his recruitment to St Kilda; an opportunity that he certainly hasn’t taken for granted.

“Coming to St Kilda Football Club… I owe this club a lot. It means the absolute world to me,” Wilkie said.

“They took a chance on me when no one else did and I love the club, what it means and what it represents. From everyone to the Board, to the players, to the coaches to the community to the fans… your loyalty, your support, it doesn’t go unnoticed. 

“We see it every single day whoever’s down there at Moorabbin, whoever’s down on game day, whoever’s there on social media, there’s everyone there supporting us and we really do see you guys. You’ve been through thick and thin and it means a lot.

“I love this club, the club has done so much by me and I just like repaying the faith and giving my all every single week.”

Wilkie will no doubt be at the front of the charge once again when St Kilda commences its 2025 campaign, fuelled not only by belief of what he thinks the playing group is capable of, but the lessons — and personal frustration — of watching September play out from the sidelines.

“Going forward for this football club, I feel there’s a lot of belief,” Wilkie said.

“There’s a group of players here who are really buying in, and (President Andrew) Bassat said it well: I hate this time period, I hate watching the finals, I turn it off most of the time… it really pisses me off watching all the other teams do well.

“But I do really truly believe that his group has a lot in them. 2023 was alright and we made finals, but I reckon we learned more this year than we did the one before. We learned a lot about ourselves, as players, us as a group had to learn about going through dips in form and grinding our way out and finding ways to deal with that.

“As Steeley said (in his speech) with expectations… we’re heading on the right path. I’ve got true belief in the players that are here tonight who are going to be here going forward that we’ll get there.”