St Kilda is looking to continue its relationship with New Zealand, albeit in Auckland rather than in Wellington where the Saints have previously played, according to Chief Operating Officer Ameet Bains.
The Saints played three games at Westpac Stadium in Wellington between 2013 and 2015, but won’t play a fixture across the Tasman this season after completing the last deal.
St Kilda is still keen to pursue its presence in New Zealand, preferring to host games in Auckland due to its population density and rich sporting heritage.
“We obviously played a game across three seasons in Wellington, which despite a mutual decision not to continue beyond the third year, we saw as a successful,” Bains told Radio Sport New Zealand.
“Auckland is the epicentre of New Zealand in pretty much every respect and we think it will be a great thing for the code.”
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Bains suggested that St Kilda and the AFL’s motif for playing games across the Tasman was a joint desire to grow the indigenous game on the international stage.
“I think it’s a holistic approach to be honest. The AFL has identified New Zealand as the central focus of their international strategy and that strategy is multi-tiered in terms of having content on the ground and also just generating interest and participation in the game at grassroots level as well,” Bains said.
Without a suitable venue for football locked in as of yet, Bains conceded securing a place to host the game was one barrier St Kilda and the AFL are facing.
“One of the stumbling blocks to locking in a game as soon as we’d like is really about venue availability,” Bains said.
“We’ve been in some discussions with regional facilities Auckland at a conceptual level with regards to Western Springs and the stadium strategy that is being developed around that, which AFL could be played.”
