It was a game that went down to the very last gasp.

After Brisbane had stormed home with four goals in the last quarter, the ball was in mid-air and heading for Brisbane’s Luke Power when the siren sounded on a memorable 2003 clash at Docklands.

For Power, the 30-metre shot would have been bread and butter, but all he could do was lament what might have been. As Saints players celebrated he booted the ball through the goals anyway, as if to show what could have eventuated.

One field umpire was set to allow the mark, but was overruled by another field umpire who had heard the siren first.

So St Kilda had beaten the clock and the reigning premiers Brisbane. The Saints led by 32 points early in the second half before Brisbane made their late charge and the Saints won despite being held to no goals in the last term.

Lions’ coach Leigh Matthews summed it up: “You say a week is a long time in footy, a quarter is a long time, and a second is a long time”

Brett Voss remembers that night 17 years down the track, for both personal and team reasons.

“I remember it as a bit of coming of age game for St Kilda," Voss recalls.

"We’d come off a couple of disappointing years and then we had started getting a few wins without taking any major scalps and that was one of the big tests and we overcame the hurdle so I think that gave us belief.

“I started in the reserves after playing all the games the year before and had a tough contract negotiation and I just got the one year.   I managed to get into the side at the right time and ended up getting another contract. It was a crucial year.”

The Saints first took control halfway through the first quarter. Lenny Hayes continued his superb form by taking charge of the midfield, when he was ably supported by the creative Xavier Clarke, who weaved through packs at will as he relished a rare stint further up the ground.

Most impressive was Robert Harvey.

Significantly it was the Saints' physical attack on the ball, and occasionally the man, that swung the game. Amid constant talk about St Kilda's potential and talent, what was often overlooked was that the Saints were a hard, physical side that genuinely liked a scrap.

Captain Aaron Hamill circled his talented puppies like a protective old dog, while the likes of Steve Lawrence, Steven Baker, Heath Black and Nathan Burke clearly loved taking it up to one of the toughest teams in the League. Like the classic schoolboy bully, Brisbane did not like copping it.

There was extra spice in the game for three Saints as Brett Voss remembers.

“We had a few ex Brisbane blokes – me Stevie Lawrence and Trent Knobel. And you always like to have a bit of success against your old side," Voss said.

"Obviously with myself and Michael playing against each other, we still have a good laugh about those match-ups. I was still finding my way and I always felt that I was finding my way and I never felt I could take it for granted.”

And it was a family affair against his Brownlow-winning brother.

“When you see someone of Michael’ s calibre wandering down to play on the half forward flank - I needed to make sure I didn’t let him off the chain and make me look silly.

"My role was to play on the resting ruck-rover. Michael was a good match up for me because we were similar height although he was a little bit heavier than me. I was a player who set myself for those match ups and I enjoyed the challenge.”

Michael Voss hurt his knee and had to be replaced at half-time. Younger brother Brett can joke about it now.

“He was always injured. A bit soft! Maybe he wanted to get off his brother and could see I was getting my run up! I definitely enjoyed it when he got a bit older and slowed up.”

For Brett Voss it was the beginning of a resurrection of a career that eventually spanned 135 games (on top of the 35 he had at Brisbane). He had put his house on the market fully expecting he would head back home to Queensland at the end of the 2003 season.  

“Thommo (coach Grant Thomas) was negotiating the contracts and it was very painful.

"I still wonder how it came to be that after the last game of 2002 he was saying as a coach, ‘I love what you are doing and what you bring to the team’. When we stepped into the negotiating room he put another hat on and said we probably don’t need you because we have got other kids coming through.

It was tough because of the timing because it was after the draft and the trading period. But I don’t regret signing a contract I probably shouldn’t have signed (prior to 2003), because it led to some good years even though we didn’t get all the way.”

Brett Voss sees parallels with the mix in the Saints side of today.

“We came out of the gates the next year (2004) and it was the start of a really good run for the club. I give Thommo credit for nurturing the young talent as well as keeping a few of the older and wiser heads playing good footy. Guys like Pecko (Justin Peckett) had a really good year that year and enjoyed playing alongside the young blokes.  

“Timing is everything. That new batch of Fraser (Gehrig) and Sammy (Hamill) who came in the same time as me and that younger group had a year or two under the belt and it started to gel.

"Brisbane had the brand of football that everyone wanted to replicate and they were a lot more mature side than us - a big bodied team. And being a close game as well it made you believe that you have got the mettle to stand up.

“The way that the side came together it was a big draft class – you had Rooey and Kosi then BJ (Goddard) and Bally (Luke Ball) and Dal (Nick Dal Santo) and Joey (Montagna) and Xavier (Clarke). You had seen top-liners coming in.

"I see a lot of parallels with Brisbane, being there as they were building the list, and watching from when Michael started. They built that really balanced list”.

ST KILDA  5.1  9.5  13.6  13.12 (90)
BRISBANE  5.3  5.4  9.6  13.7 (85)

GOALS
Riewoldt 4, Murray 2, Milne 2, Burke, Gehrig, Hamill, Knobel, Powell

BEST
Riewoldt, Hayes, Harvey, Black, B.Voss, X. Clarke