St Kilda are set to turn last week’s emotional trip to club legend Danny Frawley’s farm into an annual pilgrimage.
Players, coaches and select staff visited the Frawley property on the outskirts of Ballarat to pay tribute to the Saints’ second-longest serving captain, who died in a car crash in September.
They were welcomed by the Frawley family and club great Stewart Loewe addressed the players, speaking about the legacy left by his former teammate.
The group had dinner at a restaurant owned by Frawley’s cousin, Danny Quinlan, and spent the night at new recruit Dan Butler’s nearby property.
Planning is now under way to repeat the visit in Frawley’s honour as a regular club bonding experience that will highlight the core values upheld by the beloved former defender.
“‘Spud’ (Frawley) was a connector of people, which we need to do here,” Saints football boss Simon Lethlean told AAP.
“He was all about teammates and mateship and he was a captain at 23.
“We wanted to impress on the guys that just because you’re young doesn’t mean you can’t lead the club.
“The idea now will be we’ll do it every year and we’ll probably take admin staff and others to make sure the connection is well known.
“It (will also be) a bit of an induction for new players.”
The annual trip will likely be moved forward to November or December in St Kilda’s pre-season schedule.
The Saints are also getting closer to finalising plans for a tribute to Frawley at their first home game of the season, when they host West Coast at Marvel Stadium in round two.
“We’d love our fans to embrace that,” Lethlean said.
St Kilda remain in weekly contact with the AFL and Port Adelaide over their Shanghai fixture in round 11, which could be moved because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Lethlean expects a decision from league headquarters in March.