What the Hawks can learn from the Saints Seaford mistake
Ring-a-ding Dingley
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Three-quarter time of the 1971 Grand Final is one of the great sliding door moments in footy history.
The Saints, with one flag to their name, led the Hawks, also winners of a solitary premiership until that time, by 20 points with a quarter to go.
We all know what happened in the final quarter and in the 50 years that followed, Hawthorn has consistently done things better than St Kilda. And Saints people will be the first to tell you that.
And now the Hawks have another opportunity to go one better than St Kilda, by making the 2023 move to their new headquarters, the Kennedy Community Centre at Dingley a resounding success.
Yes, the Saints have established for themselves a fabulous new home base at Moorabbin. But they should never have left there in the first place and the lessons the Hawks need to heed are those from the eight years where the Saints took the ill-advised move to far away Seaford.
Don’t take our word for it. This is what a few people near and dear to the Saints had to say about their Seaford experience.
“I’ve heard the last couple of days now that we’re out of Seaford, everyone saying what a great facility it was for us along the journey. I mean, that’s rubbish. That’s spin. Because it wasn’t a world-class facility and geographically it was tough for the players.
“For the group at the time, on the back of a grand final in 2009 and 2010, arguably the best list that we’d accumulated in the club’s history, and then to go down to Seaford, away from the spiritual home — yeah, it crushed the group at the time.” – skipper and champion, Nick Riewoldt.
"I think Seaford was the worst move in the history of St Kilda Football Club; it could have cost us a flag. Moorabbin is our spiritual home, and we were a different side when we trained there." - 2005 Best and Fairest Winner, Steven Baker.
Irrespective of who is the next Hawthorn President, the move to Dingley is the biggest challenge facing the club over the next few years. Hopefully the board and the club have examined not just St Kilda’s Seaford failings but what has – and has not – worked for Essendon at Tullamarine and even in Western Australia, where West Coast and Fremantle have moved to impressive new digs.
In the unlikely event they haven’t widely consulted, here is what we think Hawthorn needs to consider:
#1 Retain your homeland
It would be wise – almost essential for Hawthorn to retain activities and a connection to the spaces that still exist at Glenferrie and Waverley. This should be easy to achieve at Waverley especially given the Mirvac deal means we should own the property.
Glenferrie still has its gorgeous ‘Hawthorn Football Club’ sign outsider the old office entrance and the art deco Michael Tuck Stand is heritage listed. It is too narrow for any sort of football activity, but once a year, there should be a reason for Hawk fans to make a pilgrimage to this sacred place.
#2 Make the facility desirable
Players, coaches, fans – they have to want to go. Distance, access, quality of facilities all play a huge role in making the environment one that breeds a happy and successful culture. There are plenty of AFL clubs situated in prime locations based closer to the city. But Dingley will work if the facility is the best of its type and the industry buzz is that it will be. But sometimes the simple things are the most important. Don’t laugh, but being able to purchase a decent coffee downstairs in the café on the day Waverley opened in 2006 was important for the Hawks as they embraced their new home.
#3 Connect the club
Again making best use of the facilities to ensure that we can connect our Men’s, Women’s, Blind and Wheelchair teams – even attempt to use it to strengthen the Box Hill association where possible. Connect the staff, the past players, the fans – this is all essential and should be achievable when you are investing the money we are. Open trainings, the museum, AFLW and VFLW games should mean that members and supporters will have reason to visit the KCC on a regular basis.
#4 Ensure financial viability
Goes without saying – but ensure the entire project does not make the club financially vulnerable. This is of significance given projections of falling membership, the potential move away from Tasmania and the fanbase desire to remove ourselves from the pokies (and the huge amount of revenue that comes with it).
#5 Have the right people
It is a huge project. We know that the right people need to be on the Board and relevant committees with the experience to see this through. This initially means Fundraising and Philanthropy skills are super important, as will be any connection through the development and venue management industries. That Tim Shearer, the board member with oversight for Dingley, will likely be remaining is a great outcome for Hawthorn.
