A devastating hamstring injury to St Kilda AFL star Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera has thrown the club’s wildcard finals hopes into serious jeopardy, coming just eight minutes into a lopsided 44-point defeat to Carlton on Sunday night. For Saints head coach Ross Lyon, the early exit of one of the club’s most talented young players hit harder than any on-field blow.
Describing the moment the star utility limped off the field, Lyon called the injury an “arrow through the heart” for the entire club. The injury blow capped off a catastrophic night for St Kilda, who entered the clash as a critical fixture in their push to secure a top-10 ladder position and a spot in the expanded wildcard finals series. Compounding their misery, the Saints also lost key forward Mason Wood to a calf injury during the match, while Tom De Koning, Brad Hill and Liam Ryan all played through painful shoulder and knee niggles that limited their on-field impact.
Lyon, who typically keeps injury details close to his chest in post-match press conferences, openly acknowledged the severity of Wanganeen-Milera’s injury Sunday. Even in the best-case scenario, the 22-year-old star will be sidelined for a minimum of three weeks, ruling him out of any potential wildcard final if St Kilda somehow manages to cling to their spot in the top 10.
“ I’m not sure what worst case is, but I would think what I saw – and I don’t know much about hamstrings – minimum three weeks,” Lyon told reporters post-game. “At halftime he just gave me a bit of a hug, really, so he’s a positive person, but hopefully it turns out not too significant. It’s weird … it’s not like we worked them (at training), so we’re scratching our heads a little bit on the soft tissue injury.”
The Saints now face an uphill battle to secure a finals berth, needing to win both of their remaining regular-season matches against Richmond and Gold Coast without their star utility. The club’s current position on the brink of elimination is a particularly bitter disappointment for fans and management, after St Kilda invested a multi-million dollar sum in high-profile recruiting during the 2023 off-season to build a team capable of competing for finals. Lyon took full responsibility for the team’s underperformance this season, saying the failure to deliver on pre-season expectations sits with him.
“That sits with me. I’ve got to wear it. I’m fine. I’m a big boy. I’m happy to take what comes,” Lyon said. “Leaders shepherd, protect and nurture and challenge their people under pressure and that’s my job and I’ll continue to do it until I’m either tapped or I tap myself. I hate losing. It’s a winning business … when you’re playing good footy you’ve got to win. When you’re playing good footy and you can get across the line and you don’t because these nights are coming. You’ve got to take your moments.”
With the team’s poor form on full display against Carlton, Lyon confirmed that the club plans to make significant changes to their starting line-up for their remaining matches, calling up in-form players from the club’s VFL affiliate to add intensity and hunger to the side. “People have been knocking on the door,” Lyon said. “You know what? System is not being delivered on, we’ll bring the hardness and the hunger and the enthusiasm in because if you’re not getting it done, in the end, that’s what we’ve really done over the last few years. The feedback is: you need to develop from within more. We’ve got to set some standards and not accept some stuff, so we’ll look to bring some in.”
St Kilda’s finals hopes now rely not just on two straight wins to close the season, but also on favorable results from other competing clubs around the league, leaving one of the league’s most improved recent sides on the brink of missing out on September action.