NICK Riewoldt knocked back a big offer from Gold Coast in 2009 to stay with St Kilda. Riewoldt was contacted by Collingwood president Eddie McGuire before this years trade period but the Saints skipper says the closest he came to leaving the Saints was when he was approached by the Suns before they joined the competition. Riewoldt, who moved to the Gold Coast from Tasmania at age nine before being drafted by St Kilda in 2000, was a key target of the new franchise in a window it was given by the AFL to sign established stars - when the Suns snared Gary Ablett from Geelong. But Riewoldt, who this week signed a contract to ensure he will play out his career as a Saint, said the Suns timing couldnt have been worse. Gold Coast showed bit of interest in 2009 ... but at that stage we were looking at a pretty good thing, in the middle of 09 we hadnt lost a game and I was pretty confident of the direction the club was going - and I still am, but clearly at that stage a premiership was on the horizon, so that was about as far as it ever went, he said on 3AW. Asked if he would change clubs for a shot at a flag, Riewoldt said you definitely weigh those things up during your career. Look, at any given year theres probably six teams they could win it, so changing clubs youve got a 15 per cent chance of picking the right team. Ive been at St Kilda 15 years and its in my heart. Being able to finish as a one-club player is something I will really treasure. Hopefully I can go out playing in a finals series, thats certainly my aim now, to aid the transition of a new playing group to having success sooner rather than later. Speaking from the Saints training camp in Colorado, Riewoldt said he has spoken to former coach Scott Watters since his sacking and backed the Saints bold trade moves. I think weve made some really courageous decisions with respect to our list and hopefully that can now translate into some improvement. And he brushed off a chance encounter with former teammate Brendon Goddard when St Kilda and Essendon shared training facilities in the US. I bumped into BJ. Essendon had that (room) booked after us so we crossed paths. BJ is obviously a great mate of a lot of us so we caught up and had a high-five and said have a good session, see you later.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 23:04:43 +0000
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