‘18 bulls in one paddock’: Inside ‘tense’ secret meeting as early phantom draft explains Saints’ fury

Details from a tense private meeting between AFL club presidents have been revealed amid the fierce fallout to St Kilda coach Ross Lyon’s sledge before his side’s clash with Gold Coast.

The Suns on Sunday night were left furious by Lyon’s “AFL nepo baby” comment. Coach Damien Hardwick said Lyon’s Saints should “look after their own house”, while chief executive Mark Evans called them “offensive” and “out of order”.

Lyon’s sledge was a glimpse of the Saints’ frustration with the academy and father-son draft set-ups across the competition – a gripe that has been driven publicly by clubs chair Andrew Bassat.

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The club presidents on Tuesday held their own meeting to “set the agenda”, per veteran reporter Caroline Wilson, before officially meeting with the AFL Commission next month.

Speaking on Fox Footy’s Midweek Tackle, Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph said there was “a lot of anger” at the meeting.

“It wasn’t two bulls in the one paddock. It was 18 bulls in the one paddock!” Ralph told Midweek Tackle.

“He (Bassat) is just resolute: ‘We are not going to let up about the academies.’ He’s vowed to continue his very strong stance. The likes of Bob East and Mark Evans basically believe St Kilda is just not owning the mistakes it has made. It’s had a lot of early picks, didn’t do much with them, it’s traded out a lot of picks – and those players didn’t do much as well.

“So they really believe you’ve made your own mistakes, you’ve made your bed and you can lie in it’.

“There was a lot of anger … there was certainly tension there. But every AFL president is there to represent their own clubs – and that’s how it should be.”

Speaking on Channel 7 on Tuesday night, Wilson claimed the four northern clubs – the Suns, Lions, Giants and Swans – were “all disgusted at what St Kilda did over the weekend”, adding: “They’re angry, and they’re even more angry to hear that the AFL could even be even tougher on their academy rules – and they’ve said they’re going to be, going into next year and potentially father-son (draft picks).”

Ralph on Monday night explained the source of St Kilda’s draft frustration, which has led to the war of words between the Saints and Suns.

On Tuesday night, he provided a “live example” of how the Saints could be affected by academy selections this year, putting together an early top-10 phantom draft.

HOW 2025 AFL DRAFT COULD PLAY OUT

Pick 1 – West Coast Eagles: Willem Duursma

Pick 2 – West Coast Eagles (Oscar Allen free agency compensation): Cooper Duff-Tytler

Pick 3 – Brisbane Lions (Tigers academy bid matched): Daniel Annable

Pick 4 – Gold Coast Suns (Tigers academy bid matched): Zeke Uwland

Pick 5 – Richmond: Dyson Sharp

Pick 6 – Richmond (pick tied to North Melbourne): Fred Rodriguez

Pick 7 – Gold Coast Suns (Saints academy bid matched): Dylan Patterson

Pick 8 – Sydney Swans (Saints academy bid matched): Max King

Pick 9 – St Kilda: Ollie Greeves

It comes after the Saints last year bid on Suns academy graduate Leo Lombard – who’ll make his AFL debut against Fremantle this weekend – at Pick 9, which was just four picks after Melbourne bid on Brisbane father-son gun Levi Ashcroft – who’s the favourite to take out this year’s Rising Star award.

“St Kilda is crying poor, yes, but this is why. They’ve had four drafts where they’re keen to basically secure their premiership future – and every one of those has been pushed back by academy bids … It’s about to happen again.

“So a club like St Kilda, who finishes fifth-last (on the ladder), could be pushed back to Pick 8 or 9.

“Now it gets interesting. They get cranky: ‘Look at all those players taken (early), all of sudden we get pushed back, we start bidding.’

“Yes, it’s made those clubs pay fair value, but St Killda has Pick 9 or 10 again. We know they did well with Matteas Phillipou, but the premiership players, the elite players come from the top five of the draft – and they just keep getting pushed out four years in a row.”