Latest chapter in the AFL's most bitter off-field feud as St Kilda and Brisbane prepare to face off

The AFL's biggest off-field rivalry continues to bubble away in the background, as St Kilda and Brisbane once again come to blows.

The Saints have been a team at war across the last 12 months, with both Queensland teams, and their academy access, squarely in their crosshairs.

The two teams will face off in round three at Marvel Stadium, and we will get the chance to see if the bitter feud translates onto the field.

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The latest chapter in the rivalry was revealed by journalist Damian Barrett on Nine's Footy Classified, saying St Kilda's president Andrew Bassat asked Brisbane president Andrew Wellington to punish coach Chris Fagan for his public commentary.

It came after Fagan was critical of how the Saints used their salary cap in the off-season, which sparked a whole new side to the bitter feud.

"Behind the scenes, the two bosses of these football clubs are also going at it," Barrett said.

"They to were engaged in correspondence over this very issue, to the point where I believe Bassat asked Wellington to admonish Fagan for the comments he made.

"From what I've been told, it certainly wasn't acted upon by Wellington and nothing was said to Fagan. It just goes to show the heightened sensitivity around this issue."

Brownlow Medallist Jimmy Bartel "doesn't mind" St Kilda's aggressive stance and decision to take the fight to Brisbane and Gold Coast.

"They are getting under the skin of them," Bartel said.

"They're actually being something. Whether it works on the field, we'll wait and see, but at least they're establishing a personality that they won't be pushed around, and they'll push back."

But there are now many layers to this developing rivalry, which includes the Suns. Let's unpack where this feud began and how it continues to get uglier.

It started with Lyon himself using a pre-game interview to take a shot at Gold Coast, before the two teams played in May last year.

"Chock full of talent, aren't they? The AFL's nepo-baby," Lyon said.

St Kilda, and many Victorian clubs' frustrations, stem from the Lions and Suns' academies, which funnel in the best young talent in Queensland. Brisbane and Gold Coast then have priority access to any players produced by that system.

This effectively gives them a near-duopoly on the best young talent in a state with the second highest Aussie Rules participation rate.

In just the past three drafts, Gold Coast's academy has produced a whopping nine talents who the Suns have then scooped up within the first round of the draft.

This includes four top 10 picks: Jed Walter, Ethan Read, Zeke Uwland and Dylan Patterson.

The Lions themselves landed Daniel Annable with pick six in the 2025 draft, one of the top pure midfielders available, fresh off winning back-to-back flags.

Their academy has also produced premiership players Sam Marshall and Ty Gallop.

And Brisbane has coincidentally also lucked out and obtained a trio of gun father-son players in Will and Levi Ashcroft, as well as Jasper Fletcher at the same time.

Gold Coast didn't take kindly to Lyon's "nepo-baby" jab. Coach Damien Hardwick was asked about it after their game, calling Lyon "disrespectful" and telling the Saints to focus on "their own backyard", given they had a crowd of only 13,000 for the game.

The next day, Suns chief Mark Evans called Lyon's comments "offensive and out of order", saying they implied "corruption or favouritism".

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St Kilda didn't issue an apology. Instead, they submitted a formal recommendation to the AFL a month later to abolish the northern academy access before the 2025 draft, with the exception of Indigenous and multicultural prospects.

Queensland has the highest number of Aussie rules participants of any state outside Victoria, and that is now turning into a huge advantage for the Suns and Lions, as they build two of the best lists in the competition.

"We're not trying to blow everything up. We're trying to have the least amount of compromise as possible. We'd like to see the pendulum swing back," Saints chief Carl Dilena said at the time.

This was a missile aimed squarely at the Queensland clubs, as well as the Sydney and GWS academies, which haven't been as productive in recent times. The Swans have still landed superstars Isaac Heeney, Errol Gulden and Nick Blakey via their academy over the years, however.

While the AFL has upped the price required to match bids, it seems unlikely it will throw these Queensland-based talents into the open draft system.

At the end of 2025, Brisbane and Gold Coast got their opportunity to hit back at the Saints.

The 2025 season came to an end and St Kilda was the most active team in the trade space. The Saints brought in Tom De Koning at $1.7m per season, Sam Flanders at $900,000, Jack Silvagni at $850,000 and even re-signed Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera at $2m on top of it.

The Saints splashed more cash in one off-season than any club in history.

And this is where the Lions really stepped in to take a shot at St Kilda, coach Chris Fagan calling their spending "a bit of a danger for the game".

"I think the best players in the competition deserve to be paid the most money and that's not the case at the moment. That's not an insult to Nasiah. I think he's going to be a really good player and how far he goes I don't know," Fagan said in February.

"And (De Koning) has shown a lot of promise for a long time, but hasn't probably played up to expectations, and they're getting paid extremely well. I'd rather see the better players get all the big money."

As mentioned above, Barrett is reporting that the Saints wanted Fagan punished internally for these comments.

While that didn't eventuate, it prompted an immediate snap-back from Dilena and the Saints.

"I can understand fears about having to pay fair value for players. I appreciate it's a novel concept for some people," Dilena said, in regards to Brisbane's landing of the Ashcroft brothers, Annable and Fletcher in the draft at a heavy discount.

The father-son rule is in effect for all clubs equally, but the Lions having easy access to the best player in the draft in the middle of an extended run in the top four, and using picks 34, 35, 38, 40 and 41 to get him, left many disillusioned.

Will Ashcroft has won Norm Smith Medals in successive years.

The AFL is now upping the price for teams to match father-son and academy bids. Sceptics have pointed out that it has come too late. The Suns and Lions have already cashed in on a three-year gold mine.

Lyon was equally unimpressed with Fagan's assessment of St Kilda's recruiting.

"I could be wrong but in my years of senior coaching, I don't think I've ever commented on a specific opposition player in a derogatory sense," Lyon said.

"I'm not sure what Chris' motivations were. Mental health of players is paramount and there is enough, and it is very topical, and I think as coaches we all cop a fair bit.

"I know through the AFLCA, they're really worried about coaches' mental health and challenges … I don't know, to weaponise the media? It is an interesting argument on individuals."

The Saints clearly remain steadfast on pushing the league to balance the draft system, while the Suns and Lions will point to the huge growth of AFL-level talent coming out of Queensland.

Both sides have their merits. St Kilda is right that both Gold Coast and Brisbane have built incredibly strong lists in part utilising these academies. The Lions have won two straight premierships and added a top six draft talent, while the Suns' nine first-round academy stars in the past three years is daunting for the competition.

On the flip side, former AFL national talent manager Mick Ablett told Wide World of Sports before the 2025 draft that these academies were crucial to the growth of the code in rugby league territory.

He used the example of Dylan Patterson, who the Suns selected with a top 10 pick in the 2025 draft; a player who would certainly be heading down an NRL pathway if not for the academies.

"This is what people need to take a breath and understand. I'm not saying we don't need to look at the northern academy rules, but this is a prime example of it working," he said.

"We just need to understand, the AFL needs a mechanism to compete with the NRL, who have the capacity to sign players at 15 and reassure them and their families that they can stay in their home state.

"We won't win them all, but to win the heart of an elite athlete and outstanding young man in Dylan Patterson, that's what makes AFL football great. We get the elite athletes from everywhere around the country, but we've got to have some mechanism to compete in those markets."

Four of the top six picks in the 2025 draft were compromised by father-son or academy selections.

In February, Lyon again took a shot at Brisbane and Gold Coast, effectively saying they benefit from a "compromised" draft system as the AFL looks to build its foothold in Queensland.

"The AFL is where it is because when it was dying the Commission was set up and they introduced a national draft and a salary cap," he continued.

"It was adhered to. It wasn't even distribution of talent. It was set up so talent that was identified to be elite was distributed to the clubs down the bottom of the ladder so they could rise.

"That occurred and that's why nearly everyone had a run at it, TV rights went through the roof, competitiveness and crowds, but it's compromised now.

"We understand why because it's for the expansion and growth of the game, but at some point you've got to recalibrate it. I think it's a nonsense to think that Essendon, Carlton, a lot of Melbourne clubs employ inferior administrators and boards and CEOs."

Given how public the stoush has been, it's hard to imagine either team backing down.

Whether it sparks an on-field rivalry, we will find out on Saturday.