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📻 IMPORTANT AUCKLAND UPDATE 📻
"Challenging time": Saints break silence on Silvagni family
SEN • January 12th, 2026 3:51 pm
St Kilda Football Club has broken their silence on the ongoing situation regarding the Silvagni family.
The Silvagni family, a name carrying a storied history within V/AFL history, occupy major positions with St Kilda, with talented defender Jack shifting to the club from the Blues over the off-season to join father and current list manager Stephen.
Over the course of the off-season, Stephen’s youngest son Tom, brother to Jack, was convicted and charged with two counts of rape, sentenced to six years and two months behind bars as a result of an incident that occurred in January of 2024.
Neither Stephen or Jack was accused of any wrong doing.
In what has been a difficult time for the Silvagni family, the club offered its support to both Stephen and Jack, ensuring that the off-field incident will not influence their roles with the club.
“We support all our people, and it’s obviously been a really challenging time for the family,” Saints’ new general manager Lenny Hayes said.
“But we fully support Jack and even Stephen. They’re fully committed to their roles this year as we are to them.”
Speaking on their recruits, Hayes is full of confidence that the added talent will assist the club in climbing up the ladder in season 2026.
“(The recruits have) all fitted in really nicely; Sam Flanders, Liam Ryan and obviously Jack Silvagni as well,” he said.
“They’re going to bring enormous experience to our group, leadership, but also high-quality performance too.
“(Silvagni) is going well, he’s on track today and should be back in full training by the end of the month which is really exciting for us.
“He’s obviously a quality player and the leadership we think he’s going to bring to our backline is going to be pivotal.”
While club officials are confident that the new-look side can elevate St Kilda into September conversations, former Geelong star Cam Mooney still has his queries surrounding the potential of this Saints’ outfit.
A 12th-placed finish in 2025 was far from a desirable result for the club and its supporters, however, with the added potential for a finals berth via 10th and ninth place, Mooney believes that a post-season feature should be the bare minimum requirement this year.
That said, the holes that remain both in the list and in the available playing group raise more questions than answers.
“They fascinate me, St Kilda,” Mooney told SEN Breakfast.
“Last year they finished 12th, nine wins. They were three games out of the play-in game, so they’ve got to find those three wins to at least make that play-in game, if we’re looking at it based on last year.
“Max King – is he going to do anything for the footy club? It means their forward line just isn’t going to be as great as it could be with Max not playing there.
“Tom De Koning, they get across, whether you think it’s too much or not is another talking point - he’s there. How is (Rowan) Marshall going to play? More as a forward? I think he’s a ruckman/forward, not a forward/ruckman, but I think he is going to have to play there now with King. Who knows what’s going to happen there.
“You look at their goals last year, (Jack) Higgins with 46. He had a great year, ‘Higgo’, but you can’t have Higgins as your number one goalkicker if you are going to be a really good forward line. Kicking 46 goals is fantastic, but you have got to have a guy kicking 60.
“You’ve got (Cooper) Sharman, (Mitch) Owens and (Max) Hall, not household names just yet. Are they ready to be household names by the end of 2026?
“What’s Nas (Wanganeen-Milera) going to do? Is he going to lift his game again? Is their backline strong enough? Are their kids who have been there for three or four years going to jump up and take this club back to finals footy?”
St Kilda were at the forefront of the media on multiple occasions following last year’s finals series, with their decision to opt out of a negotiated contract with GWS defender Leek Aleer proved one of the off-season’s most significant and shocking developments.
Having spent some time as an assistant coach with the Giants, Mooney still believes that Aleer would have been the appropriate and future-proof decision, with the club’s ultimate decision to prioritise the recruitment of Silvagni only raising more questions.
“Silvagni comes in... I personally would have gone with Leek (Aleer),” Mooney admitted.
“He’s a 10-year player, and I got to see him close up. Not a great player yet, but I think he can be (a really good player).
“He’s a 10-year player, and I got to see him close up. Not a great player yet, but I think he can be (a really good player).
“With his athleticism, I’d rather take someone like that who I know has a 10-year window as opposed to someone who might have two to three years at best.
“When (Silvagni) played last year, I thought he was outstanding, but he hasn’t given us that consistently for 10 years. It’s a question mark for them as well.
“I’m fascinated to see just what St Kilda can do this year. Nine wins, three games out of the play-in game spot. Have they got another three or four wins in them this year to get them in there?
“They have to, considering where they’ve gone with their list, bringing new players in, Liam Ryan comes in… they tried that a few years ago, they brought in all these other players, and it didn’t quite work.
“They’ve done it again… I think they’ve got a better base this time than they did years ago.”
St Kilda’s first hit out of 2026 commences on the final day of February, taking on the Bombers in an AAMI Community Series matchup at Mars Stadium.
