St Kilda legend Leigh Montagna has recounted a successful period for the club that got close to breaking the-then 44-year drought, saying the "bond" struck between teammates across 2009 and 2010 "feels like a premiership team".
Over the pair of seasons, the Saints lost a measly eight games throughout the home-and-away season and were inches away from the ultimate glory.
The year 2009 was "the one that got away" as Ross Lyon and his men nearly put together a perfect year, claiming the minor premiership after recording two defeats late in the regular season before storming into the decider against Geelong.
Filled with controversy and memorable moments - including the infamous 'poster' that awarded Tom Hawkins a goal - the Saints were unable to snatch victory from arguably the greatest team of the modern era.
The following year was equally successful, with St Kilda once again playing on the last Saturday of September, only this time with a twist.
Occurring for the third time in history, Collingwood and the Saints played a draw in a Grand Final, with rules back in 2010 stipulating the clubs would return the following week to obtain a result.
And as history would suggest, St Kilda failed to match their efforts seven days later, missing out on the elusive premiership.
However, Montagna, who admits he's a "pragmatist", has opted to look at the joy those successful years brought him, despite the heartbreak of being so close to lofting the most coveted award in Australian sport.
"We feel like we're a team that don't have the medal but have the bond of a premiership team," Montagna said on theย BackChatย podcast.
"We have the utmost respect for one another. We got along really well, and we still catch up once a year, during prelim week.
"Of course, it's disappointing you don't have the medal but at the end of the day, and we've spoken about this, there's a lot of players that have a premiership medal that might not have the same sort of relationships and bonds with their teammates.
"So that's more important to me."
When deep-diving into the two heartbreaking defeats - as well as the draw - Montagna admits he only felt "goosebumps" once in his career, when teammate Brendon Goddard soared in the 2010 AFL Grand Final, bringing down a mark that's etched itself into footy folklore, before kicking a goal to put the Saints in front for the first time late in the last quarter.
GODDARD!! ๐
Relive Brendon Goddard's incredible leap from the 2010 drawn Grand Final. pic.twitter.com/m8ubShKeym
— AFL (@AFL) August 22, 2018
"It's the only time in a game of footy when I've had tingles or goosebumps, where he took the mark and kicked the goal with five minutes to go," Montagna recounts.
"I remember standing at the top of the 50 and getting the tingles and thinking 'holy s***, this is real now, we can win this.'"
"Is this real?"
However, irony struck both Montagna and the St Kilda community as two controversial decisions - that being Hawkins' behind-called-goal and the Grand Final replay - have since seen rules changed following those fateful days over a decade ago.
"It's ironic that those Grand Finals and it's going to sound like a 'woe us, woe St Kilda' sort of thing," Montagna continued.
"In 2009, Tom Hawkins kicked that goal, that hit the post, massive deflection but the umpire called it a goal.
"The year after was when the AFL said, 'We can't have this happen in a Grand Final. We can't have a Grand Final decided by an incorrect goal review. Let's bring in the goal review system'."
To which Montagna quipped: "Okay, 12 months too late."
Then following the drawn Grand Final in 2010, the AFL subsequently changed the rules to extra-time, which Montagna joked: "It would've been handy a few years earlier."
"We were probably on the end of a bit of bad luck."
Montagna was a key part of St Kilda's successful period in the late 2000s and early 2010s, honoured by two All-Australians and five podium finishes in a stacked team.
Despite his football prowess on the field as most fans know it, theย Fox Footy commentator revealed his greatest sporting moment that has nothing to do with AFL.
"Probably a hole-in-one in golf," Montagna said.
"I'm not a massive golfer, I'm like everyone else, can play off 18, I enjoy playing a round, I'm a member at one of the courses in Melbourne but not a great golfer.
"But was lucky to be playing at Woodlands with Lenny Hayes and Brendon Goddard and had a hole-in-one.
"The adrenaline rush I got when watching the ball roll and trickle down in the hole, I f****** threw my club, I ran around like an idiot, so it was one of the great thrills of my life.
"And my old man has been playing golf for 40 years and never had a hole-in-one."
