Family ties to St Kilda were a driving factor for James Frawley to come out of retirement and join the Saints for 2021, perย The Age.
The 32-year old played his last game for Hawthorn in the final round of the 2020 season before he announced his retirement.
He was then picked up by the Saints as a delisted free agent on Thursday, with the 2015 premiership player committing for next season.
James Frawley in red, white and black โค๏ธ pic.twitter.com/Qq0SlrblcX
— St Kilda FC (@stkildafc) November 27, 2020
His uncle, the late Danny Frawley, captained St Kilda from 1987-1995 and played 240 career games over 12 seasons.
โHe (Danny) would probably come and give me a headlock and a punch in the arm and say, โYouโve got a big name to live up to mate, donโt stuff it upโ,โ he told media on Friday.
โItโs an honour to be here (at St Kilda), the Danny Frawley Centre opening up, everyone knows he went through his battles.
โItโs a great thing for the community to have somewhere they can go if they are strugglingโฆ and get some help.โ
Frawley grew up supporting the Saints as a kid, something he credits his family for.
โMy old man, pretty much my whole family barracks for St. Kilda,โ he said.
โI used to go down to Waverley every weekend and the old man and weโd go down the rooms and hang out with the players, thatโs where my passion started wanting to play footy.
"When I told Dad and he loved it โฆ he said to me, โAt least I can go back to barracking for St Kilda nowโ."
James Frawley can now also join this group
@stkildafc @melbournefc @HawthornFC https://t.co/FnFifmIDPX
— Swamp (@sirswampthing) November 26, 2020
Frawleyโs former teammate and current St Kilda assistant coach Jarryd Roughead first approached him in Noosa and pitched him the idea of continuing his career at Moorabbin.
โI was a bit surprised and it went from there,โ he said.
โIโd had a few more beers than I usually would and a couple of meals I wouldnโt usually eat.โ
