SAM FLANDERS made a calculated business decision in October. Stuck behind the 2025 Brownlow Medallist, the reigning AFLCA champion player of the year and a dual All-Australian midfielder, he didn’t want to continue to wither on the vine at Gold Coast.

When the Suns' maiden finals run ended at the Gabba on the second weekend of September, Flanders travelled down to Melbourne to meet with four Victorian clubs: St Kilda, Melbourne, Essendon and Carlton. All four attacked the trade period after watching on from afar during the finals.

The 24-year-old rose from a fringe player until late in 2023 to a consistent force under Damien Hardwick in 2024. He finished third in Gold Coast's best and fairest after averaging 30.9 disposals – No.2 in the League behind Adam Treloar – in a breakout campaign last year.

But 2025 didn't go to script. Flanders was on the back foot from the outset. He was sidelined for the last two months of the pre-season due to a back injury, missed the first three rounds and played catch-up all season. He still featured 23 times – a career-high – but his midfield minutes plummeted from 193 centre bounce attendances in 2024 to just 53 this year.

Matt Rowell started the year with his own future up in the air, but ended it with Charlie hanging around his neck. Noah Anderson thrived after being appointed captain at just 23, becoming an All-Australian for the first time. And almost no one has been more influential in the Suns' elevation from perpetual enfant terrible to a serious football club than Touk Miller.

So rather than wait until his contract expired when he was scheduled to become a free agent in 2027, Flanders took matters into his own hands. He didn't mope and blame others for his diminished returns. Instead, after changing managers during the season, he decided to explore a fresh start elsewhere. He wants to be a midfielder and doesn't want to wait.

"This is a business decision. I don't want to look back in five or 10 years and think what my career could have been," Flanders told AFL.com.au from St Kilda's community camp in Fish Creek on Tuesday.

"It came down to 'Am I going to realistically break into a midfield with Matt Rowell, Noah Anderson and Touk Miller?' They are three of the best mids going around, absolute superstars. I think it was unrealistic and the form for me last season wasn't great. It wasn't like I deserved to be in there, definitely not. So that definitely impacted the decision.

"All the boys were great. I loved my time up there and have a lot of mates, even the coaches still reach out to me now. I've got nothing but respect for them. I love 'Dimma' [Hardwick]; he was so supportive of me, but I want to be a midfielder. I think it was the right time for me to take that step, instead of playing a bit limited for obvious reasons."

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THE FIRST meeting with the Saints was inside the home of president and Seek co-founder Andrew Basset in the days after Gold Coast lost the semi-final to Brisbane. All of St Kilda's heavyweights were there, but the connection with Ross Lyon was instant. The Saints coach had a clear role in mind for Flanders. They had the trade capital to satisfy the Suns. And after using six first-round picks on teenagers since 2021, they were prepared to be aggressive. Again.

After meeting with the Bombers, Demons and Blues, Flanders and his manager, Matt Bain from TGI Sport, met with St Kilda again, this time in the private room upstairs at iconic Melbourne restaurant Scopri. Lyon held court over a few bottles of red, Marcus Windhager sold him on the environment from a players' perspective, while Graeme 'Gubby' Allan paid the bill.

The only problem meeting at an institution is being spotted. And with Triple M holding an end-of-season dinner downstairs, it didn't take long for news of the meeting to filter out. Not that it mattered. After securing Tom De Koning and Jack Silvagni from Carlton as free agents, St Kilda had its man. It traded pick No.7 to Gold Coast for the Gippsland Power product a week out from the deadline.

"I tried to do all the right things, be respectful to Gold Coast and wait until after the season. We had our first meeting post Brisbane final. I had a meeting with Carlton, Melbourne, Essendon and the Saints," Flanders explained.

"I think from the start I was impressed with how professional the [first] meeting was [with St Kilda]. The pitch was to play midfield and it was to join TDK, who had just committed, 'Windy' [Windhager] has just re-signed and 'Nas' [Nasiah Waganeen-Milera]. The youth at the club – and I've already seen it on the training track – was a massive sell. It was just enticing.

"All the other clubs had pros and cons, but at the end of the day from the first meeting it just felt right with how welcome they made me feel. That was a big part of my decision. When you sign a long-term deal, it basically becomes your family. I think it was important that it felt like that from the start."

St Kilda also secured West Coast premiership small forward Liam Ryan the following day, but the signature of Wanganeen-Milera in August was crucial in a trade period that could define Lyon's second stint at Moorabbin. For Flanders, the commitment of Wanganeen-Milera and the chance to play alongside one of the best players in the League was pivotal in his decision to choose St Kilda.

"That was massive," he said. "Obviously he is one of the best in the game I think. Along with wanting to play in the midfield, when you're picking a club you want team success and I wanted to go somewhere where team success is going to happen, and obviously having 'Nas' makes us a better team. So it was a massive part in my decision.

"Even the likes of 'Windy' staying. When he spoke in the meeting about why he stayed it just felt like it was a real connected, family environment. The boys are very grateful that he stayed and I can see why out on the track. Then TDK [De Koning] and Jack [Silvagni] coming across as well played a big part in why I wanted to come here. There is a reason everyone wants to come here. I felt like that from the start with the environment."

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FLANDERS knew he had to leave Gold Coast if he wants to become a permanent midfielder in the AFL, but it wasn't a scenario where he was unhappy at the club or homesick. He was settled in the team. He owned a house in Miami. And had a coach that had his back.   

Damien Hardwick left a detailed, double page letter in his locker after the two-game trip to Darwin in May. Gold Coast won both games to return home 7-2, but Flanders had struggled in the Northern Territory, finishing with 10 disposals against the Western Bulldogs and then 13 against Hawthorn. He couldn't get going after an interrupted summer in Queensland.

They met multiple times across the year. The coach wasn't blindsided by Flanders' decision to move back to Victoria with two years to run on his contract. By then Gold Coast was trying to land Christian Petracca and would need that pick to satisfy Melbourne. But the relationship between Flanders and Hardwick never fractured. Far from it.

"I absolutely love Dimma," he said. "He has been the best coach I've had so far; there is a reason he has won three flags and been so successful. The on-field stuff everyone sees that, but I think the off-field stuff that people don't see is the genuine care.

"He actually wrote me a letter – and this goes to show the character that Dimma is – he obviously knew that I was down on form and he wrote this massive letter and put it in my locker, expressing the person that I am and the person that he was when he was younger and the similarities.

"I always had the backing of him. It is disappointing that it didn't work out because they are probably going to be really successful under Dimma's plan; I'll be very surprised if they don't win one in the next five years. I loved all the coaches up there. Even the ending, I called Dimma as soon as I decided I was going to the Saints and it was a positive phone call. He told me if I ever need anything to always reach out because he will be there for me."

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GOLD COAST is accustomed to first-round picks moving home before they blossom. This has been happening since Josh Caddy returned to Victoria just two years after the Suns used pick No.7 on him in 2010. But this is different. This isn't an indictment on the culture at People First Stadium. Not even close.

Flanders is cognisant of the scrutiny coming his way in 2026. This is what happens when you move from a small market expansion team in non-football heartland to Melbourne on a lucrative six-year contract, especially after being selected at pick No. 11. Steven May lived that early at Melbourne. Jack Martin and Zac Williams felt it at Carlton. And Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper have felt the searing heat at Richmond.

"Obviously moving to Melbourne brings that," he said. "Am I ready (for the scrutiny)? I guess we'll soon find out. As a professional athlete, there is always going to be opinions. I think it's just the nature of the game. No matter if you are going the best in the world there are critics. I have a great support base around me and it's important to listen to only those that matter. I'm expecting it, but the better you play the quieter the noise."

Flanders grew up in the small dairy farming community Fish Creek, a town of less than a thousand people near Wilsons Promontory in south Gippsland. He has moved into a house in Glen Iris with mates from outside footy, but was back home on Tuesday for St Kilda's community camp, reminding children at his old school what's possible beyond this neck of the woods.

"Fish Creek is a very small area, so to show kids in the country that people can be successful is important," he said. "I think far too often people pigeonhole because of the lack of resources in these areas. I think it just shows people to believe that bigger things can be done no matter where you come from."

Flanders is capable of much bigger things than he produced in 2025. He knows that. He has made a decent impression across his first few weeks at RSEA Park, but knows he will be judged on the two hours that matter most each weekend in winter. Where he plays in those 120 minutes is why he uprooted his life at a club hunting its first flag for one hunting its second – and first in 60 years – in 2026.