ONE OF footy's biggest off-field rivalries will shift on field on Saturday afternoon when St Kilda hosts Brisbane at Marvel Stadium.

And while most grudge matches revolve around the players on the field, the focus of this one will be on the senior figures in the stands.

For the past 18 months, St Kilda's hierarchy has been vocal in their opposition to inequities in the draft system, with their focus firmly on the two Queensland clubs.

Gold Coast was initially the target of St Kilda's ire, but comments last month from Brisbane coach Chris Fagan - and the swift reply of some senior Saints - has put the Lions in their cross hairs as well.

Before the Saints and Lions do battle on the field this weekend, take a look back at how the feud has transpired.

September, 2024: Saints slam draft 'rubbish'

St Kilda president Andrew Bassat used his speech at the club's best and fairest night to slam what he called the "rubbish" concessions in the draft system.

"It's not a level playing field, as we know," he said. "The system is designed to favour the wealthier clubs and it's designed to favour the northern clubs, and our role is meant to be just to make up the numbers and not complain about it.

"It's fair to say our club is sick and tired of meekly accepting this - it's rubbish - and we are absolutely committed as a club, relentlessly, to ensure that we are given a fairer opportunity for success.

"The system is absolute nonsense, it's complete and utter nonsense. We will fight the battle, certainly until my last day as president, and hopefully beyond."

April, 2025: Suns hit back at 'ill-informed' criticism

After Bassat doubled down on his best and fairest comments, saying he was "unrepentant" for raising his complaints publicly, Suns CEO Bob East hit back by labelling the remarks "inappropriate and ill-informed".

"There are 27 competitive balance considerations that the AFL is considering, so in terms of focusing just on the academy, it is inappropriate and ill-informed," East said.

"I noticed on the weekend that they had three father-son prospects highlighted, I think it was Riewoldt, Hayes and Montagna. These are opportunities that are not afforded to us in at least the next decade. It will be 15 years or so before we have those opportunities.

"St Kilda in the back-half of the season only travels outside of Victoria once in 10 games, including seven games in a row in Melbourne. Interstate teams are not afforded that luxury."

May, 2025: The infamous 'nepo baby' sledge

While the feud was bubbling away in the background, Ross Lyon pushed it to the forefront when he labelled the Suns "the AFL's nepo babies" before a game at Marvel Stadium.

Asked during a pre-game interview what he thought of his upcoming opponent, Lyon's answer took a turn.

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

Unsurprisingly, Suns coach Damien Hardwick was asked about Lyon's comments after his side's 19-point win, and he didn't miss in response.

"It's a little bit disrespectful, I think," he said. "I've been at Richmond and now I've come to the Gold Coast. We don't get a lot.

"What St Kilda should do is focus on their own backyard instead of trying to bring everyone else down. They had 13,000 people here today. We'll focus on Gold Coast, they should focus on themselves.

"First place you need to look is inward."

May, 2025: Suns slam 'offensive and out of order' comments

The day after Lyon's comments, the Suns got on the front foot, with CEO Mark Evans going on Melbourne radio to slam the St Kilda coach.

"I thought the comments were offensive and out of order," Evans told SEN. "Offensive in that the word (nepotism) implies corruption and favouritism. That really stabs at the club's hard work over a lot of years. We haven't always had the best history at stuff.

"We lost a lot of players, we had to rebuild, we knew we were going to reset through the draft.

"We found it offensive and out of order. It is unusual in a pre-game interview. It is hard to see that those words would just fall out at that particular time. We didn't like it."

June, 2025: Saints push the AFL for change

A month after the 'nepo baby' comments, the Saints stepped up their bid for a draft overhaul, calling on the AFL to abolish the northern Academies.

AFL.com.au revealed that Bassat and chief executive Carl Dilena fronted the AFL Commission and presented a range of recommendations, saying "in an ideal world, all concessions should be removed so we return to an uncompromised draft."

Dilena told AFL.com.au: "We're not trying to blow everything up. We're trying to have the least amount of compromise as possible. Everyone recognises the bias to northern states to grow the game. We'd like to see the pendulum switch back."

February, 2026: Fagan questions big-money deals

After a quite few months, Fagan lit the fuse for another St Kilda stoush by questioning the club's off-season spending spree in an interview with AFL.com.au.

"I'm hoping those numbers we saw last year, via St Kilda, don't become a reality. I saw that as a bit of a danger for the game," he said.

"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 (Wanganeen-Milera). I think he's going to be a really good player and how far he goes I don't know.

"And 'TDK' (Tom 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."

Dilena wasted little time in clapping back, again referencing the northern draft concessions in an interview with AFL.com.au.

"I can understand fears about having to pay fair value for players. I appreciate it's a novel concept for some people. Doing anything for the first time can be intimidating," Dilena said. 

"The reality is, the danger arises from a system that distorts access to talent, not in amounts paid to players, which must sit in a cap."

February, 2026: Lyon slams Fagan for 'weaponising the media'

A week after the Fagan-Dilena back-and-forth, Lyon weighed in during an exclusive pre-season interview with AFL.com.au.

"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."

AFL.com.au's Damian Barrett reported this week that club presidents Bassat and Andrew Wellington also had private correspondence at the time about the back-and-forth between Fagan and Lyon.

March, 2026: Lyon sets the stage

A week before the Saints v Lions showdown, and even with Brisbane on a bye, Fagan v Lyon was on the agenda for St Kilda's trip to Sydney to play the Giants.

Fagan had also flown to Sydney to do some reconnoissance, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by the Saints coach - who added another cheeky swipe at the Giants for good measure.

"Chris Fagan was here watching in person, so he's not breathing out is he? He's got two cups and he's rolling up, eating a Subway [sandwich]. He had plenty of space in the stands though, like he wasn't crowded in the stands," Lyon said

"But he strapped it on, it's an insight to his mindset and the drive and the club we're coming up against, so we'll have to be on our mettle to compete against the back-to-back premier."

Lyon also highlighted the ability of Brisbane to add a captain of a rival club in Oscar Allen, and another big-name free agent in Sam Draper, as well as gain access to "the No.1-rated player (in the national draft)", Daniel Annable, immediately after securing a second consecutive premiership.

"When Brisbane's list could be in decline they go and get the captain from West Coast and the No.1 player from Essendon as free agents. And then have arguably the No.1-rated player (in the national draft) go at what was, it pick 40?," he said.