Multi-time best and fairest winner open to AFL lifeline after abrupt 2024 delisting

Former St Kilda midfielder Seb Ross is hoping a club throws him an AFL lifeline in 2025.

The multi-time best and fairest winner was delisted at the conclusion of the 2024 season, something that he says caught him off guard.

He played 13 games across the year, falling out of favour in the back-half.

“I wasn’t shocked by the decision. Being out of contract at this time of the year and being in the system for so long, I knew that that’s the way it could go, but the shock probably lied in how abruptly it ended,” Ross told SEN Breakfast.

When asked if the Saints could have handled his delisting better, given his service to the club, Ross said: “There’s probably somewhere in between”.

“I’ve always had empathy for the way guys have gone about dealing with this time of year. To be honest at footy clubs at this time of year when a lot of guys are out of contract it’s a pretty crap time of year.

“To experience that first-hand this year, it’s such an unknown time and I wasn’t sure which way it was going to go, I was certainly preparing for it to not go my way.

“It probably ended pretty quickly – I was just like wow.”

The 31-year-old says he would be keen on an opportunity elsewhere in 2025 if one presented itself.

“I don’t know the chances of it happening, but that was a discussion I was having with the Saints later in the year – that I still felt like I could go on and I wanted to play on and checking with the high performance staff and their metrics and I was still an above average midfielder in all the high-speed meters per minute numbers,” Ross said.

“The body is able and the mind is able, so I’ve got to wait until after the trade period if there’s any list spots available, but I’d certainly be open to continuing on my career.”

Ross added that he is yet to speak to a rival club about potential 2025 opportunities.

He played 211 career games for the Saints, winning the Trevor Barker Award in 2017 and 2019.