“It might have been a bit awkward”: Saints star weighs in on Josh Battle's B&F snubbing

St Kilda best and fairest winner Callum Wilkie has weighed in on the club’s decision not to invite Josh Battle to the awards ceremony on Monday.

SEN’s Sam Edmund reported that Battle, who finished third in the count, was not mentioned by the president, captain or coach across the night.

The key defender will be joining Hawthorn as a free agent in the upcoming trade period.

Wilkie, who is a good friend of Battle’s, admits it might have been a bit uncomfortable to have him in the room.

“Josh is a good friend of mine and I know it was a very difficult decision for him to make and I wish him all the best going forward, but yeah those decisions aren’t up to me,” Wilkie told SEN’s The Run Home.

“It might have been a bit awkward if he was there, but I wish Josh all the best in his future endeavours at Hawthorn.

“He was a great clubman and I’ve been with him my whole career and he’s been a friend of mine the last six years.”

St Kilda president Andrew Bassat made headlines at the awards, slamming the AFL’s father-son and Academy rules.

Wilkie doesn’t delve too deeply into those factors, but is happy to have a president who is willing to fight for what is best for the club.

“I’m just happy as a player that we’ve got a president who is willing to fight for the football club,” he said.

“I don’t know what goes on behind the scenes and I don’t pay much attention to the draft and how that all plays out, but I know that Andrew fights tooth and nail for this club and that’s what you want from people in charge of the club and we’ve got that with him and Ross

“I feel like the club is in good hands with them and Jack Steele.”

Wilkie expects the Saints to be quite active in this upcoming trade period.

“I think (we will be pretty active). Ross and the coaching staff and the list management are the ones who make the decisions,” he said.

“I guess us senior players can involve ourselves in any way, shape or form – that mostly lands on Jack Steele’s shoulders.

“They’re looking to be active. Our name gets thrown around with everyone who bobs up. There’s rumours about Jack Macrae and Ivan Soldo, so we’ll see what happens.

“We don’t really get told a whole lot and we leave those decisions to those employed in those roles.”

The Saints have been linked to Macrae and Soldo as well as the likes of James Peatling and Adam Tomlinson and bigger fish like Andrew Brayshaw and Luke Davies-Uniacke who become free agents in 2025.