While the on-field action has died down in the AFL, the trade period has been hotting up. For 24 year old Sam Flanders, raised in Fish Creek, this has meant saying goodbye after five years to his first AFL club, the Gold Coast Suns, and moving to St Kilda. The deal saw St Kilda giving the Suns the no 7 pick at the National Draft.
Sam played 89 games for the Suns, with 2024 being his stand out year. Not only did he poll 12 Brownlow votes, but he eclipsed Gary Ablett’s 2012 club record of 675 disposals, with 680 disposals of his own.
Sam says he is excited to be offered the opportunity to hone his skills as a midfielder at a club which is building a young, exciting and talented team. While he will be leaving the tempting Gold Coast lifestyle and a great group of fellow players behind, moving back to his home state means he will be closer to his family and friends.
And it is family especially that have supported him in his journey at the elite level of sport. Sam has always wanted to be a professional athlete and while he played football, following in his father and brothers’ footsteps, it was basketball that drew him away from Foster Secondary College and his home on a dairy farm at Fish Creek as a 16 year old, to join the Sports Academy program at Lowanna College in Newborough.
Initially, he boarded with family friends but eventually his family leased the farm and moved closer to support him.
At what is probably one of those pivotal life moments, an opportunity arose to attend a state footy camp in New Zealand or play Vic country under 18 basketball. Sam says he felt his height would limit any prospect of him ever playing NBL, so he chose NZ and his AFL career began.
Sam says while transitioning from elite basketball to footy was relatively easy he doesn’t think the reverse would be the case. The skills he acquired as a basketballer gave him great hand eye coordination and spatial awareness. He also said that with little previous history he was new to recruiters which was an advantage over others who had been in the AFL system since junior level.
Personally, Sam reckons the challenge of moving to a new elite sport reignited his passion to be a professional athlete and he is looking forward to recharging his battery once again with the move to St Kilda. Kaye Rodden
