It has taken Raphael Clarke a decade to fall back in love with the AFL team which came within minutes of handing the Aboriginal talent a historic premiership medal.
The St Kilda defender appeared 85 times over nine years until 2012.
Ross Lyon coached Clarke for 60 of those matches at an impressive winning rate of 66 per cent from 2007 to 2011, including the 2009 grand final loss to Geelong.
But it was Scott Waters who axed Clarke at the end of his first season in charge of the Saints before the club fired the coach the next year.
The Gambalang man revealed the reason his disdain of St Kilda stemmed from finding a text message on his phone informing the former No.8 draft pick he had been delisted.
"It took me a while to actually get back and watch it - I was shown the door," Clarke told SEN radio.
"If I didn't come back and play for St Mary's straight away with (his brother) Xavier, it would have taken me a long time to enjoy football again.
"A lot of people probably wouldn't believe this, but for somebody to give nine years of everything you've got, to be delisted by text message, that is probably the icing on the cake, which made me hate St Kilda for so long.
"I'm only just starting to get my passion back for St Kilda."
It took the club's welfare officer Tony Brown - another sacked Saint after six seasons at Moorabbin - reaching out to Clarke to finally reconnect with the club.
The opportunity to forge bonds with Indigenous stars Paddy Ryder, Ben Long and Brad Hill lured the 37-year-old back into the fold this year.
Ryder retired after 281 AFL games over 16 years this year, while Long has been traded after seeking a better contract at Gold Coast.
While having no formal role at St Kilda, Clarke had earlier returned home to Darwin to coach St Mary's after playing in four NTFL premierships in his post-AFL career.
"I didn't watch a lot of AFL footy for a good three or four years," he said.
"I'm just starting to watch it again and really enjoying the game now."
- Story by Andrew Mathieson
