St Kilda teammate speaks out after Josh Battle and family cop second slight at awards night

St Kilda best and fairest winner Callum Wilkie has weighed-in on the AFL club's decision for Josh Battle not to attend the end of season awards night after the star announced he was joining the Hawks. Battle left St Kilda fans disappointed having announced he is off to Hawthorn as a free agent having finished his seventh season at the club.

Although the AFL community were left stunned after Battle was not invited to the Trevor Barker Awards night on Monday to celebrate the players' achievements throughout the year. Battle finished third in the vote for player of the season after a brilliant year for the club.

But according to reporter Sam Edmund, Battle didn't receive a mention by the president, coach or captain during the speeches. This caused uproar within the community and SEN's Campbell Brown labelled the club's decision as 'petty' and 'immature'.

"I think it is very immature to un-invite a player who has been their seven seasons. Yes he has made the personal decision to leave the club, but you honour the player," Brown said on SEN Radio on Tuesday.

"You respect the fact he has put in blood, sweat and tears over a long period of time. He has had a bloody good year... I think for a president, a coach and a captain to refuse to acknowledge him on stage is pretty ordinary."

Callum Wilkie responds to Josh Battle situation

And after the backlash, best and fairest winner Wilkie has weighed-in on the drama. Speaking after taking home one of the club's best honours, Wilkie claimed it might have been 'awkward' for Battle to join the team in the night.

“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 Radio after the backlash. “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.”

While Wilkie tried to quell the drama, Brown earlier took aim at the club for the poor move. Battle was reportedly offered a boosted contract from St Kilda before the end of the season, but opted for a move to Hawthorn. The Hawthorn deal was reportedly worth less money.

However, many feel Battle still deserved a farewell with his teammates at the end of the season. “I can understand they'd be desperately disappointed to lose him because he's a really good player and he's in the prime of his career, but he's made a decision for whatever reason to go to Hawthorn,” Brown added.

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“But he's still been a really good servant for a significant amount of time, this is not a guy that's leaving after one or two years, he was there seven years and over 120 games. You need to acknowledge the fact that he ran third in their best and fairest. Give him a bit of a farewell, I'm sure the supporters would have liked to have seen him … it's petty and it's immature in this professional world of sport where people are moving around a lot, I didn’t like it at all.”

Josh Battle's family request in final game shut down

In the last regular game of the season against Carlton, Battle had requested if he could run through the club banner to enter the field alongside his daughter. This suggested he had already made up his mind about leaving St Kilda as he wanted to share the special moment with his little girl in his farewell. The AFL knocked back his request on a technicality.

Edmund reported at the time the AFL does not sanction run-outs for players with their kids unless it is a milestone match or a special occasion for the player. This wasn't a milestone match, which meant Battle wasn't able to have his request accepted.

The 25-year-old was expected to be handed a boosted contract offer from the club, but opted to join Sam Mitchell at Hawthorn. Battle would have enjoyed watching the Hawks make a miraculous post-season charge with Mitchell building an exciting brand of footy at the club.