ST KILDA'S mission into New Zealand will reach a crucial crossroad at the centenary commemorations of Gallipoli in 2015.
In Wellington this week for the Anzac Day clash against the Brisbane Lions, the Saints are already looking to next year and how their Trans-Tasman football association can expand.
The 100th anniversary of Gallipoli will coincide with St Kilda's third year playing in New Zealand and discussions about introducing a second match each season could gain momentum after the centenary game.
General manager of commercial projects Ben Davies, who has overseen the Saints' move into New Zealand for the last 11 months, said 2015 would be a crucial year for the project.
"We’ll review the deal after 2015 and reshape it for the remaining three years of the agreement," Davies told AFL.com.au.
"In time we'll get to a discussion about whether a second game works in that market – we're certainly not ruling it out.
"Being such a significant year for Australia and New Zealand, the centenary of Gallipoli gives us a really strong platform to promote AFL in New Zealand.
"We have quite significant plans from a tourism perspective … [and] our sustainability in New Zealand is going to be based on attracting New Zealand businesses to support our club."
St Kilda's clash with the Sydney Swans at Westpac Stadium in Wellington last season drew a crowd of 22,546, but ticket sales have been slow for this year's match against the Lions.
With five days of activities planned, starting from when players and staff flew into Wellington on Tuesday, the club expects the match to receive more attention in coming days.
"At this stage it's not dissimilar to the AFL forging a new relationship in markets like Greater Western Sydney and the Gold Coast," Davies said.
"As a new sport in a foreign market, our involvement with the New Zealand population is going to be a slow build.
"This year's Anzac Day game gives us an opportunity to engage with those followers of AFL again and people who are coming to the sport for the first time.
"That membership base will start to increase (around) the centenary of Gallipoli next year and then throughout the remaining three years of our five-year plan."
The Saints have set a target of 10,000 members in New Zealand by 2018 as part of an ambitious strategic framework released in March, with a view to building strong Trans-Tasman corporate connections.
Australian football has made significant ground in New Zealand over the past six years, with about 40,000 kids playing the game through KiwiKick (the New Zealand equivalent of Auskick).
"The key thing for us is we're not going to take on rugby," Davies said.
"Rugby is in the DNA of New Zealanders, but if we can tap into an interested market of AFL followers and be their team of choice, then we see upside to our involvement.
"That will help dictate where we go beyond our current agreement."
