THEY live just down the hallway from each other, existing at opposite ends of their careers but operating in career-best form. One was taken in the first round and forced to move away from home at 18. The other earned a lifeline after being delisted and is making the most of his second chance in the AFL.
Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera and Mason Wood are the odd couple at Moorabbin that epitomise everything that is working under Ross Lyon right now.
When Wanganeen-Milera was recruited with pick No.11 in the 2021 AFL Draft, the South Australian packed up his life overnight, moved to Melbourne and into a house in Hughesdale with Wood. Since then, the pair have become more like family than friends, much to the amusement of many inside RSEA Park, who wonder how the softly spoken young Indigenous star and the wily, older pro have become so tight.
Wanganeen-Milera has played 27 of a possible 32 games since making his debut in round one last year, quickly finding his feet at the highest level to look like someone on course to spend the next decade electrifying crowds around the AFL.
The 20-year-old represents the important collection of top-end talent at RSEA Park that St Kilda hopes will propel it to its first premiership since 1966, producing his best game yet in his last start when he amassed 29 touches, eight intercepts and 482 metres gained against Greater Western Sydney.
Wood is in the other category. He is a role player who has risen from the AFL scrapheap to a point that puts him in the All-Australian conversation after 10 rounds. Wingmen rarely get rewarded with a blazer, but after being at the crossroads at the end of 2020, the former Kangaroo is one of the most improved players in the AFL in 2023, one of many unlikely players at the Saints who are producing more than ever before.
The 29-year-old is the most diligent preparer at St Kilda, one of the more professional players in the game. Everything he does is carefully considered, like a tailor meticulously measuring your in-seam. When you've completed a Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science – and you've just started a Master's of High Performance – you know what to eat, what to drink and how to recover, but you've still got to practice what you preach.
Wanganeen-Milera turned up at Wood's house at the end of 2021 with a sweet tooth and next to no idea in the kitchen. Slowly but surely, around a stint living with former teammate Ben Long, the Glenelg product has added a few dishes to his repertoire and learned what's required to live an elite lifestyle.
"If you go to the shops with him he is reading the back of the labels looking at the ingredients and what everything contains. He buys the same thing every week. When I first saw him do it, I was like, 'Is this bloke serious?'," Wanganeen-Milera told AFL.com.au ahead of Saturday's game against Hawthorn.
"He does it because he knows his body so well. That's what he needs to feel the best he does. I've changed my diet just watching him go about it. He is the ultimate professional. He is like a nutritionist at home, which is very helpful. I was probably a heavy lolly eater when I first got here and he wasn't too happy when I would walk around the house eating lollies. I haven't eaten lollies in a while. Even breakfast, I went from having toast with jam or cereal to having two eggs on toast, having a bowl of oats with banana and stuff like that."
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WOOD has been preparing for life after football for some time. He has had to. Things didn't quite go as planned at Arden Street. The Geelong Falcons product played 65 games for North Melbourne across seven years and despite producing patches of the quality we now see weekly, he was part of the massive list cull in 2020.
For months, Wood thought his career was dead. But after being signed during the 2021 pre-season supplemental selection period and playing nine games that year to find a pulse, Wood played 19 games in 2022 to resuscitate his career, before bursting to life in recent months to be the No.1 rated wingman in the AFL, according to Champion Data.
After a brief glimpse over the edge, Wood is far from done yet. He has lived almost every experience inside a football club. The good, the bad and the in between. Wanganeen-Milera has been one of the many beneficiaries of Wood's candour and commitment to helping the next generation at the Saints.
"Naz thinks he is my dad; he calls me son all the time," Wood says with a laugh. "We're very much like brothers. We've had some big chats over the time. I've been a little of a sounding board for him because it can be a little bit difficult in your first couple of years.
"I can lean on experiences, having some good footy, some bad footy and everything in between. I have an anecdotal example of literally everything within the four walls of the football club. he certainly values my opinion which I really appreciate, and he is certainly getting better at a rate of knots."
Wood is part of the reason why Wanganeen-Milera ended the speculation around his future in April by signing a two-year extension that ties him to Moorabbin until the end of 2025. But he is far from the only one. St Kilda has created an environment that has helped the homesick South Australian feel at home away from home, led by veteran player development manager Tony Brown and others inside the football department.
"I feel a lot more settled. Last year I was a bit homesick, I struggled early in the year and probably got better towards the back end of the year. But this year I've settled in really well, got a full pre-season done, have a great support crew here," Wanganeen-Milera said.
"Talking to the psychologist, I have come a long way from last year. I've got confidence in myself and can handle it now. It's great having all my mates here, Mason, Brad Hill, Mitch [Owens] and Marcus [Windhager] and Isaac Keeler. They have all made it so much easier."
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RSEA PARK was new, but St Kilda Football Club wasn't new when Wanganeen-Milera walked in the doors for the first time after being drafted. He spent time at the club's short-lived Seaford training base when his stepfather, Terry Milera, played 30 games in the red, white and black between 2012 and 2014. He remembers the big St Kilda logo on the side of the building, but the games are hazy from that time. What isn't hazy is the impact Terry has had on his life.
"He is a big part of the reason why I am here today, not just as a footy player but as the person I am. He came into my life when I was three and my sister was two. He was only 19 at the time and it takes a lot of courage to take on what he did with my mum having two kids. It just shows the man he is," he said.
"I'm proud of him for all he has done and thankful I got blessed with a father like him. Ever since a young age he has supported me, he has taught me things with footy and just encouraged me in anything I do with all my decisions.
"Seeing him at St Kilda 10 years ago now, I used to love watching him play footy; even when he went back to SA I would go to his games every weekend in the SANFL; even when he played local footy in the last couple of years I would watch him still. I am always on the phone to him before and after games, always chatting about things; he is the person I go to for advice all the time. Getting drafted to St Kilda was special because the family already had all the gear because of him and were ready to support me."
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THE YAWA Room – Yawa means 'journey' in Boon Wurrung language – is located on the top level of St Kilda's headquarters on Linton Street, next door to head of football David Misson's office, in a part of the building where the line between the administration and the football department intersects.
Across a fortnight where the game pauses to reflect on the incredible mark Indigenous players have left on the game during Sir Doug Nicholls Round, Wanganeen-Milera is proud to be part of the next generation of Indigenous players making their mark. This room is dedicated to those who have come before – St Kilda has had 31 Indigenous or First Nations men play for the club – with a framed image of Nicky Winmar sitting just above Wanganeen-Milera's right shoulder.
The 187cm, 76kg wingman-half-back reminds people of the way Winmar glided across the ground and is now wearing the No.7 jumper that 'Cuz' made famous before Lenny Hayes inherited it in 1999 and wore with distinction across 297 games for the club. Wanganeen-Milera was obsessed with Hayes when his dad played for the club. Now St Kilda's favourite son is one of his assistant coaches.
"To share the number with Lenny and Nicky is an absolute privilege. Before games I always have a look at the number and play for the number and the guernsey. I remember that Nicky and Lenny played before me in that number and I want to do that number proud," he said.
"Honestly it is definitely a huge honour being an indigenous player playing AFL footy. Indigenous people have done a lot for the game and paved the way for young players like me. I just want to be part of the journey paving the way for young people achieve their dreams, whether its footy or not. I remember when I was a kid watching all these indigenous players play: Cyril Rioli, Buddy Franklin and all of them. It feels surreal that I'm now playing, especially playing in a round that celebrates Indigenous culture."
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THEY call Wood 'The Doc' at Moorabbin. More than half the list is enrolled in a university degree – or have completed one – but none are as devoted to study as Wood, who now spends a chunk of his time away from the club with his head in the books, rather than with a club or PlayStation remote in his hand like others around the competition.
Once or twice a month, Wood, Wanganeen-Milera and their housemate, young key forward Matt Allison, open their doors to a group of Saints for dinner. Wood used to cook everything but recently the other two have started cooking, although the results have been patchy early. Wood had to take control of a pasta that was taking a turn for the worst before he intervened ahead of the Adelaide game earlier this month.
"When I first came into footy, the drinking culture was quite prevalent. A lot of guys aren't huge drinkers anymore and you lose the social aspect, so I had a think about things you could do to get on the front foot and be social with guys. I thought it was a great opportunity," Wood said.
"It might take a bit of prep work, but it is a chance to just hang out and bond more than anything away from the club. There aren't that many opportunities to do that and check in with people, see how they are going, see how they are liking the program, things like that. There is nowhere near as many opportunities as when I first started. Connection is just about the most important thing at a football club."
Wanganeen-Milera is starting to come out of shell around the club, starting to feel more comfortable in an environment that is daunting until it isn't. Speaking in front of the group doesn't come naturally to him. But when he made a presentation to Wood inside the bowels of Marvel Stadium ahead of his 100th game against Port Adelaide in round seven, he hit all the right notes despite a sleepless night.
"Everyone at the club asks what he is like because he is still reasonably quiet, but he is cheeky as. He's got a great sense of humour but until he comes out of the shell and he feels comfortable, you won't get it," he said.
"He gets choked up in meetings when he has to speak but he is getting better. When he delivered my 100th jumper to me he was more stressed about that than playing a game of footy. I said, 'Don't worry if you stuff it up, I'll enjoy it more, I hope you stuff up a few words because it will make me laugh'. To his credit, he nailed it and is getting good in that space. From a quiet little boy who came in, he is certainly starting to flourish."
Wood's journey back from the brink has provided Wanganeen-Milera with a living, breathing example that this game doesn't last forever. You need to prepare for what's next while you're playing. Observing Wood up close has prompted him to start the Business and Sports Management Degree at Torrens University he deferred when he finished school.
"Watching him all last year, I thought he was the most boring bloke to live with, just doing uni all the time," he said. "But he has his life sorted and has encouraged me to make sure I have something to plan for the future. It is always spoken about at footy clubs to have a back-up plan and prepare for life after footy. Maso told me that having his degree and uni keeps him balanced off field and gives himself to go to straight after footy. I've applied for uni and will start next month."
They might be the odd couple inside Moorabbin, but what Wood and Wanganeen-Milera are doing in the two hours we see them on weekends and behind the scenes is adding up.
