Fresh Hawthorn recruit Josh Battle explains to Josh Gabelich his reasoning for leaving St Kilda and how he handled the backlash.
Josh Battle, a HAWTHORN recruit, claims that switching from RSEA Park to Waverley Park was the hardest decision he has ever made, but it was also the best one for his future career.
Five weeks after deciding to make the transfer after eight seasons in red, white, and black, the 26-year-old formally signed with the Hawks on Friday morning as an unrestricted free agent after the necessary paperwork was filed and finished at AFL House.
Battle has signed a lucrative six-year deal at Hawthorn until the end of 2030, but is understood to have left more money on the table by rejecting St Kilda’s counter-offer.
The defender grappled with the decision across most of the 2024 season and was torn between staying the course at the Saints or joining a new project at the Hawks.
But after playing 123 games across eight seasons at Moorabbin, Battle injects his new side with even more defensive quality after the Hawks recovered from 0-5 to fall three points short of a preliminary final last month.
“It is the toughest decision I’ve ever had to make in my life,” Battle told AFL.com.au.
“To leave my teammates, who I have a great relationship with and worked with over the last eight years, it was very hard to leave.
“I was drafted with Rowan Marshall. I’ve worked really closely with guys like Jack Sinclair and ‘Wilks’ (Callum Wilkie) and ‘Naz’ (Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera) and these guys in the backline. Leaving was always going to be a tough decision, but I felt it was the right one for me and my family. I’m looking forward to making new relationships and getting to work at the Hawks.”
After finishing top 10 in the past two best and fairest counts, Battle thrived amid the chaos of a contract year to produce the best season of his career in 2024, finishing third in Monday’s Trevor Barker Award behind All-Australian defenders Cal Wilkie and Jack Sinclair.
“I found footy a great distraction and release this year from everything going on. That’s probably why it resulted in my best season to date,” Battle said.
“We had our daughter Bobbi in April, so life was pretty busy at home with two kids. Plus the contract situation and the noise around that. I loved coming into the club, getting to work with my mates and then performing on the weekends.”
Battle was transformed from a part-time forward and even wingman into a brilliant intercept defender under former St Kilda coach Brett Ratten, with six-time All-Australian and current Saints backline coach Corey Enright key to the switch.
Battle will be reunited with his old Haileybury College classmate Jack Scrimshaw and Ratten, who is currently Hawthorn’s head of coaching performance and development.
After Battle exercised his right to free agency, St Kilda requested that he not attend the Trevor Barker Award. In their separate statements, Saints coach Ross Lyon and president Andrew Bassat made no mention of him, and at Crown Palladium, his podium finish was hardly acknowledged.
“I appreciated the Saints’ choice not to let me go. They must act in the club’s best interests.
