Clarrie Riordan

Recruited from Kyneton in the Bendigo Football League, Clarrie Riordan was a defensive utility who played a brief but noteworthy role for St Kilda during the early years of the Second World War. A sturdy backman often utilised on the flanks or in a key defensive post, he found it difficult to cement a regular position in the senior lineup, managing just 13 games across the 1939 and 1940 seasons. Despite his inability to lock down a long-term spot, Riordan holds a unique place in the club’s history as the starting centre half-back in the Saints' 1940 Patriotic Cup winning team—a lightning premiership tournament played to raise funds for the war effort. He anchored the defence in the final against Richmond, helping the club secure its first-ever piece of senior silverware, before his VFL career quietly concluded at the end of the 1940 season.