November 1983
Leigh Montagna is born in Melbourne.
November 2001
Drafted pick 37 in the AFL National Draft from the Northern Knights. Other Saints selected in this draft were Luke Ball (2), Xavier Clarke (5), Nick Dal Santo (13), Matt Maguire (21) and Josh Houlihan (49).
May 2002
After a string of excellent VFL performances, Montagna makes his AFL debut in round six at Docklands vs Collingwood. St Kilda loses by 83 points and Montagna collects four disposals and lays two tackles. It is the only AFL game Montagna plays for the season.
April 2003
Boots his first AFL goal vs West Coast at Subiaco in round two. He finishes with two for the day amongst 17 disposals in a 70-point loss.
April 2003
Montagna plays in his first St Kilda victory, a 45-point win against Geelong at Docklands.
August 2003
Montagna collects 20 disposals for the first time at AFL level. In a complete reversal of round two, St Kilda thump West Coast by 61 points at Docklands. He also boots two goals and pumps the ball inside 50 on seven occasions.
August 2003
In his 11th AFL game, Montagna collects 19 disposals and kicks three goals in a thumping win over Carlton. He is rewarded with the round 20 AFL Rising Star nomination. Fellow Saints Luke Ball (round two) and Brendon Goddard (round seven) were also nominated during the 2003 season.
March 2004
Over 50,000 people attend the Wizard Home Loans Cup Final to see St Kilda beat Geelong by 22 points at Docklands. Montagna boots one goal in the Saints win. Despite his good early season form, he plays just nine AFL games for the season.
January 2005
After 22 games wearing number 28, Montagna swaps to number 11.
September 2005
After not playing until round 13, Montagna plays in September for the first time, collecting 17 disposals in an enthralling St Kilda win against Adelaide at Football Park. A fortnight later, he kicks a goal and has 11 touches in the Saints preliminary final loss to Sydney at the MCG.
July 2006
Collects 30 disposals for the first time in an AFL match, amassing 34 touches and booting three goals in a 103-point win over Richmond at the MCG.
August 2006
Montagna’s 50th match is celebrated with a 50-point victory over the Western Bulldogs in round 21. After missing round one, Montagna plays 22 games and establishes himself in the St Kilda’s best 18.
May 2007
Suffers a broken jaw in a loss against Hawthorn at the MCG in round 8, but only misses one game and returns for round 10.
October 2007
Finishes third in the Saints best and fairest after a consistent season in which he played 21 games and averaged 24 disposals per match. He is awarded three Brownlow votes in rounds 11, 13 and 16. St Kilda narrowly missed out on the finals, finishing with 11 wins, one draw and nine losses.
March 2008
Plays in his second pre-season premiership, this time the Saints defeat the Crows in Adelaide by five points.
September 2008
Plays in all 25 of St Kilda’s games for the year, culminating in a preliminary final loss to Hawthorn. He averages 22.7 touches per game and boots 12 goals.
October 2008
Montagna is the only Saints player selected to represent Australia in the International Rules Series against Ireland. He performs well but the Aussies lose both matches.
April 2009
At the age of 25, Montagna plays his 100th AFL game, a 32-point win against the Crows in round two at AAMI Stadium.
May 2009
Lays a career-high 13 tackles against Melbourne at Carrara Oval.
July 2009
Amasses career-high 43 disposals against the Eagles in Perth, including nine tackles and 10 clearances.
September 2009
Has 23 disposals and kicks one goal in St Kilda’s Grand Final loss to Geelong.
September 2009
He is rewarded for his consistent season with selection on the wing in the All-Australian team captained by teammate Nick Riewoldt. Lenny Hayes and Nick Dal Santo were also named in the team.
October 2009
Finishes third in St Kilda’s best and fairest for the second time, playing in 24 of St Kilda’s 25 games for the season including its 19-game winning streak from rounds one to 20.
May 2010
Boots a career-high five goals in a 47-point win against Adelaide at Docklands.
September 2010
For the second successive season, Montagna is selected on the wing in the All-Australian team. He averages 28.7 disposals per game for the year and boots 18 goals.
September 2010
Registers 23 disposals and lays 11 tackles in St Kilda’s drawn Grand Final with Collingwood.
October 2010
Plays in the replay Grand Final, his 13th final in five years.
November 2010
Finishes second the Saints best and fairest award.
April 2011
Montagna’s 150th match is a draw against Richmond at the MCG.
August 2012
Scott Watters assigns Montagna a number of testing tagging roles in the last few weeks of the season. He performs admirably, holding Marc Murphy, Joel Selwood and Callan Ward to less than 20 disposals each.
June 2013
Plays his 200th AFL match against North Melbourne in round 10.
You can follow Tom Morris on Twitter: @tommorris32
