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Meet the goat who changed Jimmy’s life

The pet of choice for AFL players is a dog. The pet of choice for St Kilda pair Jimmy Webster and Tim Membrey was a little different.

The St Kilda teammates – and housemates – recently welcomed a goat into their lives.

The different take on man’s best friend didn’t last, however, with the nocturnal new addition keeping the boys up all night.

“We went on Gumtree and picked it up because everyone at the club had a dog or a cat and we wanted to be a little bit different,” Webster told aflplayers.com.au.

“We wanted a pet and also wanted to let him eat the grass at our place because we didn’t have a lawnmower.

“So we named him Todd, we had him for a week, and we loved him.

“He ate the grass down and was great except he was making plenty of noise at about 3am every morning and it was causing us a bit of trouble.

“It was a tough decision but we had to give him back to his owner.”

Webster spent plenty of time on the land as a youngster in Mangalore, Tasmania, and has a love for all animals.

Goats, however, just aren’t the right fit for now.

The knockabout defender hasn’t ruled out getting a new pet and is open to suggestions.

“We just don’t want to be like everyone else and have a dog. I love dogs but we want something a bit different.”

Webster played an important role in St Kilda’s thrilling win over Melbourne on Sunday.

He was handed the task of minding Jeff Garlett and kept the dangerous goalsneak to just three kicks and a single goal.

The 21-year-old has played 29 games, including seven this season, and said he was feeling more settled in the developing Saints line-up.

“It’s good to be playing with some consistency and getting trusted to do a job on a good player,” he said.

“I’m really enjoying it.”