Dal Santo’s Last Dance: Saints Finally Get One Right
Some seasons just don’t go your way, and St Kilda’s 2024 AFLW campaign has been exactly that kind of grind. So when the Saints knocked over Collingwood on Saturday to send departing coach Nick Dal Santo out with a win, it felt like the footy gods finally remembered the Saints existed.
Let’s be honest, this has not been a vintage year down at Moorabbin. Wins have been hard to come by, injuries have bitten at the worst times, and the vibe around the club has been more “hang in there” than “finals push”. But footy has this way of delivering a feel-good moment right when you need it most, and this was one of those genuinly perfect sporting storylines.
A Drought-Breaker With Perfect Timing
You don’t need me to tell you how tough it’s been for St Kilda fans watching this season unfold. The Saints have battled all year to find any sort of consistency, and when a club is languishing near the bottom of the ladder, every win starts to feel bigger than it probably should. But beating Collingwood, a genuine contender, on the day your coach is heading out the door? That’s not just a nice stat line. That’s the kind of result that gets replayed in highlight reels for years.
It’s the sort of moment AFLW needed too, honestly. The competition’s growing fast and stories like this are exactly what pulls in new fans who maybe only caught the scoreline on their phone and then went down the rabbit hole to find out why everyone on the broadcast looked so emotional.
Dal Santo’s Legacy Deserves Respect
Look, I’m a Lions fan through and through, so I’ve got no particular allegiance to St Kilda’s success. But you’d have to have a heart of stone not to appreciate what Dal Santo has put into this program. Coaching an AFLW side is no joke — it’s long hours, limited resources compared to the men’s side, and a playing group that’s still fighting for full-time status across the competition. Blokes who commit to this job properly deserve genuine credit, and by all accounts Dal Santo has been all in.
Players coming out post-match talking about how much he’s meant to them wasn’t just the usual farewell cliches either. There was real emotion in that rooms celebration, the kind you can’t fake for the cameras. When a playing group wants to win one for their departing coach and then actually goes out and does it against quality opposition, that tells you everything about the respect in that environment.
Beating The Pies Is Never Just Another Four Points
Collingwood have been building something solid this AFLW era, and any win over them carries weight regardless of ladder position. For St Kilda to find another level against a side with finals ambitions, in the context of a tough season, shows there’s talent and fight in that list even when the results haven’t reflected it.
It’s a timely reminder too that AFLW ladders can be deceiving. Form guides and percentage don’t always tell the full story of a club’s trajectory. The Saints clearly have pieces worth building around, and a statement win like this against a genuine contender is the sort of result a rebuilding list can point back to next preseason as proof of what’s possible.
What This Means Heading Into Next Season
Every club goes through cycles, and AFLW is no different to the men’s competition in that regard. St Kilda’s challenge now is turning a feel-good send-off into actual momentum. New coach, fresh voice, hopefully a list that’s matured through a hard season and come out the other side hungrier rather than deflated.
That’s honestly the biggest test for any club after a rough year — do you use it as fuel or does it linger. The scenes after full time suggested a playing group that still believes in each other, which is no small thing after the kind of season they’ve had.
Growing The Game Beyond The Border
I’ll always bang this drum because it matters to me personally — moments like this are legit gold for growing AFLW nationally, including up here in Queensland where the game is still finding its feet in a lot of communities. A heartfelt coaching send-off with an emotional group hug and a genuine underdog storyline is the kind of clip that travels on social media way beyond the rusted-on supporter base.
People who’ve never watched a full AFLW match before see a story like Dal Santo’s farewell and suddenly they’re invested. That’s how competitions grow — not just through the elite four quarters of footy, but through storylines with heart that cut through to casual observers. No notes on how the Saints and the broadcast handled the send-off, it hit exactly the right tone.
The Final Word
St Kilda’s season overall will go down as one to forget on the ladder, but Saturday gave everyone connected to the club something to hang onto heading into the off-season. Dal Santo got the farewell he earned, the playing group showed they still care deeply about each other and the program, and AFLW got another reminder of why these human stories matter just as much as the four quarters of footy.
As a neutral watching from a Lions tragic’s lens, I reckon that’s about as good as a send-off gets in team sport. You don’t always get to script the ending, but every now and then footy delivers one anyway.
