ST KILDA CEO Carl Dilena has conceded a difficult year on the field for both men's and women's programs have contributed to 'elevated tension' within the club.
Speaking exclusively to The W Show, Dilena discussed the departure of coach Nick Dal Santo last week, the recently begun AFLW program review, and any possible special assistance requests.
The men's team finished in 11th spot on the ladder, missing out on a wildcard slot by 2.5 games, while the women's team sits in last position with a 1-8 record.
"We've had those discussions internally. It's been a tough year, losing games all the time, it was a tough year for our men's program too because we didn't really meet expectations," Dilena told The W Show.
"So the tension this year has been elevated. In that environment you're always going to get a bit of tension or friction, so it's how you deal with it that matters."
Dilena hit back in response to an article in The Age last week which claimed unnamed players felt like "second-class citizens" at the club.
"That hit hard for us, because it was very disappointing, we don't see ourselves like that. I'm not sure where the comments came from, maybe from a player manager more so than the players," he said.
"But there's a couple of things that were suggested in there that just lacked any basis in fact, and probably confused the story a little bit, around meals and extra training. They didn't have a lot of substance, really, and weren't really accurate. It would have been nice if Kelli (Underwood) called and maybe verified some of those things, because it's now portrayed the club in a certain way, which we don't think it should be.
"We're doing everything we can to make sure the girls are totally integrated into the program. It's a challenging thing, clubs don't get it right all the time, and we're not saying we're perfect, but we're trying as hard as we can to make it right."
DILENA ON…
Fostering a one-club mentality
"There's always challenges around overlap of programs, and we've added this year VFL on top of that as well, so now we've got three programs using the same space. We're trying to get really structured with the GMs talking to each other, the coaches speaking to each other and mapping out their respective programs to create harmony in the program.
"What worked well early days when I was at North (Melbourne) and we were setting up the W team there, was having some of the players in the club. Emma Kearney and Jas Garner were working in the club at North, same at St Kilda with Hannah Priest and Serene Watson, because that helps break down the barriers. It can be intimidating for just a staff person in a footy environment, let alone a young female player coming into that environment. I know speaking to our female players, some of them felt nervous walking up the stairs into the admin area of the club because it's out of their comfort zone of the change rooms.
"There are little things you can do to break down those barriers, for example Pride week last week, we had a joint lunch with all the staff and the W players just to build that connectivity. We've got Cal Wilkie and Serene talking to each other about how the players can connect better, can the male players help out at training? Can they interact in ways that aren't manufactured, but just organic and comes naturally? You've got some young men who aren't necessarily good at talking to people or girls, or girls who perhaps feel a bit nervous in that environment as well. The more you can make people feel comfortable in that environment, the better."
The review into the AFLW program, run by Brad Lloyd
"We wanted to start earlier so we got a good chunk of the season, the last four games, and it might go a bit beyond that, let's say mid-November potentially.
"Everything will be reviewed. The difference we might find (compared to other clubs) is we've made some recent changes anyway; we've had a new list manager come in (Darius Wyatt), a new assistant coach in Matt Brewer. We were focusing on some of the things we needed to do to move forward already. It's not like there are people who have been there for a long, long time. Dal had been, and that would have been one thing reviewed, and we don't have to do that anymore.
"[The coach search] will be a parallel process. We've started scoping up what the process will look like in terms of the search for a new coach. We'll do that at the same time as the review."
The possibility of applying for special assistance
"I don't know as yet. It's a hard one, because I think there's a few clubs in that basket. Speaking to Laura Kane about it and the challenge is, if you've got four clubs asking for special assistance, how do you deal with that? Are there more tailored approaches that we might want to take as a club? In our case, Hannah Priest – who's pregnant – we'd love to retain her because she's such a great leader and experienced person to be in our group. Is there a concession that works to just keep her on the list and playing while we can add another one? There'll be things like that. I can't see the AFL offering a whole lot of concession picks, because it's too hard to fit with so many clubs."
