Saints follow the leader

Scott Watters implemented the leadership model last season and believes it is starting to pay off. Picture: Colleen Petch Source: Herald Sun

ST KILDA pioneered co-captaincy in the 1990s and introduced captaincy rotation a decade ago, but under Scott Watters' coaching the Saints are employing a leadership model inspired by the all-conquering Hockeyroos.

St Kilda's structure involves 19 players spread across three leadership tiers: leaders, emerging leaders and mentors.

"I always watched with interest and admired what Ric Charlesworth was doing as coach of the Australian women's hockey team in the early 1990s," Watters said.

"They basically had Rechelle Hawkes as their captain, but they went through a phase where they made a deliberate decision to spread leadership among the whole group."

The four-time Olympian captained the Hockeyroos from 1993 to 2000, during which time they lost only one international tournament.

"They went through arguably their most successful period without a traditional captain, with the philosophy being that they were after a critical mass of leaders," Watters said.

"Part of it is that your leadership model needs to have a little bit of flexibility as your group grows.

"But to me it's less about the obvious leader at a club. It's more about how many people can we get into that frame of mind and have that skills set to drive the environment."

Watters implemented the structure last season and believes it is starting to pay off.

The Saints have a group of six mentors with 1305 games experience between them, one of whom attends meetings of the leadership group (twice a week) and emerging leaders (weekly).

"Every player on the list has a responsibility to lead.

"It's not just about the captain or even the leadership group, it's far broader than that. I'm not even concerned who tosses the coin on match day. In many ways it's one of the great traditions of the game, but it's not something that drives the group and their program," Watters said.

"It's the leadership throughout the week, throughout the game, after a win, after a loss, during training. They're the things that are critical."

The Saints are looking to fast-track the development of their younger players.

"We now have 26 players aged under 23 on our list, and 21 of those have really come in over the past 12 months. So it's a list that has some outstanding experienced leaders, but it also has some players who are pretty new to the system.

"So the more we get interaction between those two groups I think it helps bridge that gap," Watters said.

LEADERSHIP GROUP (8)
Nick Riewoldt (capt), Leigh Montagna, Nick Dal Santo, Ben McEvoy, James Gwilt, Jarryn Geary*, David Armitage*, Sean Dempster*
*elevated this season

EMERGING LEADERS (5)
Sam Dunnell, Jack Newnes, Arryn Siposs, Tom Curren, Seb Ross.

MENTORS (6)
Lenny Hayes, Sam Fisher, Justin Koschitzke, Jason Blake, Stephen Milne, Adam Schneider.

Genangan Dollar