Tom Morris had a crack about coverage of St Kilda. He didn’t tell the full story

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If St Kilda think a new coach will solve their problems, they need to think again. There are much deeper and more concerning issues at Moorabbin.

Women’s coach Nick Dal Santo will have a farewell game at Moorabbin on Saturday, having not been offered another contract for next season.

The club announced on Friday that Dal Santo would stand down, with an interim coach to lead the team for the final three games.

Perhaps the 18th-placed Saints are hoping his exit will spur the winless team on to victory against the Pies, in the bottom-of-the-ladder clash at RSEA Park.

The decision to part ways comes as no surprise, given they were just 40 seconds away from becoming the first AFLW team to endure a scoreless game last weekend. Not goalless, SCORELESS!

The team has gone backwards this year. You could argue only one player has improved, midfielder Tyanna Smith.

Teenage recruit Jade McLay has also been a positive. Other than that, it’s a mess.

There have been some baffling football decisions. Dal Santo was hired as a part-time coach, but has worked full-time hours. List manager Darius Wyatt comes from a cricket background in South Australia and, like Dal Santo, had no previous experience of women’s footy.

President Andrew Bassat said in a letter to members: “We are committed to giving our AFLW program every chance to succeed and to building something our members can be proud of.”

However, sources close to the club, speaking on the condition of anonymity, say female players at St Kilda feel like second-class citizens.

Some say that when they walk through the doors, they feel like they’re entering a space that’s not theirs. As one person said to me, “It feels like you’re tiptoeing around the men’s workspace.”

Some female players feel there are unspoken rules. Put back everything where you found it. Be out of meeting rooms on the dot (while the men frequently go over time, leaving the women waiting for the use of a room or facility).

In the pre-season, some players were told they’d benefit from extra tackling sessions. But they’d have to pay for them out of their own pocket. At $50 a session, some players were left several hundreds of dollars out of pocket.