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Dal Santo steps down as Saints coach after 0-8 season

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Cite

Kennelly, H. (2026, October 9). Dal Santo steps down as Saints coach after 0-8 season. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/sport/afl/dal-santo-steps-down-as-saints-coach-after-0-8-season-20261009-p613ny.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Sydney Morning Herald · collected 2026-10-09 · by Hannah Kennelly

Quick Summary

St Kilda's AFLW senior coach Nick Dal Santo has stepped down after leading the team through a 0-8 loss streak this season, including their lowest score ever of just one point against the Bulldogs. The club will conduct an independent review led by football executive Brad Lloyd to assess and improve its women’s program. Dal Santo’s departure comes six seasons into his tenure, during which he guided St Kilda to its first finals appearance last year.
Written by AI on 2026-10-09, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Nick Dal Santo stepped down as the AFLW senior coach of St Kilda, following an 0-8 start to the season that included their lowest-ever score of just one point against the Bulldogs on October 3rd. The club confirmed his decision and will conduct an independent review of its women’s program. In a statement, St Kilda CEO Carl Dilena thanked Dal Santo for leading the team to its first finals appearance last season but acknowledged the need for change after six seasons of leadership. Dal Santo will coach one final game against Collingwood before leaving his post.

Written for “Dal Santo Steps Down As Coach” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Dal Santo Steps Down As Coach
Sports · 3 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 68/100
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 3 of 50 claims Outlet record 61/100
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 0 of 1 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A describes Dal Santo stepping down as coach after an 0-8 season, while Article B mentions a match where St Kilda won against Collingwood on Saturday, but does not mention the coaching change.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 2 of 34 claims Outlet record 61/100
“While both articles discuss Nick Dal Santo's departure as coach of the St Kilda Saints after a poor performance season, they describe different stages: Article A discusses the immediate aftermath and call for his removal following a historically bad game, while Article B reports on the official step-down decision made later.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 19 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-09 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Sydney Morning Herald · 5658 article(s) · 15 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 15 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Hannah Kennelly
29 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 The Saints confirmed on Friday that the former St Kilda and North Melbourne star would step down after Saturday’s game against Collingwood and the club would do an independent review of its AFLW program.
2026-10-09 · assertive framing · Dal Santo steps down as Saints coach after 0-8 season
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
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Topics

AFLW Collingwood North Melbourne Saints St Kilda

Subjects

AFLW ORG · 5× Dal Santo PERSON · 3× St Kilda ORG · 3× Dal Santo’s PERSON · 2× Nick PERSON · 2× Saints ORG · 2× Carl Dilena PERSON · 1× Collingwood GPE · 1× Nick Dal Santo PERSON · 1× North Melbourne ORG · 1×

Narrative

The alarm bells sounded for Dal Santo over the weekend after St Kilda’s demoralising loss to the Bulldogs in Ballarat where they kicked just one point – the club’s lowest ever score and the equal-lowest in AFLW history.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-09
🔮 The Saints confirmed on Friday that the former St Kilda and North Melbourne star would step down after Saturday’s game against Collingwood and the club would do an independent review of its AFLW program.
2026-10-09 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Dal Santo steps down as Saints coach after 0-8 season · assertive framing

Claims (19 extracted, 0 hedged)

St Kilda have parted ways with AFLW senior coach Nick Dal Santo after a disappointing eight consecutive losses. asserted
Kilda → part → losses
The Saints confirmed on Friday that the former St Kilda and North Melbourne star would step down after Saturday’s game against Collingwood and the club would do an independent review of its AFLW program. asserted
club → confirm → program
The club said it was Dal Santo’s decision, after six seasons in the job. asserted
it → say → job
“Nick has made a significant contribution to our AFLW program across six seasons and will always be an important part of our football club,” St Kilda CEO Carl Dilena said in a statement. asserted
Dilena → make → statement
“His care, commitment and leadership have been unwavering, and we thank him for everything he has given to the program, including leading the team to its maiden final’s appearance last season. asserted
he → thank → appearance
“We look forward to recognising Nick’s contribution this weekend as he leads the team one final time in front of our members and supporters at RSEA Park.” asserted
he → look → Park
Dal Santo said he’d weighed up whether to continue. asserted
he → say → ?
“I’ve been giving a lot of thought to my future and whether continuing in this role was the right decision, both for myself and the program,” Dal Santo said. asserted
Santo → give → myself
“Where we’ve been able to take this program is something I’ll always be incredibly proud of. “ asserted
I → take → program
It’s been a privilege to coach this group and help shape its formative years in the competition. asserted
It → coach → competition
“I have a strong love for this club, I wanted to contribute to women’s football, and with a daughter of my own, it’s great to see a pathway for young females with football ambitions. “ asserted
it → have → ambitions
I’m looking forward to finishing my time as coach alongside the group this weekend and wish them every success for what comes next.” asserted
what → look → success
Experienced football executive Brad Lloyd has been appointed to lead the review via Apogee Sports. asserted
Lloyd → appoint → Sports
“Our ambition is to be a consistently competitive and respected club that can contend with the best in the competition,” Dilena said. asserted
Dilena → contend → competition
“We want to give our AFLW program every chance to achieve this and that means identifying where we need to improve, investing in the right areas and acting with urgency.” asserted
we → want → urgency
The Saints board met on Wednesday night, to discuss Dal Santo’s future and discuss implementing a review of the struggling women’s program – similar to reviews done by Carlton and Richmond. asserted
board → meet → Carlton
The alarm bells sounded for Dal Santo over the weekend after St Kilda’s demoralising loss to the Bulldogs in Ballarat where they kicked just one point – the club’s lowest ever score and the equal-lowest in AFLW history. asserted
they → sound → history
It was the lowest score kicked by any side since round 10, 2022. asserted
It → kick → round
The coach – whose contract finishes at the end of 2026 - was defensive in the post-game press conference, citing poor conditions, an extensive injury list and inexperience. asserted
contract → finish → conditions
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