Nick Dal Santo has responded to claims made by former St Kilda coach Scott Watters regarding the club culture during his tenure.
Speaking on the Herald Sun podcast ‘Sacked’, Watters claimed the playing group “needed to grow up and take responsibility” following the infamous schoolgirl saga.
“There are always two sides to every story,” Dal Santo told SEN Afternoons.
“I’d like to think that Scott honestly sees it the way that he spoke about it in the podcast, and that he didn’t feel like he had to change the events and the conversations that were had behind closed doors.”
Dal Santo played 260 games for the Saints, featuring in three Grand Finals and multiple finals campaigns during his 12-year stint at Moorabbin.
He is adamant there were no cultural issues within the club during Watters’ two-year reign.
“I was there for those two years and I saw a lot of things completely differently to what I heard on that podcast,” he said.
“Since I got there in 2001 we had played finals, when he got there, seven of eight years. I thought the culture was ok.
“We had, in my opinion, some of the greatest leaders of men on-field in (Nick) Riewoldt and (Lenny) Hayes in particular. We had a leadership group that was very strong, experienced, firm, and understanding at times.
“I didn’t see this poor culture; I wasn’t a part of a poor culture when Scott got there in 2012 off the back of Ross Lyon.
“What poor culture?”
Watters won 17 of 44 games in charge of St Kilda and failed to make the finals during his brief stay.
Listen to Nick Dal Santo's chat on SEN Afternoons with Jack Heverin in the player below