St Kilda great Nick Dal Santo will never forget the words Nick Riewoldt said at half-time of the 2010 Grand Final.

Collingwood was four goals up and had all the momentum going into the main break. But in the bowels of the MCG, a heartfelt speech from the skipper helped spur a second half fightback that resulted in an unforgettable draw.

It wasn’t a demanding plea for a response. It was an inspiring message about the sacrifices the Saints had made to that point and what the game meant to them.

“We we’re down by 24 points at half-time and Travis Cloke had just missed a goal going into half-time. They should have thumped us. Collingwood were a much better team that year and that day; they should have beat us the first time,” Dal Santo recently told Melbourne radio station SEN after Riewoldt announced his retirement.

“Nick just said a few things in the rooms about being in this position. This is what we’ve trained for, this is what we love and this is why we embrace who we are as people.

"It wasn’t over the top, it wasn’t a rah-rah message. It was sincere and it was from his heart.

“A few of us were getting massages at half-time and I’ll never forget that. Then we came out and we dug in in that second half. Unfortunately a week later we get rolled.”

Dal Santo, who retired at the end of last season after 322 games, including 260 in red, white and black, labelled Riewoldt as ‘the best leader of men’ he has come across during his time in the game.

“He was definitely the best captain I played under. I was very fortunate to play under some very good people but he was the best leader of men,” Dal Santo said.

“(His retirement press conference) just resonated with me why he was such a good captain. Just the way he presented.

“He’s so articulate and he was able to express his feelings and his emotions for us to be able to understand it.”