A round of applause while exiting Casey Fields yesterday is indicative of St Kilda’s young brigade taking the right steps forward, according to AFLW Senior Coach Nick Dal Santo.

The gutsy Saints took the challenge right up to the undefeated Melbourne in sweltering conditions, drawing scores level by the final change before the Dees put the foot down with an unanswered 6.5 (41) in the last term.

While St Kilda’s output over its impressive three quarters – coupled with a noticeable lift from the past fortnight – gleaned several positives, Dal Santo says Saturday afternoon left him pleased, but admittedly “a little bit conflicted” given the final outcome.

“All I can ask of any player in our club is to give us that effort and whatever they’ve got, they give it. They did that today,” Dal Santo said post-match.

“I mentioned to the girls post-game that they got clapped off the ground, and that’s a sign of the way that they saw the game; you’re not always going to win, but we made some steps forward against a really good team.

“In those first three quarters where we really took it up to them, we forced the Dees to defend, we were able to attack the ball and able to defend as well when it was our turn.

“I probably walk away a little bit conflicted... not content with the result, but knowing that we took some small steps forward.

St Kilda will look to bank its maiden victory of 2022 next week against West Coast at Wilson Storage Trevor Barker Beach Oval; a ground which the club has spent the bulk of its pre-season due to ongoing groundworks at RSEA Park.

Backing up the fierce intent and aggression against the visiting Eagles will be a key priority for the Saints, with Dal Santo hopeful for a repeat effort come Round 4.

“At no stage did I feel like we stopped competing or trying, it was probably more just the execution (against the Demons),” Dal Sano said.

“I thought at times we looked a little bit tired. The girls were tired but they still gave the effort and still gave what they had at that particular moment.

“The reality is there was a breeze in that last quarter and the Dees did a brilliant job to utilise and put a lot of pressure on us in the last quarter.

“We’ll dissect today’s performance, we’ll take the good pieces out of it, we’ll learn from the areas that we need to get better at and we move on quickly.”