At a glance:

  • Co-captain Rhi Watt holds a unique place on St Kilda’s list as both its eldest player and co-captain of an extraordinarily young side.
  • Fifteen of St Kilda’s squad are aged 22 or under, with four having just closed the book on Year 12.
  • Watt is set to celebrate her 33rd birthday early next week, or what she calls "thirty, plus GST".

It’s commonplace for a club leader to be an older, wiser and more experienced head.

What is a little bit unusual, however, is that Rhi Watt, on the eve of her 33rd birthday, is partly in charge of leading a side where half of the players are close to half her age.

It’s a unique dynamic for the lifelong Saints fan – now the eldest player on the list following Emma Mackie’s retirement – but one which has done nothing to impede her ability to connect with the extraordinarily young squad.

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“It is a bit strange, I sometimes forget how young they are,” Watt told saints.com.au.

“I have to tell myself ‘yep, Burkey (Alice Burke) isn’t here at training tonight because she’s at an exam’.

“You really forget how young these girls are, because to me, they already seem so mature and confident in themselves as not only footy players, but individuals.

“It’s not until you get one of them going ‘oh did you see that on TikTok?’ where I have to kind of go ‘oh yep, reality check’ or have to listen to a joke about getting off the road because they’ve just got their license.”

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Fifteen of St Kilda’s squad are aged 22 or under, with four of those having just closed the book on Year 12.

On the flipside, Watt is eyeing off her tenth year working in human resources at KPMG. Before converting to AFLW, she represented Australia at the highest level in volleyball.

While the St Kilda leader has plenty more runs on the board in terms of life experience compared to her younger teammates, the strong relationship between them has remained.

Watt’s ability to connect with teammates was a key factor in her being inducted as one of St Kilda’s inaugural co-captains earlier this year, and was a defining trait which didn’t wane throughout the COVID-19 shutdown.

Trivia nights on Zoom and “dog-friendly” video calls – often led by the Watt, Kate Shierlaw and Cat Phillips – kept the side glued together before they could reunite in person ahead of Season 2021.

“It’s really cool for me to be around,” Watt said.

“I think they’ve got so much resilience, too. I know when I was 18, you finish school and you’re into summer, you want to go out, have a drink and be an 18-year-old, but these girls are just so elite in everything that they do.”

They understand they’ve been given this incredible opportunity and credit to them, they’ve taken it with both hands and are just off and racing.

Watt highlighted draftee Renee Saulitis as one Saint who has impressed, despite only being at the club for a handful of days.

“She’s from Warrnambool, went to boarding school in Ballarat and for her age… how independent and headstrong she is, she’s just super impressive,” Watt said.

"Her work rate is just outstanding. She couldn’t get down to us (with Year 12) and she’s only been with us for the last week, but she’s just slotted right in. She’s just come on board and it feels like she’s been here forever, to be honest.

“For someone of her age to be living away with family… we’ve got a few in Priesty, Tarni, Nads, Kate and Tahlia. It’s hard enough being in this environment, but for them to come to the club every day with a smile on their face and just put in 150% is really awesome.”

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