From track to field - our Co-Captains' journey to the Saints

19/04/2023

Tayla Kearns and Ali Hynes talk leadership, team connection, this year’s focus and pre-footy endeavours.

So, where did it all begin for our Co-Captains? On the Athletics track, apparently. 

‘We both have an athletics background,’ Kearns noted with a smile, whilst Hynes laughed.

'Tay is much more successful than me, I just did it at school’, she added. 

Following their Athletics endeavours - we’ll let them continue to debate whose were more successful - both Captains took different roads to the Southern Saints, and to AFL in general. Kearns moved to netball, a sport in which she saw much success;

"I was about 21 when I shifted my focus to netball. I played VNL - Victorian Netball League - for about 8 years."

It wasn’t until Kearns’ VNL Club - the Box Hill Hawks - hosted a joint training session with the VFL girls that she even considered switching codes. 

‘They happened to do this joint training session and I thought, oh … this is kind of fun!’ 

After spending a year training just one night per week with the Hawks VFL, Kearns shifted to the Southern Saints in 2021 - joined by a now familiar face, Ali Hynes.

'I also did Athletics and Netball during school… I came to footy in 2016,’ Hynes recalled. She spoke fondly of her time playing with St Kevin's Old Boys Saints in the VAFA;

'I played there for about four years,’ she confirmed after plenty of backwards calculations. 

Hynes expressed immense gratitude for this experience, describing her coach as ‘incredible’ and lauding his efforts in helping her to seek out opportunities such as the Southern Saints tryouts at the end of 2019. Selected as part of the extended squad, her chance to begin as a Sainter was hindered by COVID;

"I was part of the extended squad and we were thinking, are we going to go back, are we not going to go back?" 

"Then, when pre-season started back up at the end of 2020 and the start of 2021, that’s kind of when I got a good run at it."

Both of our leaders discussed COVID-19 and the way it impacted not only them, but the Southern Saints and the VFLW league as a whole.

‘The end of 2021 they just never ended up playing the Grand Final. We didn’t make the Grand Final, we got to the second final - the Prelim - we lost at GMHBA, it was a big deal. We were probably underdogs in that regard anyway,’ Hynes recounted.

‘After that, they had a snap lockdown and it just kept getting extended. They didn’t end up having a Grand Final - I think it was Geelong and Collingwood who were set to play, so they didn’t end up having a Premier that season.’

Hynes described the way in which COVID created a limbo-like state across all sporting leagues,

"With my local club, the year that I left we won the Grand Final, [after that] there was the COVID year and then they won the Grand Final again [in 2022]. I think it’s said around the club [that it counts as a back-to-back]. There was another home and away winner in 2021, though - it was all so strange to be honest."

Despite all the mayhem surrounding the COVID period, it seems to have worked out well for the Saints, as both Kearns and Hynes joined our list in the following year;

‘Tay and I came to the Southern Saints at a similar time, and we started playing during the same season - 2021-  so we’ve been friends pretty much from the start. It feels like a real stroke of luck that we’ve been able to come into this position at the same time,’ Hynes noted - a sentiment echoed by Kearns. 

Both leaders are also looking forward to ‘being able to learn and work collaboratively with the other girls as well  [as each other]’, detailing the great ‘vibe’ of the newly-appointed 2023 leadership group. Kearns praised the development of such a fresh group;

"It feels quite exciting to have that group [mentality] and that sense of collaboration already. I know that it can take some leadership groups time to find their feet and that sort of thing, but it doesn’t really seem that way for us. We feel pretty lucky in that sense."

With everything clicking so far for our leaders, what is their main focus and how are they hoping to develop both as a group and individually? Hynes found herself reflecting on this;

‘As a group we’ve been wanting to really refine our craft - be a composed team - aside from the fact that obviously we want to go one better.’

Both leaders wanted to emphasise the importance of skills within the team this year, reiterating the focus that is being honed into their composure. During her reflection, Hynes described the idea of ‘do simple excellent’ - a component incorporated by Head Coach, Michelle ‘Alpha’ Densely;

"It’s a dedicated time where we focus on our skills and we’re really seeing that kind of come into play when we have a game."

The other all-important factor for the Co-Captains is the maintenance of the Club’s great culture, an element which they credit past players, leaders and coaches for developing. 

Hynes admitted that when taking the leap to VFL, she was expecting it to be highly competitive amongst individuals. She was pleased to report, though, that ‘it’s never felt like that at the Southern Saints.’

“We’re all still working as a team, even if there’s things like selection on the line or if you're not sure you’re going to play that week, it doesn’t feel like you’re competing with the person next to you which I feel is really important in a team setting.”

The Southern Saints, she notes, have always been renowned for having a great culture as a club. Kearns emphasises the importance of culture, noting it to be something which both Co-Captains - as well as Alpha - are hoping to continue to cultivate.

“To understand and play your role, I feel like everyone at the club does that, whether that be that commitment at training to know that even if you’re not selected each week, to know that your goals and the work you’re doing at that time will help support the team. There’s players for example who have been training partners that have committed themselves to the program and the team, and they’re now playing. I think that’s really important.”

“You could have players that are just in it for themselves and if they’re not getting the reward that they need they will look for it elsewhere. People are aligned to what the Saints are about, trust their role and trust the process."

As well as continuing to cultivate high training standards, both Hynes and Kearns are looking to advance their own leadership qualities;

"We’re still really keen to continue to learn - to improve upon both our footy and leadership skills."

They know how privileged they are to be leading the team, and despite having ‘big shoes to fill’, they feel both excited and supported to step up to the challenge and continue to develop their craft. Their gratitude for Deejay - last year’s Captain - is evident in their discussion, with both Co-Captains praising the way in which she led the side in the past. 

‘We’re going to continue to learn from her and to learn from the coaches, of course, as well as the rest of the leadership group,’ Kearns expressed, ‘Something so special about this group is that everyone has those leadership qualities and strengths to bring to the team.’ 

‘We definitely don’t feel like the buck stops with us,’ Hynes added, ‘we’ll keep learning from everyone else as well.’ 

We look forward to seeing our leaders and playing group continue to develop the Saints' culture both on-field and off-field in 2023. 

Written by Chloe Williams - Sandringham FC Media