Former St Albans coach Alex Tortora reflects on helping building the club up from ‘ground zero’

St Albans won four of 54 games under Alex Tortora, but the change at the club has been far greater than that record suggests. He opens up on his time there and his high hopes for the club.

Former St Albans coach Alex Tortora reflects on the club’s improvement. Picture: Mark Wilson

When Alex Tortora was thrust into the head coaching role at the end of 2021, St Albans was in crisis.

After losing all 11 games in that Covid-affected year, a host of players had departed the struggling club that off-season, while coach Ben Patrick had accepted a role at Port Melbourne.

“In November 2021 the club was on their knees, the club had lost 10-12 senior players,” Tortora said.

“Got in there and it was pretty much ground zero and had to build up from there, we had so many young players that were coming from the under-18s that hadn’t been playing division one U18s, division two U18s, been playing division three, and all of a sudden we were asking them to play GFL footy.”

“There was a feeling that we were going to be pretty low and that was almost accepted when I got there, so you have to try to work out a way to make it a fun place and a place where players can develop and grow and somehow try to build them up, slowly but surely.”

St Albans leave the field after losing a game back in 2022. Picture: Mark Wilson

From the outside looking in, it might not look like much has changed.

The Supersaints won just four of 54 games under Tortora’s tenure and they finished with a lowly percentage of 26.7 this year.

But Tortora’s time at the club ended with a triumphant win over Lara, where their young talents in Northern Bullants VFL player Sam Donegan, Jacob Russell, Fletcher Keck and Bailey Brogden led the way.

St Albans also knocked off 2023 finalists Newtown & Chillwell in the upset of the season in round 14, months after they had been crushed by 30 goals against them.

The wins were just reward for a playing group and club which has been battered from pillar to post for years, including a 43-game losing streak spanning 1442 days without a win – a drought they broke with back-to-back triumphs in 2023.

Tortora, who is set to take a year off coaching before seeing what the future holds, feels the intangible feeling around the club has proved dramatically, leading to a wave of re-signings.

And he can sleep at night knowing he has helped them move forward as they embark on the future under new coach Rick Munn.

St Albans’ improvement has been greater than their record suggests. Picture: Mark Wilson

“If you’re going to go by wins and losses then of course it doesn’t look great. However, you’ve got to know where you started,” Tortora said.

“I think you measure it by our re-signings. We’ve had nearly 80 per cent of our current list re-sign for next year, so it is a happy football club. A happy place to be, a great culture, great young men who want to lead the way.

“So I am really proud of that, that’s how I measure it. I feel I’ve left it in a better spot than when I found it.

“To build it up from that point to where it is right now – I know we have only won two games this year, but we have just been really decimated this year with injury.

“I know that these guys are going to stick together and if we can add a few guys around the edges with a bit more experience and a little bit of size, then I think this club can win a few games next year and shock a few along the way.”

This uplift certainly didn’t happen overnight.

Tortora and his coaching team worked hard to create a culture where you wouldn’t know if you’d won or lost by 100 points that weekend.

Tortora speaks to his charges. Picture: Mark Wilson

“It felt like the club was down for a long time when I got there and it almost felt like a little dog in the corner who had been kicked for a while and didn’t need a coach coming in and making them feel any worse than they already felt,” he said.

“So I came in and put my arms around the players and found ways to make them feel good about themselves – and that’s really hard to do when you don’t have experience or games played, you’re undersized, that’s really hard to do.

“You find little wins along the way and you judge it all on turning up and having a go and being consistent with your approach and teaching slowly.

Tortora gives full credit to the committed Supersaints players for sticking fat, devoting his final game to them.

“It is really about the playing group who have just shown so much resilience over the last three years. They have just kept turning up and showing so much character,” Tortora said.

“The easiest thing in the world would be just to turn your back and go play somewhere else but they have just kept at it the core group. My main focus was on helping them go out on a really great note to finish the season off so they know that they are the real deal and that they can go into pre-season feeling good about themselves.

“If they can add some players around the edges, I think the development that these boys have and the belief that they have – they really bleed black and white.

“I think there has been a lot of learning that has taken place over the last three years that these young players are just starting to understand, and I know the new coach coming in will continue with all that.”

There is still plenty of work to be done under Munn, but the progression of St Albans’ football is far more promising than the numbers suggest.

Originally published as Former St Albans coach Alex Tortora reflects on helping building the club up from ‘ground zero’