St Kilda want AFL to revisit AFLW expansion plans, declaring the club is ready to enter the league next year

ST KILDA is ready to field an AFLW team from next year and has urged the league to revisit its expansion plans given only two teams are set to join the competition in 2019 and the Saints aren’t one of them.

Peta Searle will coach St Kilda’s VFLW side, while club great Nathan Burke will be an assistant coach. Picture: Michael Klein

ST KILDA would be ready to field a side in AFLW 2019 with the Saints keen for the league to revisit its expansion plans.

The Saints were disappointed to be overlooked when the AFL decided to add two teams next season, with Geelong and North Melbourne getting the nod.

AFLW FUTURE: LEAGUE REVEALS EXPANSION PLANS AS CATS, ROOS PREPARE TO ENTER LEAGUE

COACH: PETA SEARLE TO COACH SAINTS’ VFLW SIDE BEFORE ENTERING AFLW

St Kilda will have to wait until 2020, but with Peta Searle to lead the club’s VFLW side this year and a new sponsor in Reflex, which it’s believed is injecting $1 million into the women’s program across five years, Saints chief executive Matt Finnis said an early entry would be preferred.

Peta Searle will coach St Kilda’s VFLW side, while club great Nathan Burke will be an assistant coach. Picture: Michael Klein

“As we launch our Southern Saints VFLW team this year, who’s to say that the AFL shouldn’t reconsider the pace of its expansion,” Finnis told the Herald Sun.

“If Peta Searle and her team can deliver on the field this year and see the growth in this young talent coming though, then we’d certainly be rattling the AFL cage in relation to the potential to join the competition early.”