A TRADITIONAL St Kilda feeder team having a tough run at the moment got a much-needed boost with a special training session at Linen House Centre, Seaford this week.

The East Brighton Under 10s’ win over Brighton Beach last week was their only victory this season but with school holidays in full swing, the ‘Vampires’ made their way down to Linen House Centre to see an AFL team up close.

The East Brighton team jogged laps with the Saints on Tuesday before going through some drills with players and coaches.

Team manager Garry Waldron said the visit helped boost his struggling team.

“You want to keep the morale up. Footy seasons can be long if you’re not winning so we wanted to keep the morale up and Scott Watters was good enough to give us the chance to come down and see the boys train and hopefully engender a bit of enthusiasm for the kids. There are a few Saints fans among the group,” he said.

“Some of the players said hello to the kids and got a photo with them. The kids got a chance to ask a few questions of the players so that was great. Nick Dal Santo was really good and Ahmed Saad was great. Rooey also spoke to the players.”

St Kilda’s connection with East Brighton goes back a long way. Former players Doug Booth, John Bennett and Dennis Bartley played their junior football at the club as did Mordecai Bromberg who played 34 games at the Saints before becoming a Federal Court judge.

1966 premiership heroes Jim Read and Jeff Moran are also East Brighton alumni but the most famous East Brighton/St Kilda connection is Carl Ditterich who famously missed the premiership due to suspension.