IT'S BEEN a big turnaround for St Kilda this season.

This time last year, the Saints had lost their first three games to North Melbourne, Essendon and Port Adelaide by an average of 20 points.

This season they have won all three of their matches and sit on top of the ladder.

When senior coach Nick Dal Santo was asked on the weekend whether he was the cause of the transformation, he insisted the credit lay elsewhere.

"Is it me? No, it's definitely not me," Dal Santo said.

"Our off-season, our pre-season, the ownership that everybody has taken - this is from Hannah Priest the captain, Bianca Jakobsson the vice-captain, the leadership group to player number 30, 31 - they've trained and prepared better than previous years."

According to Jakobsson, it's true, and it all began at a pre-season players' meeting that took place one afternoon in teammates Liv Vesely and Maddie Boyd's backyard.

"It was just the playing group and we set our intentions for the season," Jakobsson told AFL.com.au.

"Missing out on finals last year, it really hit home for us and as a group. We really committed to doing everything that we could over the break to make sure that we really hit the ground running."

The idea of the players-only meeting originated with Priest and when the group heard, they all wanted to be involved.

"We worked on our team's purpose and what that looks like and basically the standards that we want to set for the season and what we'll accept and what we won't accept. That really helped us connect as a group," Jakobsson said.

"We made some player promises that are now up in our changerooms that remind us of what we want to adhere to at St Kilda - this is what we want to be about and stand for."

One player to stand up was key forward Jesse Wardlaw, who joined the Saints following the 2022 season after five seasons in the successful Brisbane set-up.

"Jesse got up and spoke about our experience and we actually have a lot of experience. We (our playing group) have played a lot of games," Jakobsson said.

"We have quite a young list but we also have some older, more mature players that added a lot of experience, so we spoke about shifting away from that narrative of, 'We're a young group. We're still developing' and all that. 

"It was like, 'No, we're experienced. We have belief in each other', and our belief has never been stronger."

The Saints began their pre-season a couple of weeks after the player meeting and noticed the difference.

"We were just more connected. We had a clearer vision and clear intention as to what we wanted to get out of the pre-season and then the season. We were just able to hold each other accountable," she said.

"When you're playing that team-first connected brand, great things can happen."

Across the next three rounds St Kilda plays three top-eight sides - Hawthorn, Fremantle and Adelaide. 

Asked whether her side's chemistry will remain strong in the face of adversity, Jakobsson said the group's belief isn't measured on wins and losses.

"What we've been really good at is just being process driven. You come in on Monday and you wouldn't even know that we've won, like it's real head down, bum up mentality," she said.

"We know it's going to be a tough game against Hawthorn. They'll bring their best and we know that's really competitive. 

"We just know that if we stick to our process and continue to live to our values and focus on what we can control. I think if we can keep doing that it will hold us in good stead."

St Kilda hosts Hawthorn on Saturday afternoon at RSEA Park at 2.05pm.