St Kilda coach Alan Richardson insists Saints are on the right track
ST KILDA coach Alan Richardson concedes the Saints are a few years from challenging for a second premiership but insists his young team is on target for future success.
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ALAN Richardson remains pleased with St Kilda’s progress and says the club is “definitely on the right track” despite sitting bottom on the form ladder since July last year.
Every club has saluted since the Saints’ last win in Round 17 and Richardson conceded the club’s age demographic appeared a few years from challenging for a second premiership as it prepares to honour its 1966 flag team against Collingwood.
Admittedly, the Saints have faced a horror draw in their past eight games but Richardson’s side has failed to reach 40 points in three of its past four matches and lost its two NAB Challenge encounters.
“We’re definitely on the right track. We’ve played Port Adelaide in Adelaide and we’ve played the Bulldogs and I think we all acknowledge that they’re in front of us,” Richardson said on Friday.
“The way that we’ve played — what we’re trying to do defensively, what we’re trying to do when we have the ball (and) what we’re trying to do in the contest — is a step in the right direction.
“We’re getting games into young players, we’re getting more training minutes into young players”
Recruit Nathan Freeman will line up in the VFL reserves on Saturday after hitting top speed and completing six weeks of full training.
Richardson praised the cursed top-10 pick’s attitude but cautioned he was set for a lengthy VFL stint after countless hamstring setbacks.
The third-year coach said his players were poor in the contest last week and stripped too easily in tackles, but praised their ability to apply pressure.
“The opposition ability to get out of our tackles was not good for us,” he said.
“We want to make sure we’re really aggressive with the way we move the footy against Collingwood, we think that their best footy is really good.”
The Saints are advanced in contract talks with goalkicking revelation Josh Bruce and have named three talls as emergencies against the Pies, but Richardson said a late change was not on the cards.
St Kilda will form a guard of honour for its 1966 premiership heroes at the MCG in its quest to snap a six-year barren run against the Magpies.
Prized defender Hugh Goddard has not been sighted this year while wingman Blake Acres was dropped after Round 1, but Richardson said they were heading in the right direction.
“It’s pretty simple, they just need to perform strongly (to get picked),” he said.
“They’ve got a real understanding and clarity around what’s expected of them in terms of their role.”
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