Season 2016 will mark the third campaign St Kilda have been coached by Alan Richardson and the Saints will be hoping the direction Richardson is trying to take the club will start to pay dividends.
On face value, the performances of St Kilda may not look particularly impressive under Richardson thus far, with St Kilda winning four games in 2014 and six games in 2016.
The Saints, however, were a club in massive need of a rebuild. After playing in a grand final in 2010 the club slowly began to slide down the ladder, finishing sixth in 2011 and failing to play finals football since.
St Kilda made the decision Scott Watters was not the man to take the club forward and the club moved for the highly rated and experienced Richardson at the end of the 2013 season.
Anytime a gameplan and playing list is being completely overhauled it is going to take some time for results. The current make-up of the St Kilda list is quite interesting, the roster is quite young and inexperienced however there are a number of senior players who are still playing a massive role at the club.
While recent seasons has seen a lot of experience exit the club, with players such as Lenny Hayes, Jason Blake, Stephen Milne, and James Gwilt departing, the senior players still at St Kilda are still playing a massive role. Nick Riewoldt, Leigh Montagna, Sean Dempster and Sam Fisher, all over 30 years of age, played 17 games or more in 2015.
St Kilda certainly have talent developing on the list. By virtue of finishing outside the finals and towards the bottom of the ladder, St Kilda were awarded some high-quality draft picks. Players such as Jack Billings, Luke Dunstan, Hugh Goddard, Patrick McCartin were all drafted in recent years and are expected drive the club forward.
St Kilda have also traded with an eye on the future. The midfield has some quality established players such as Jack Steven and David Armitage and the edition of Nathan Freeman from Collingwood strengthens the team considerably.
The forward line and defence certainly needs reinforcement with key position players. Josh Bruce arrived at the club last season from Greater Western Sydney and the club acquired Jake Carlisle from Essendon during the trade period.
Unfortunately, developments this week mean Carlisle will serve a 12-month suspension. But St Kilda will be hoping Bruce can take some of the pressure off Nick Riewoldt, while in defence, Luke Delaney can hold up a key position with Dempster and Fisher nearing the end of the road.
Finals football is probably a bridge too far in 2016, but St Kilda will be full of
optimism. In the world of AFL many fans want immediate success and sometimes patience can be tested when results do not come quickly. At the very least St Kilda will hope to be slightly more competitive.
In 2015, the Saints lost six games by more than 60 points. St Kilda obviously have full faith in Richardson, as evidenced by the club extending his initial contract. If St Kilda can follow the Richardson blueprint then they may get their just desserts with some finals football and a long overdue premiership.
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