MODESTY prevented him from saying so, but Monday night’s win was Seb Ross’ best game in St Kilda colours.

In the fifth match of his promising career, Ross gathered 21 possessions and laid six tackles to be a significant contributor to his team’s second win of the season.

The game was yet another step in Ross’ gradual improvement.

“I think over the past couple of weeks I’ve been building. I’ve been trying to play my role for the team and if I continue to play my role other things will come,” Ross said.

“I had to work on the defensive side of the game – my tackling pressure. I think I got that right this week.”

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The 20-year-old was one of several young Saints to prove their worth in the absence of experienced campaigners Lenny Hayes, Adam Schneider and Justin Koschitzke and he said he was encouraged by the performances of some of his peers.

“It was good for the young boys to step up. What the older boys have been showing in the past few weeks is outstanding leadership and how to play the game,” he said.

“It was good for them to step up and play their role this week with a few older players out. It was a big reward for effort. The past couple of weeks have been good and we have been building and building. It was good to finally get the win.”

For all the impressive efforts of St Kilda’s youth, the performance of one of the team’s veterans was one of the main talking points of the night.

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Nick Riewoldt had 25 touches, 13 marks and three goals in a stellar performance in what is proving to be another exceptional year.

His season has drawn plaudits from many who may not expect such a dominant performance from a 30-year-old but Ross said he was simply playing at the high standard the Saints had come to expect from him.

“It is no surprise really. Rooey is a champion of the game. He had an excellent year last year but it’s taken 12 months for everyone to catch on,” he said.

“He is showing great leadership for the young boys and even the older boys.”

“We’ve still got the great older players around us but we’ve got a good young batch of blokes coming through which is pretty exciting for the club.”