Part of this process is contracting important players for 2014 and beyond. Today Scott Watters spoke about the Saints’ latest re-signings: Beau Maister, Farren Ray and Terry Milera.

[ RELATED: Trio Re-sign ]

“Obviously he (Milera) is coming off the ankle operation which brought his season to an end,” Watters said. “I’m really optimistic about the sort of pre-season he needs to do to elevate himself to spend a little bit more time through the midfield.”

The crafty forward played 15 matches in 2012 and 10 games this year before an ankle injury in the VFL bought an abrupt end to his season. He demonstrated excellent adaptability when presented with an opportunity to play higher up the ground, collecting 23 disposals against Melbourne in round 13.

“Whilst he’s a 23 or 24-year-old, he’s still pretty young from a football maturity point of view. We think there is some good footy in front of Terry. He’s a South Australian boy so to lock him into the club was a really good thing for us.”

Ray has chalked up 97 games for St Kilda after beginning his career at the Western Bulldogs. Watters praised the midfielder for continuing to learn and evolve over the past two seasons.

“It’s great to have him on board,” he said. I’m really impressed with the way Farren made some changes to his game last year which is harder to do later in your career… It’s a real credit to him.”

Another Saint who began his career at another club and moved to Seaford is Beau Maister. The forward hasn’t played since round 11 because of injury but remains a key component in St Kilda’s forward-line in 2014 and beyond.

“Beau Maister has been a really good worker for us and its disappointing that he’s missed a lot of footy this year on the back of his knee,” Watters said. “He had an outstanding pre-season… We’ve missed his level of maturity out there on a weekly basis.”

“We are happy with the signings.”

While injuries to key senior figures have hurt St Kilda this season, the injection of youth into the senior team bodes well for the future according to Watters.

“[The influx of injuries] is exposing some of our younger players this year, which whilst it means we may be a bit vulnerable at times, it adds to their experience. We’ll have a more rounded squad next year.”

You can follow Tom Morris on Twitter: @tommorris32