ALAN Richardson couldn’t speak highly enough of his young players following Saturday night’s 17-point victory over Melbourne.

And rightly so.

Missing key midfielders Leigh Montagna, Lenny Hayes and Jack Steven, you could be forgiven for thinking the Saints were going to be a little short of on-ball credentials against the Dees. That was until Luke Dunstan, Tom Curren, Josh Saunders and Jack Newnes stepped in to fill the void.

“Curren had a really important role to play on Vince and I thought for a good part of the game he acquitted himself really well,” Richardson said at his post-game media conference.

It wasn’t the first time the ex-rookie, who has played just eight AFL games, was handed the task of limiting a dangerous opposition midfielder. Last season he spent valuable time on Sam Mitchell and Dan Hannebery, learning his craft from two stars of the modern game.

This defensive work by Curren allowed a host of other young Saints ball-winners to find their own footy, a task which Luke Dunstan relished on debut.

“Luke Dunstan is going to be a really good player for a long time at our footy club,” Richardson said. “For Luke to step in in the absence of others - he played his role and he earned trust from his teammates.”

Yet the first-time St Kilda senior coach never doubted the quality of his young crop, especially following their final pre-season game in Alberton when things began to gel a little better than they had previously.

“Whilst Lenny [Hayes] was probably our best midfielder that day, he didn’t play tonight. A lot of the younger guys really stepped up that day and that gave me the confidence they were going to be able to play a role for us [in round one].”

“They’ve worked really hard in the pre-season from a running perspective. We were really confident that if we were in the game late, then we would be a chance to get a reasonable result. To get the satisfaction of a win was a great result but it didn’t surprise me.”

Dunstan finished with 21 disposals, seven tackles and five clearances. Of those 21 touches, 13 were contested, illustrating just how resilient the teenager is in the clinches.

Fellow debutant Eli Templeton was another shining light, booting a classy running goal and collecting 10 disposals in a promising first-up performance.

According to Richardson, the extensive changes from round 23 last year to now demonstrate just how focussed the club is on fast-tracking the St Kilda's plethora of youngsters. 

“We are an evolving beast,” he said. “There is a no doubt that the club has taken a certain direction. We’ve gone to the draft and trade [table] and been really busy and young blokes are getting opportunities.”

Jimmy Webster was another relatively inexperienced member of the team to impress against the Demons, although the left-footer was subbed at three-quarter-time with groin soreness.

In the first three terms the 20-year-old registered seven rebound 50s – more than any other player on the ground for the entire match.

“Webster is the only one that we had to get out of the game from an injury perspective. We’ll just have to wait and see how he pulls up. I was really pleased with his performance tonight. We need to keep getting games into those younger blokes.”

While Richardson admitted his celebration will likely involve sitting down to watch the full replay on TV, he did allow himself to enjoy the victory immediately after the final siren.

“That is what we play footy for – to have that moment after the game,” he said.

With such a promising batch of youngsters between the ages of 18 and 23, Richardson had better get used to enjoying moments like this.

You can follow Tom Morris on Twitter: @tommorris32