RELENTLESS pressure around the ball is remains the name of the game, according to Alan Richardson.

Speaking at the airport before the Saints jetted off to Perth on Thursday afternoon, St Kilda’s coach identified strong and consistent midfield defence as the key component to limiting West Coast’s raft of key position players.

“We had Patton and Cameron last week who are young guys but big bodies,” Richardson said.

“We were able to keep them to one goal between the two of them. It comes down to pressure on the ball. While there will be individuals who are assigned the responsibility of [playing on] quality tall forwards, it will be about how much pressure we can get on the ball.”

“We haven’t been pretty, but we’ve been pretty tough in our two games.”

Eagles ruckman Dean Cox will equal Glen Jakovich’s club record of 276 games for West Coast on Saturday night, and Richardson is confident that his tall timber can stop Adam Simpson’s ruck division, despite fitness concerns surrounding Tom Hickey.

“Cox and Naitanui present some real problems and it will be a challenge for our guys, but we are pretty comfortable with the one recognised ruckman and Rhys helping out.”

“Tommy [Hickey] looks like he will be right to go. It’s just a bit of general soreness at this stage.”

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St Kilda defeated GWS by seven points last week to claim its fourth consecutive AFL victory, and the win almost came at a cost with Leigh Montagna and Sam Gilbert pulling up sore.

“Sam is fine. He was a little bit limited from a training perspective but Sam’s a really experienced guy and he’s confident he will be right to go. We’ve given Joey every opportunity to get up and it certainly looks like he will be right to play.”
Both teams head into the round three clash unbeaten, and Richardson is aware of the enormity of the task that confronts his young team.

“With the ball they are really precise,” he said.

“It looks like their press is back and they are really aggressive and they are number one in the competition for time in the front half.”

“They had some injury issues last year but with a new coach and a new method with the ball – they look impressive. It will be a real challenge, but one our blokes are looking forward to it… We will have to be really strong with our pressure.”

St Kilda will hold an open training session on Friday for all Perth-based fans, commencing at 3pm at Patersons Stadium.

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