Without great effort, tactics and systems are almost irrelevant, according to St Kilda midfielder Jack Newnes.

This year St Kilda has won four games and pushed its opposition to the end in a handful of others, demonstrating a significant improvement from last season.

With great effort now a given instead of an anomaly, St Kilda has sharpened its focus towards the game plan and systems.

The Saints are ranked sixth for tackles and eighth for one percenters - both clear indications that at the very least, the players are ahead of where they were last season. Newnes exemplifies this growth, having laid 16 tackles in his last two games.

“We have always talked about effort and last year we were pretty patchy, but coming into this year the effort has been pretty good for most games,” Newnes told SEN’s Morning Glory.

“Giving that effort gives us a good chance to coach tactics and the way we play rather than the coach hounding us about our effort and the way we go about it.

“The way we’ve been playing and the tactics we’ve been trying to play with during the season have really worked for us. So probably the systematic stuff has been working well.”

Having played 59 games, including every match last year and this year; Newnes admitted he is feeling more comfortable at AFL level now than ever.

Over time, the systems and structures that are such a vital component of modern day football have become second nature to the 22-year-old.

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Mentally, this deeply embedded knowledge allows him to simply ‘play footy,’ leading to a more consistent and rounded player.

“Now that I’ve played 50 games I’m starting to feel pretty comfortable at the level,” he said.

“I’m not as rushed and I can remember last year I made a few bad ball use decisions due to being rushed.

“I feel a lot more comfortable and I feel like I can release the shackles and play a bit more freely rather than worrying about team tactics and playing my role.”

This season, St Kilda’s two most experienced players in Nick Riewoldt and Leigh Montagna have missed a combined nine games through injury.

Their absence, although not ideal in the short term, has forced young Saints like Newnes to shoulder more responsibility in the interim.

“In the past the young boys have always just looked to the older boys to get us through tough times in games,” he conceded.

“But we had a lot of pretty tough chats during the pre-season and at the start of the year that we have to start relying on ourselves and backing ourselves in those situations because otherwise we aren’t going to get too much improvement. This year we have tried to do that and I think it’s been working really well for the group.”