Striking the optimal balance between offence and defence has been the focus for St Kilda rebounding defenders Shane Savage and Jimmy Webster this pre-season, says Saints Senior Assistant Coach Rohan Welsh.

On the back of their most impressive season to date, Welsh revealed the pair has spent the summer months at Linen House Centre focusing on their opposing deficiencies.

Savage’s run and gun style was destructive in 2015, whilst Webster’s ability to lockdown the opposition’s most dangerous small forward was never more evident than when he shut out four-time premiership star Cyril Rioli in Round 10.

For Welsh, if the pair can pinch parts of each other’s games and find the right balance between attacking and defending, the Saints defence will go from strength to strength this season.

Order your limited edition Rooey 300 guernsey

“Sav and Jimmy have both had really good pre-seasons, we obviously want to get the ball in both of their hands because they’re really good kickers of the ball,” Welsh told saints.com.au.

“Jimmy, we want him to be able to test the opposition more on offence. We know he’s going to be able to win or halve a contest and that’s an area that Sav needs to keeping working on.

“We know Sav will give us really good offence, we need to just make sure he tightens up the area of his game which is his defence, which he’s been working really strongly on over pre-season.

“If he can get that balance right between offence and defence then we feel we’ve got a couple of really good powerful weapons to launch us off halfback to hopefully make us quicker from the back half to the forward half.”

Become a member today! Call 1300 GO SAINTS or visit HERE.

After playing 22 games in his first two seasons at St Kilda, Webster elevated his game last season, playing 17 games to finish inside the top-ten of the Trevor Barker Award for the first time in his career.

Webster possesses one of the most potent shoes at the Saints and it appears the club is determined to unlock the 22-year-old’s potential this season as, along with Savage, the pair could become a devastating duo transitioning out of defence with their pristine foot skills.