After a long pre-season on the track at Linen House Centre, new Saint Koby Stevens enjoyed rolling up his sleeves and getting back to work on Thursday night.
Stevens was one of three players acquired during an active trade period last October, with the other two players – Jack Steele and Nathan Brown – also featuring in St Kilda’s intra-club at Trevor Barker Oval.
The 25-year-old was one of a handful of midfielders to put their best foot forward in the internal practice match ahead of Round 1, along with Jack Billings, Jade Gresham, Blake Acres and Luke Dunstan, with the latter making a positive return from a shoulder reconstruction.
Having arrived at his third AFL home after starting at West Coast and then spending the last four years at the kennel, Stevens said he was glad to get into games following a long summer in Seaford.
“It was good to get back into it really, it’s been a long pre-season. The boys were pretty scrappy early but we worked our way into it. It was hot, a bit windy but it was good,” Stevens told saints.com.au on Thursday night.
Stevens lauded the performance by Billings who won a mountain of his own ball and navigated the windy conditions with expertise to be one of the better players on the ground. He also singled out Paddy McCartin who covered the ground well and took a handful of strong marks.
“I thought Jack Billings was really good – he’s had a strong pre-season. Jack Newnes was also good and then down forward the boys were good as well; big Paddy McCartin took a few good grabs,’ he said.
With the arrival of Stevens and Steele adding more class and depth to the Saints’ midfield department, the former Bulldog believes the competition for spots is driving performance at the club.
“There were heaps of good players out there today and we’re still missing Jack Steven and Nick Riewoldt to come back in. It (competition) is a good thing, one bloke can come out and another one can stand up and it just puts pressure on everyone to perform,” he said.
