St Kilda blew out the cobwebs at Trevor Barker Oval on Thursday night, with 40 players taking part in the intra-club hit out ahead of next Thursday night’s opening JLT Community Series game against Port Adelaide.
Key defensive posts, Jake Carlisle and Nathan Brown, were two of a handful of new faces to run out for the first time in Saints colours, along with the two midfielders acquired during last October’s trade period – Koby Stevens and Jack Steele.
Rebounding defenders Jimmy Webster, Daniel McKenzie and Bailey Rice stood out across half-back, while Jade Gresham was eye-catching around the ball with his classy side step on show at Sandringham.
New recruits Stevens and Steele made an impressive start to their time at the Saints through the middle of the ground, where Jack Billings found plenty of the ball and used it with precision in windy conditions.
After undergoing a shoulder reconstruction in September, inside midfielder Luke Dunstan showed no hesitation in his return, winning plenty of his own ball in a positive comeback.
Key forward Paddy McCartin was clinical inside 50 with his overhead marking and finishing in front of goal shining brightly. The 2014 No. 1 pick combined well with Tim Membrey and Josh Bruce at times, while first-year forward Josh Battle kicked five goals at the other end in a captivating start to his career.
St Kilda Assistant Coach, Rohan Welsh, said the coaching staff was thrilled the list got a strong hit out under their belt and that no one was injured in the contest, ensuring close to a full list is available for selection in the first week of the JLT Community Series.
“I suppose the most pleasing thing is we got through without an injury and some of the boys played really well and some of the guys who have had really strong pre-seasons played some good footy,” Welsh told saints.com.au on Thursday night.
“McKenzie played well, I thought Rice played well down back, Gresh got a bit of the ball, it was good to see Paddy take a few marks, Sebby Ross played well.
“The intra-club is a hard one, it’s a bit like dancing with your sister; it’s uncomfortable and you don’t want to get anyone hurt. So given we got through unscathed and with a good hitout under a belt it was a good result.”
Carlisle played the first half of the game before being rested after half-time as part of his load management program. He is expected to play against the Power next weekend as he looks to increase his game time ahead of Round 1.
Welsh said the former Bomber and fellow new backman Brown will take some time to learn each other’s games and how to work best alongside St Kilda’s back six which also includes versatile talls, Dylan Roberton and Sean Dempster.
“We wanted to look at how it worked with four talls there with ‘Browny’, Jake, ‘Robbo’ and Dempster. We were really happy about the way it went,” Welsh said.
“It was good to see the talls all work together as well, but it’s going to take a while for Jake and ‘Browny’ (to build synergy), it takes a while when you come from another club to understand the way we want to play and how we defend.
“They’ll get used to play together and the more Jake and ‘Browny’ and ‘Robbo’ and ‘Shinner’ can play together the better we are going to be.”
