New St Kilda midfielder Jack Steele demanded a spot in the Saints’ Round 1 side after an impressive JLT Community Series, says Senior Coach Alan Richardson.

Steele arrived at Linen House Centre last October in exchange for a future second-round draft pick, after two opportunity starved years at Greater Western Sydney.

After playing a half against Port Adelaide in the first game of the pre-season, Steele put his hand up for a berth against Melbourne with two dominant efforts against Carlton and Sydney, where he averaged 26.5 possessions (11.5 contested), 10 tackles and 54 pressure points.

“I really like the way ‘Steeley’s’ going,” Richardson told Melbourne radio station SEN on Thursday afternoon.

“He has been really impressive on the inside, his contested stuff has been really good, and he’s been able to find the ball the last two weeks.

“His inside play, both offensively and defensively has been really impressive and he couldn’t have done much more, so it’s been really positive.”

Richardson said he was impressed by the Canberra products work over the summer after Steele arrived in Seaford with his foot in a moon boot following an injury during the NEAFL finals series.

“He came in a little bit banged up to be honest and had to do a lot of work to get where he’s got to and he’s obviously done that; he’s been a real pro,” he said.

While the Giants Academy graduate has had a profound impact at the coal face, Richardson believes Steele will also be damaging on the outside with his ball use in the front half of the ground.

“Because of his endurance capabilities, we focused as much on his outside play to be honest and we’ve said that publically,” he said.

“We need some boys to complement the work of David Armitage, Jack Steven, Luke Dunstan – who’s had a really positive pre-season – Seb Ross is another one in there.”

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