FROM the end of 2008 to the end of 2010, St Kilda recruited 26 players via rookie drafts, trades, and the AFL National Draft. Just five of these players remain – Tom Ledger, Farren Ray, Rhys Stanley, Arryn Siposs and Tom Simpkin.

This lack of retention has left a hole in the Saints list. The club has a range of talented youngsters that have filtered into the senior team in the past 18 months, and a host of experienced stars that continue to perform at a high level. Sandwiched between these two generations are a handful of players, but not enough.

It’s a quandary that St Kilda list manager Ameet Bains has focussed on rectifying for past two drafts.

“It has been a conscious decision to have those guys come through who have mature bodies,” Bains said on TAC Cup Future Stars last weekend.

“We are lucky in a sense that three of our better players have come through the draft in that period. Ben McEvoy, Jack Steven and David Armitage have all emerged. But … there is a little bit of a gap there.”

St Kilda has been aggressive in its acquisition of recycled AFL players, either drafting or trading for Tom Hickey, Dylan Roberton and Trent Dennis-Lane over the summer. All three players are young enough to forge out a long career at the Saints and crucially, each gained valuable AFL experience at their former clubs and bolstered the relatively sparse 22-27 age bracket at the Saints.

Hickey is 22 years old, Dennis-Lane is 24 while Roberton arrived as a 21-year-old with 37 games experience at Fremantle.

“I think [free agency scouting] has become as crucial now as general recruiting,” Bains said.

“I think the stats bare out last year that it might have been 40 per cent of all list changes were actually getting previously listed AFL players to your club.”

The Saints also picked up Tom Lee over the summer, a 22-year-old who booted 60 goals for Claremont in the WAFL in 2012.  

“We essentially gave GWS pick 12 and in return got Tom Lee and with the two subsequent-picks drafted Nathan Wright and Josh Saunders,” he said.

“You look at the game in New Zealand versus Sydney and all three were playing AFL football effectively as first-year guys.”

The round five game against the Swans is particularly significant because St Kilda had five players who had played three senior games or less. In addition to Wright, Saunders and Lee, Brodie Murdoch made his debut while Seb Ross had played just two AFL games.

Ross has played nine AFL matches, Wright six, while Saunders has played three with Lee and Murdoch two games into their careers.

Bains and the St Kilda recruiting team are likely to follow a similar pattern in this year’s draft. In order to get the right players to the club, Bains will have detailed knowledge of numerous prospects all over Australia.

“I think it’s critical to have the same level of coverage you do across the country,” he said.

“I guess the associated element of that is staying in touch with player managers and agents so you know what the contractual situation is with players from other clubs.”

In addition to the other 17 AFL clubs and players in second-tier leagues in South Australia and Western Australia, it’s imperative that recruiters keep an eye on the TAC Cup competition. In 2012, all of St Kilda’s picks in the National Draft aside from Murdoch and Lee were products of the Victorian under 18 system.

“It (The TAC Cup) is absolutely critical,” he said.

“About 50-60 per cent of the draft over the last few years continues to come from Victoria and the bulk of that is from the TAC. We see that as one of the most critical competitions around the country and we’ve always got scouts at each of the game.”

The Saints list will continue to evolve. In recent weeks, Scott Watters has made no secret of his desire to add a key defender to St Kilda’s developing backline and another ball-winner.

“We need to improve our list, we don’t shy away from that,” Watters said a fortnight ago. “We need to increase the depth of our midfield and increase our defensive stocks.”

You can follow Tom Morris on Twitter: @tommorris32