How would you sum up your year personally with the calf injuries?

Frustration has been the underlying feeling. I feel like when I've been out there I build into some form, but it's just one of those things.

It's been good to just get out there and play the last couple of weeks and feel like I'm contributing again and feel like a footballer.

At the end of the day, injuries are part of the game but every footballer knows it's very hard to watch. That's how I've found it this year.

How have you stayed involved on the sidelines?

Scotty was pretty good. He just said, 'Get your rehab done. If you need to duck away and get out of here do that. If you want to do some work with the young guys, do that'.  

He was pretty flexible. I suppose I take a bit of interest in the young guys down at Sandringham and a couple of young mids, and I balance that with the work that I needed to do at the club.

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With those young players at Sandringham, has your role veered towards coaching at times?

I've always had a bit of an interest in that and I've done bits and pieces over the last few years.

I did a bit of work with some midfield guys down at the Oakleigh Chargers a few years back, so it's something that's always been there and an area that I enjoy.

We've got a lot of good young midfielders at the club.

Guys like Tommy Curren, who's playing down at Sandringham at the moment, there's a group of eight to 10 good young mids.

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It's not every week that I do something with them, but just occasionally I might look at some vision with them or do a bit of work on the track with them. It's something I enjoy for sure.

What draws you to coaching?

Working with the younger guys, they're very receptive to any feedback and they really want to learn.

Having been around a while there are tricks of the trade and things I can pass on to help them get where they want to be a bit quicker. I find that quite rewarding.

You see guys develop and put time into something and actually get rewards for it.

Have you thought about what you will do with your footy beyond this year?

I've put a fair bit of thought into it. I'm obviously coming towards the end of my career, but I'm probably not at a point where I've decided what I want to do or what it looks like at this point.

Because of the year I've had, it's almost like I've just though let's just get back to playing footy and then once I've been back for five or six weeks I think it'll give me a better indication of where I'm at, where my body's at, where the team's at and the development of that.

There's a few factors I've got to get through before I decide on what next year or the year after looks like for me.

So it's almost shaping as an end of year decision?

I think so. It might have been different if I'd played the whole year.

In that case I might have had a better indication of whether this would be my last year.

But because I haven't really played it's been hard to get a handle on whether I could go round again or what it looks like.

Seven games left in the season, I think it'll take till the end of the year to make a call on it.

With the young guys you have at the club, what do you think the future looks like for St Kilda?

I think it's looking really bright.

Over the last two weeks, they're two of the youngest sides that I've played in and I think there's a lot of good talent there.

It's just going to be how quickly they can develop. A lot of it is game time I think.

Scotty has said that he wants to go out and get some talent into the team at the end of the year, so I think it's important the club does that.

Who knows after that? It reminds me a lot of when I was coming through in 2001-02 and we didn't win many games.

We recruited well though, and two years later we were playing in a prelim with guys like Nick Dal Santo and Leigh Montagna.

So it can turn pretty quickly if the group can stay together.

Hypothetically, if you were in charge of recruiting this year, what type of players do you think the club needs to improve?

A bit of everything would be nice.

Probably another couple of midfielders I'd say, to complement what's there at the moment.

There's obviously been a lot of talk about a big key back. We've got some good defenders, and losing Sam Fisher has really hurt us.

Getting him back and Sam Gilbert back, they're almost two virtual recruits for us.

Getting one more guy, a 198-200cm type that can hold down that key back position, is probably something that Scotty has spoken about.

At the other end of the ground, Tom Lee's had a good fortnight. Is he the answer for the forward line in the future?

I think he'll play a lot of footy for us. Spencer White, there's been a lot of talk about him, but he's got a bit of developing to do.

They're certainly two guys who should play a lot of footy for the club.

Even 'Rooey' has probably got another couple of years if he wants to keep going. So by the time 'Rooey' finishes there should be a couple of guys there ready to fill the void.

Tom Hickey and Ben McEvoy can go forward as well, so they're guys who are still learning that part of the game. They just need game time.

On Riewoldt, he's played career-best footy at times this year. How long do you think he should go on?

I think Nick could go as long as he wants to. He's always prepared himself really well. He's battled adversity at times, which most players do, but what he's been able to do over a long period of time, if he's still keen I think he can go for as long as he wants.

How about with the captaincy, is there a case for a handover there while Nick is still playing out his career?

I guess that'd be a discussion Scotty would have with 'Roo'.

He's been a great skipper for the club, and unless there's someone jumping up wanting to take the reins I'd be more than comfortable to see 'Rooey' do it for as long as he wanted.

Who stands out to you as the club's next captain from the young group? 

There's a few that I reckon would be able to do it one day.

Without putting too much pressure on a guy like Jack Newnes, I see a lot of leadership qualities in him.

Jarryn Geary has become a really important player to us and a good leader over the last couple of years.

Ben McEvoy's in there as well.

Even a guy like Leigh Montagna, if Roo didn't want to do it next year, then I'm sure 'Joey' could take over for a couple of years until one of those younger guys is ready.

What is it specifically about Newnes and Geary that makes them potential leaders?

They're both very professional guys.

It's probably taken Geary a little bit longer to make his mark, but that holds him in really good stead because he's seen both sides of it.

He wasn't a high draft pick coming in and he's had to work really hard.

He's turned himself into a very good player. He's very selfless, he can play a number of roles and guys relate well to him.

Newnes is in a similar boat. He's come in and played some games early, he seems a real leader of the young group and from the first day you could just see he was focused and believed in himself.   

How should the club manage the retirements of senior players, given you're still such influential members of the team? Do the retirements need to be staggered?

It's an interesting one and no doubt the club has thought about that.

I think every individual case is different and a lot of things have to be taken into consideration when club and player are talking along those lines.

You don't want to be hanging around too long, but I think Scotty's well aware that you can't just have a group of kids playing week-in, week-out. You need a good mix in the team.

All that will be taken into consideration and it's certainly not something you talk about amongst teammates.

Given your understanding of Ross Lyon's game plan, do you think Fremantle can win the flag this year?

Yeah, I think they're as good a chance as probably two or three others.  

You've got to be playing good footy at the right time of the year, and Freo have obviously had their injury concerns, but they've been able to cover for those.

They've got themselves in a really good position. They're certainly hard to play against, they've got a really good defence and they're a very well drilled team.

They've got a lot of top end talent as well, so I think they're as good a chance as anyone.

How long until the Saints can be back in a similar position?

It's very hard to tell, but I wouldn't be surprised if in a couple of years we're pushing back up to where we want to be.

You've just got to get games into some of these young guys. There's a lot of talent there, and you just never know. If you recruit well, and then some of these young guys come on like we think they will, then I don't see why we can't be back up there in a few years.