IT HAS been, rightly, all about Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera's brilliance in the aftermath of Sunday's record comeback at three-quarter time, but there was another Saint who had almost as much to do with the victory over Melbourne.

While Wanganeen-Milera orchestrated and calmly slotted the final two goals of the game to help St Kilda recover from 46 points down at the final change, Max Hall dominated the fourth quarter at Marvel Stadium.

The 23-year-old collected seven disposals at 100 per cent efficiency, six score involvements, four clearances (three centre clearances) and two goal assists against the Demons when the game was on the line, finishing with five goal assists – the most by a Saint since 2017 – among his 13 score involvements. 

Across the past six rounds, Hall is rated No.2 in the entire competition, according to Champion Data's AFL Player Ratings, behind only Adelaide key forward Riley Thilthorpe.  

Max is maximum damage.

The mature-age recruit has now been rewarded with a two-year contract extension and will remain at Moorabbin until at least the end of 2027 after becoming a permanent fixture at St Kilda this year.

Hall doesn't accumulate disposals like Wanganeen-Milera or Brownlow Medal favourite Nick Daicos, but the majority of his touches translate into scores. 

Over the past six rounds, Hall is ranked No.3 behind Marcus Bontempelli and Zak Butters for score assists, level with Daicos, and No.4 for score involvements behind only Daicos, Bontempelli and Rowan Marshall.

Box Hill coach Zane Littlejohn dropped Hall for the 2023 preliminary final and wondered if he would return the following pre-season. Instead, Hall came back with a point to prove and is now proving to be the latest success story out of that program.  

St Kilda knew in the weeks before the 2024 Mid-Season Rookie Draft that Hall was their guy at pick No.4, with recruiting boss Simon Dalrymple spotted often at Box Hill games for one reason. 

Bone stress was discovered a week out in his back, but that didn't deter the Saints, like it did other clubs. That injury limited him to just two games for Sandringham in the closing fortnight of last season, but Hall was the big mover on the track over summer at RSEA Park to the point where Ross Lyon openly told fans at events over summer to keep an eye on the No.40.

Hall did enough to earn a debut for the trip to Adelaide in round one and kicked St Kilda's first three scores of the season, reaching quarter-time at the Adelaide Oval with 1.2 to his name, before adding another goal in his first game. 

The Montrose product has gradually been exposed to more time in the midfield across the past few months, proving his capability to handle himself at stoppage and make an impact at the coalface.

After finishing with five clearances to go with a career-high 27 disposals, 13 contested possessions, nine score involvements and three goals against Hawthorn in round 17, many at the Hawks weren't surprised to see Hall perform at the level, given the improvement he made at the club's VFL affiliate across the first half of 2024. 

St Kilda has had a great recent record out of the Rookie Draft, with its past two winners Cal Wilkie (2024) and Jack Sinclair (2022 and 2023) starting on the rookie list. Cooper Sharman has been a winner out of the Mid-Season Rookie Draft. Now Hall is the next rookie to flourish at Moorabbin.