After a worrying Round 1 loss to Collingwood, St Kilda has gone from strength to strength to be one of the most dynamic offensive teams in the competition.
Wins over Fremantle, Richmond and Hawthorn have the club inside the top four and looking the goods after four rounds.
The Saints lost the contested possession count against the Pies in their first game this year, but former Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson believes that has since become their strength.
“I’ve loved their last six quarters, some of their underlying numbers look really positive,” he told SEN’s Whateley.
“We hear the experts, we hear coaches talk forever about contested possessions … that’s what St Kilda have got going for them at the moment.
“When you look at the way they’ve potentially changed their game and their attitude at the moment, they are winning their fair share of the contested possession differential.
“St Kilda are getting to the footy first, they’re getting to the contest first. They’ve got their balance right around the contest, they’ve got the right blend of players crashing inside the contest and then they’re combining that with a bit of class and a bit of run on the outside too.
“This is the number one offensive side after four rounds of footy, they’re averaging 100 points a game. I think that’s on the back of some really good defence too.”
St Kilda has convincly won the contested possession count in their past three games.
Despite primarily being a one-man band in the midfield last year with Jack Steele leading the way, Jade Gresham has been a welcomed addition to the side after missing last year with an achilles injury.
Sanderson also named another four players who have been key for the Saints.
“You don’t have to rely on individuals to get the result, what you need is a team that are all playing their role and you can almost throw a blanket over role players in your team,” he said.
“Jack Sinclair, Brad Crouch, Seb Ross, Daniel McKenzie, those four in particular have made a difference in the first month of footy.
“They’re providing great support for Steele. I think Steele last year had to a lot of it individually, but now, thankfully, he’s getting a lot more of a supporting cast around him and I think that’s what we’re seeing different from the Saints.”
The Saints will be missing senior coach Brett Ratten for Round 5 against the Suns due to the AFL’s health and safety protocols, however, Sanderson doesn’t believe the club will lose out with assistant Brendon Lade in the hot seat.
“Interesting month ahead though, the Suns is a game they should win at Marvel (Stadium) on Saturday, then they have the Giants away, Port Adelaide … then, of course, they come up against Melbourne,” Sanderson continued.
“So it’s a big block of footy, big challenge not having your senior coach in the box this week … I know Brendon Lade will do a great job this week too, he’s a really smart football person, he’s had enormous experience, they won’t lose too much having ‘Ladey’ in the hot seat this week.”