New Saint Liam Stocker is enjoying his start to life at his second club.
The 23-year-old joined St Kilda in January as a Pre-Season Supplemental pick-up after being delisted by Carlton following 28 games at the end of the 2022 season.
While Stocker has admitted that the situation was dire after being axed by the Blues, he says he’s now empowered playing under Ross Lyon and the team he grew up supporting as the Saints remain unbeaten through four games.
“I’m having a lot of fun,” Stocker told AFL Nation.
“Obviously the scenario when I came here was pretty dire, to be honest getting delisted.
“But Ross empowered me, he told me what my strengths were and that was kind of all I needed, a bit of encouragement.
“I’m loving this group of boys, everyone worked really hard in the off-season to get us into this position.
“Now when we get into that point in games we can draw on it and that’s what I enjoy most, I got to earn my trust again.”
Playing off half back, Stocker had his best game for his new club so far on Saturday night as he picked up 26 disposals and took seven marks in the 53-point win over Gold Coast.
While the defender may be starting to deliver on some of the promise that saw him taken in the first round of the 2018 AFL Draft, he says he doesn’t feel a sense of vindication towards his former club.
“I wouldn’t say vindicated is the right word,” Stocker said.
“Carlton gave me a lot of things, the supporter base was great for me in a really difficult time.
“I don’t know if vindicated is the right word, but for the right part I showed myself that I could do it and that was the most important part for me.
“I think you can get drawn into that sort of stuff and your career doesn't go a very long way.
“I’m not using it as a benchmark or anything like that.”
With wins over the Dockers, Bulldogs, Bombers and Suns to start the season, the Saints now face their biggest test yet with a Gather Round clash against the Magpies next Sunday.
While Stocker admits his side has had a good start to the year, they’re refusing to get ahead of themselves as the Saints look to stick to Lyon’s processes.
“It is (good),” Stocker said.
“But so far the really important thing is sticking to the process.
“It’s what we spoke about inside the rooms with Ross, sticking to the process and let’s not get too high or too low.
“We’ll continue to do that because it’s working for us.”
That clash between St Kilda and Collingwood is set for 4:50 pm at the Adelaide Oval next Sunday.