Former St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt doesn’t believe his old club’s injuries count in the favour of coach Alan Richardson.
The Saints coach comes into 2019 under a lot of pressure, but key injuries to the likes of Jake Carlisle, Dylan Roberton, Paddy McCartin and others leaves them behind the eight-ball.
However, Riewoldt doesn’t feel this can be used as a crutch.
"The best game styles we've seen over the last few years have really rendered personnel irrelevant," Riewoldt told SEN Breakfast.
"You want your best players playing, absolutely, but you can still show enough with the cattle that you're going to have out there.
"You can still see it, it's the eye test, it's the effort that the players are giving, it's the adherence to a good game style.
"You can only base any decision on what you see in front of you and if the players play a great style and the players give great effort every week, the wins and losses will take care of themselves."
The Saints host Gold Coast at Marvel Stadium in Round 1 in what is shaping up as a very important clash for both teams in the long run.