Nick Riewoldt has highlighted the area of the playing list which will serve St Kilda well.
The former Saints captain pointed to the high-end draft picks in the early 2000s which led the club to Grand Finals and Preliminary Finals from 2004 through until 2010.
Riewoldt seems similarities between the Saints of his glory days and the current group which is 2-0 under Alan Richardson in 2019.
“It’s a situation pretty similar to when I first started,” Riewoldt said on SEN’s Whateley.
“We were down towards the bottom of the ladder and had an opportunity to pick up kids.
“Fortunately for us, the majority of those early draft picks that we had, whether it was Brendon Goddard, Luke Ball, Nick Dal Santo, Leigh Montagna, they turned out to be great players for the football club.
“That’s where St Kilda’s improvement is going to come from.
“You can’t bottom out and finish in that part of the ladder then not capitalise on your picks.
“Nick Coffield, Hunter Clark, Max King, Paddy McCartin, Jack Billings – they all need to become great players for the football club if the football club is going to make that period of trial and difficulty for all the fans worthwhile.
“We’ve started to see that from Jack Billings. His last half of the year last year was really good.
“He’s started the year brilliantly. He’s winning his own footy.
“There are some good signs.”
St Kilda will be looking to make it three wins from three matches in 2019 when they meet Fremantle in Perth on Sunday evening.
