THE stats suggest it has been a difficult few weeks for Rhys Stanley. Entrusted with the added responsibility of rucking along with his customary forward role, the 24-year-old has booted two goals and averaged 7.3 hit outs in his last four games.

But as is the case with countless developing players, consistency is always the most difficult attribute to attain and something Stanley’s skipper continues to assist him with.

“Rhys has great physical attributes, we all know that, he’s a terrific athlete,” Nick Riewoldt said on the weekend.

“He is like a lot of our younger players – he has a lot of improving to do. As senior players and coaches, we need to guide them through that.”

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And it isn’t just Stanley who Riewoldt is bullish about, with a host of up-and-coming Saints beginning to make their mark in the red, white and black.

“The future is really exciting and really bright,” he said.

“We’ve unearthed a lot of great kids this year that should give our supporters something pretty exciting to watch.

“It’s exciting that we’ve got the opportunity to get games into our young kids for the rest of the year. That’s the focus for us. We need to keep training hard and working hard [because] there is no quick fix.”

Individually, Riewoldt was back to his best for the majority of Friday night’s loss to Collingwood – taking eight marks and booting three goals to take his career tally to 597.

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If he kicks three majors against Port Adelaide this weekend, then he will become just the third Saint to reach the 600-goal mark after Tony Lockett and Bill Mohr.

Yet individual honours and personal glory don't particularly resonate with Riewoldt, who is already looking ahead to the round 12 clash against the top-of-the-table Power from a team perspective.

“I’m really excited to get over there and play on the Adelaide Oval which we haven’t done yet,” he said.

“It will give us an opportunity to improve again and that’s what it is all about. The young players will get a lot out of a trip like this.”

And though the Adelaide Oval has quickly become a fortress for Ken Hinkley’s men in 2014, Riewoldt isn’t intimidated by the challenge awaiting him and his teammates.

“The preparation and dealing with a hostile crowd in a hostile environment and being able to convert that into a solid performance is what it’s all about.”

“Port is the form team of the competition so it’s a great opportunity.”