St Kilda's honest discussions from its most demoralising patch of last season have continued to be a point of motivation in 2022, with the style of its post-bye revival seeping for the most part into the opening month of this year's campaign.
The Saints snared its fourth straight win of the season – the last time it did that was in 2020 – over Gold Coast at Marvel Stadium, ensconcing themselves inside the top-four after an indifferent start to the year against Collingwood.
Last year's all-in meeting in Sydney after a series of disappointing defeats proved to be a turning point midway through last year, with St Kilda's overall performance lifting substantially as it recorded upset wins against Richmond, Brisbane and Sydney.
"We had that meeting in Sydney ... and we'll refer back to it," stand-in coach Brendon Lade said post-match.
"We got some things out of (it) that were really important for our footy club. We've just focused on them and we saw a big jump in our performance in the second half of last year.
"It's just continued through the pre-season into this year, which has been great."
The returning Jack Higgins booted five goals in the ardent win, while 100-gamer Jade Gresham starred through the midfield with 25 disposals and two goals.
They were one of a number of players who could have easily slotted into St Kilda's best. Bradley Hill was a standout through his run and carry, Jack Sinclair's form has only continued to blossom, while Seb Ross, Brad Crouch, Daniel McKenzie and Jack Steele were among those to execute their roles to great effect.
It's been a consistent theme of the Saints this season, with the emphasis on team-first footy and role players resulting in best-on-ground honours not being as definitive as they were in seasons past.
"People look at our side and they've commented all year, 'where are your superstars?'," Lade said.
"But we play pretty well as a team. We have some real clarity in our roles, what we need to do.
"That's the challenge for us, to make sure we keep getting our roles done."
