Last weekend’s bye provided St Kilda with an opportunity to catch their breath, to freshen up and reset for the second half of 2017.

It also provided Alan Richardson and the football department at Linen House Centre with a chance to reflect.

What has worked in the first ten rounds? What hasn’t gone to plan?

“Certainly when you get the mid-year bye you get an opportunity to reflect,” Richardson told reporters at Melbourne airport on Thursday afternoon.

“There’s been a lot of things that have been working, there’s been a lot of players that we think have improved.

“Our ability to finish off our work has been frustrating.

“If you look at entry v opposition, rebound v opposition, most of our footy has been heading the right way.

“But the ability to be able to convert our work has been a bit of a struggle for us and that’s not just our forwards, that’s our ability to bring the ball in. That’s been a real focus.”

St Kilda’s biggest issue in 2016 was the width between their best and worst. While the Saints have narrowed that gap, it is still too wide according to Richardson, who is now halfway through his fourth season at the helm.

“It was a focus coming into this year that we need to bridge the gap,” Richardson said ahead of Friday night’s clash with the second placed Adelaide.

“We think our best footy has gone to another level. We think we’ve probably bridged the gap a little bit, but not enough.”

Having spent a year in the heart of South Australia as Port Adelaide’s director of coaching, Richardson is well aware of the obsessive nature of the Adelaide media.

In the days after the Crows loss to Geelong at their Simonds Stadium fortress, the blowtorch on Don Pyke’s side has intensified.

Richardson expects Adelaide, who have won five of six games at Adelaide Oval this season and never lost to the Saints at that ground, to respond and present an enormous challenge on Friday night.

“We know that we are up against an opposition that will respond; they’ve been smashed in the media over there so they are going to be a terrific challenge and we’re looking forward to it,” he said.

Key forward Josh Bruce has been recalled after spending the last three weeks in the VFL, while six-time Trevor Barker Award winner Nick Riewoldt is still at least a week away from returning from a minor knee issue.