ST KILDA veteran Adam Schneider has heaped praise on the club’s emerging group on the back of another come-from-behind victory on Sunday.
And the Saints’ future is bright according to the 31-year-old small forward, who singled out Jack Lonie for special praise.
“You’ve got Jack Lonie coming through, who I reckon will play for 15 years and be one of the greats of the game,” Schneider told Crocmedia on Monday evening.
“He’s an absolute freak.
“These young players are really coming through - you’ve got Luke Dunstan and Jack Billings, who will be 10-12 year players for the club.
VIDEO: Jack Billings post-game
“We’ve seen what (Daniel) McKenzie can do and we’ve also got (Paddy) McCartin coming through as well, so we’ve got a really good mix and ‘Richo’ (coach Alan Richardson) is leading us all really well so there’s a lot of upside.”
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Schneider highlighted McKenzie’s courageous mark late against the Lions as a benchmark for his young teammates to follow.
“He did that a couple of weeks ago as well to help us save a game,” he said.
“He’s earning a lot of trust and doing himself some real favours.
“He’s probably one of the top five runners at the club already so he’s coming on well.”
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The Saints have found themselves five or more goals down early in three of their past four games but Schneider felt the 55-point comeback against the Western Bulldogs in round seven had given the group a lot of belief.
“You are going to get that with young sides, where little lapses can really hurt you,” he said.
“It wasn’t great and we did it last week as well, but we just reiterated that we were 55 points down against the Bulldogs and that nothing is impossible and if you just keep plugging away and put it behind you, anything can happen.”
The 14th-placed Saints face Hawthorn next Sunday at Etihad Stadium for the Blue Ribbon Cup.
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