Sandringham Senior Coach and St Kilda Assistant Coach Paul Hudson provides saints.com.au with an individual breakdown on all of the Saints listed players performances in Round 1 of the VFL.

Blake Acres (33 disposals, nine marks, seven clearances, five inside 50s, four tackles)

“Blake played in the midfield and also pushed forward. When he was forward he worked high up the ground and was good at linking up in that row. At times he found himself a little bit deep wanting to be a marking player, he needs to keep working to get that balance right. When he was in the middle he was our equal best clearance player and our leading possession winner so he had a pretty good game.”

Eli Templeton (30 disposals, nine inside 50s, five clearances, three rebound 50s)

“He played a similar role to Blake, both inside and also up forward. He gained 30 possessions and five clearances and hit the scoreboard. His versatility was important for us, particularly going forward."

Jade Gresham (24 disposals, 11 contested possessions, seven clearances and four inside 50s)

“Jade was another one who played mid and forward. He had seven clearances and was good in close. He needs to work on his forward craft, but was very positive in his first game at VFL level. And a lot like all first-year players an area of focus is his ability to defend. Gresham read the cues early and was able to win the early possession.”

Tom Lee (20 disposals, 12 marks, four inside 50s, three rebound 50s)

“Tommy was probably the best defender. He had 20 possessions and uses the ball well coming out of the back half; he was strong in the contest when he needed to be, so he had a solid game down back. They rotated quite a bit, but he spent most of his time on [Joseph] Fisher. But Tom got his hands on it, had 12 marks, so his ability to read it and intercept it was a feature of his game.”

Tom Curren (18 disposals, six clearances, five marks)

“It wasn’t the best game by his standards with 18 possessions. He’s a guy that can really accumulate a lot of the ball. He played in the midfield predominantly, and played forward at times when needed, but he wasn’t as clean as what he normally is, he seemed a bit rushed with his disposal at times. I would expect Tommy to bounce back. He’s had a good start to the year though, so he was probably due for a quieter one.”

Brodie Murdoch (18 disposals at 77.8 per cent, five rebound 50s)

“He’s improving week by week playing across half-back. We had him playing across half-forward, so now he’s moved to the backline. What he can do is break the line with his kick he’s a penetrating kick. He had 18 touches for the game and was our highest rebounding defender with five rebound 50s. We’d like to get the ball to Brodie more because he’s a good user.”

Cameron Shenton (15 disposals at 86.7 per cent, 5 tackles, 3 inside 50s, 3 rebound 50s)

“Cam spent the first half in the forward line and in the forward line he worked really hard to get to the edges. He worked extremely hard on improving his body work in the contests and he also did that when he went down back in the second-half. He was excellent for us in the rebounding aspect, his ball use was really efficient and he helped us break a line and provided a really good attacking option when he was down there.”

Daniel McKenzie (14 disposals, eight contested possessions, six tackles)

“He was solid playing predominantly on a wing. He didn’t get a lot of time inside but he was our best tackler for the game. He was hard at the ball and his closing speeds good. His closing speeds really good, he’s obviously got confidence in his ability to tackle guys and that’s evident in the stats. His defensive efforts have been good. He’s got a good balance of offense and defence; he plays that pretty well from a wing perspective.”

Bailey Rice (14 disposals at 85.7 per cent, two rebound 50s)

“Bailey was a little bit hot and cold from half back. He didn’t really give us a little drive and got caught out defensively a couple of times in his positioning, his opponent got goal side of him so he just needs to work on his checking and positioning. But it was only his proper game at this level, so he’ll be better for the exposure no doubt.”

Luke Delaney (12 disposals at 91.7 per cent, 10 marks, two rebound 50s)

“‘Del’ played half down back and then a quarter and a half when we moved him forward. The difference was his intensity from what he was showing down back. He looked more urgent up forward, provided more of a contest up forward so whether we continue to play him more up forward than down back we’ll have that discussion. He looked a lot more comfortable up forward.”

Billy Longer (28 hitouts, 11 disposals, four tackles)

“Billy was our predominant ruck; he spent about 80 per cent of the game in the ruck and had 28 hitouts. His stoppage work was excellent, so we won the clearance son the back of his work in there. He just needs to tighten up on his defence when the ball hits the ground and then around the ground. He was opposed to [Marc] Pittonet got in to the right positions better than what he did and hurt us around the ground more than what Billy did.”

Nathan Wright (11 disposals, four tackles, three inside 50s)

“Wrighty played on a wing and we also tried him in a forward role as a fifth midfielder. He put some pressure on, that’s just the way he plays he’s able to put some pressure on defensively. But he just needs to work on his forward play if he’s going to continue that role. We wanted to play him forward to see if he could add another string to his bow.”

Lewis Pierce (12 hitouts, eight disposals, three clearances, three tackles)

“Lewy played predominantly forward as well as the second tier ruck at about 20 to 30 per cent in there. He ran hard to try to get the outlet and at times got outside his opponent, but can improve his positioning and his judgement in the flight of the ball. His ruck work was good, but he does need to improve his work up forward.”

Hugh Goddard (Eight disposals, three contested)

“Unfortunately Hughie got a knock and only played about half the game. He played down back and played on Tim O’Brien, playing on the tallest of all of them. He didn’t get beaten in a one-on-one contest. He won’t miss any footy with the bye this weekend. He just needs to continue to work on becoming more involved offensively.”

Jason Holmes (Seven disposals, four marks, two contested marks, two score assists)

“Holmesy’s was better than the week before. He played just up forward and his leading patterns improved on previous games in attack. He finished with seven possessions, four marks and a goal, so he’s goal if he’s going to play as a permanent tall forward is to double that. He just needs to improve his pattern work as a forward, but he improved in the contest."