LUKE HOLMESBY: How much easier has it been in your second year?

SCOTT WATTERS: The second year is about building on the foundations we’ve laid and less about discovery. We’ve got stability coming into this year with our coaching staff. What we’ve been able to do in 12 months is bring quality people into the club, with great character and technical expertise.  We’ve surrounded our players with high-quality coaches and a challenging environment. We now have an established development program with four full-time staff and three or four part-time staff. We didn’t have that 12 months ago. Our welfare and leadership programs are now significant. Our program is in a strong space and our players are aggressively seeking improvement.
 

What has been the most pleasing aspect of pre-season?

Just the consistent standards the players have been able to hit session after session, under fatigue, under heavy load. Our younger players are showing an appetite to improve and our leaders are leading with strong actions. The standards they have been able to deliver session after session have been very high. Within that there have been some individuals who have had great summers. Jack Steven looks another year more mature – some of his training in Colorado was as good as I’ve seen. Nick Dal Santo has really pushed himself hard this year and is setting himself to build on a season that was OK last year. He has accepted the challenge.

David Armitage is maturing as a leader. He was appointed to the leadership group and his actions whilst training have sent a strong message to the group about where he sits and what he wants to achieve. Those actions drag players with you, they set standards.

Since Colorado, the leaders have driven expectations session by session. They understand the challenges ahead. They’ve prepared well.
 

You mentioned David Armitage being elevated to the leadership group. How pleasing is it to see him be held in that esteem at the club?

He’s a good example and it is not a finished story but certainly he is a good role model to a number of players and the message is pretty clear that talent without work ethic means very little. He now understands what it takes to be a pro. On the back of that he starts to get the rewards that he deserves, there’s no secret. In this game you get what you deserve and he is working hard and becoming a better player and a better leader. To have that example within our group has a real ripple effect and he has been a real positive.

It is a different squad this year and it is going to be a different looking team. Are we going to see some surprises in who misses out on that first team?

There’ll be disappointment. Through the course of a year we need 30-35 players who are ready to play their role. Some players play every game and some players might play a really important five or six games. We will rely on players outside that initial round one group, to stay  focused and impact when their opportunity arises, we need strong contributors. Players earn selection so the opportunity is there for every player to force the issue on the selection table. There are no gifts, whether you are a new draftee or a 250-game player. Every pre-season, every game, you earn the right to play.
 

There were quite a few debutants last year, can we expect to see more this year?

As Ric Charlesworth (former Hockey coach) would say,’ ignore youth at your own peril’. I’ve never asked to see someone’s birth certificate before they earn a game. The same opportunity exists for someone who is 18 years of age as for some of our older players who are in their 12^th or 13^th season. If you train well, play well, build good form, play your role and live our values, you eventually demand selection.

Are we likely to see some of those players in the early part of the season?

That opportunity exists. There are a whole host of players who can challenge. Tom Lee, Tom Hickey, Josh Saunders, Jackson Ferguson, Brodie Murdoch – it’s in their hands.

Jimmy Webster is physically now starting to hold it together and is emerging. Nathan Wright is a young player who has come through and is showing maturity beyond his years in his first pre-season. Performance demands attention.

I’ve been really pleased with how Dylan Roberton and Trent Dennis-Lane have fitted in and added to the depth of our list. Both those players will play a part. It’s competitive.
 

A lot has been said about Arryn Siposs potentially playing the role that Brendon Goddard once held. Is that how you see that?

I think it’s important that Arryn Siposs becomes the next Arryn Siposs. He needs to be true to his own strengths and capacities. He brings unique things to the table. Clubs rapidly move past individuals, history shows that. Lists evolve very quickly, clubs don’t stand still for very long at all. Arryn Siposs has bought in to hard work and is developing extremely well, he is going to be able to do some things potentially that other players who have left this club couldn’t do. He needs to become his best, not anyone else’s.
 

Our first game in New Zealand is only a month away. How important is it to the club to be involved in the first proper AFL game to be played outside Australia?

There are so many different levels to answering that question. Our CEO Michael Nettlefold has done a great job at bringing this to life and has highlighted the importance of what that opportunity means to the club commercially. From a football point of view, the great opportunities are culturally. To play on that sacred day that means so much to all Australians, to gain an understanding of what it means to our New Zealand brothers is a privileged opportunity for coaches and players alike. That is something we really look forward to as a playing group, an opportunity to show respect. On the back of that we are forging stronger links with the Australian Defence Force, that link and partnership brings great possibilities to the club. To be one of the two clubs who get to be part of the first game to be held outside Australia is significant. We have the opportunity to be ambassadors for our great game and that is a responsibility we don’t take lightly.
 

One major point of difference between this pre-season and previous years has been the high-altitude training in Boulder, Colorado. How important was that trip?

Every year you want to develop your program and make sure your program is giving your players the best opportunity to maximise their opportunity. Colorado was critical to that on a number of levels. From a performance point of view, training in that environment and being involved with elite athletes who mentored our players as well as the opportunity to be away for that time with no distractions and have pure focus on living an elite lifestyle and developing our craft – all of those things have a massive impact. We have 26 players on our list under 23 years of age and 21 new players to our club in the last 12 months. They need to continue to learn about each other and the bonds that grow from time spent together are critical when you are put into the heat of battle. Colorado is a cornerstone piece of our football program and we look forward to building on that again next year and building on our relationships with Colorado University and the athletes who were in that program.

You made tough decisions on Jason Gram and Brendon Goddard in the off-season, I imagine that is some of the more unpleasant work that comes with being a coach. Is that how you found it?

You develop relationships with your players and you want to see them be successful. You want to see them live the team values, put the team first and maximise the incredible opportunity they have in front of them. That is your ultimate driver as a coach.  There are very clear lines on what it takes to be a part of this team, to wear our colours and be part of a club with a 140-year history, that is non-negotiable. We demand a team-first philosophy and demand our players live our values. The tough decisions are often the easiest to see. The decisions we made were heavily considered from a number of people within the club. We are a better club because of them, I stand by them and have no doubt they were the right decisions for our club

How’s Daniel Markworth travelling after his knee injury?

Daniel is resilient. He was having a really good pre-season. We were excited about how he was tracking.  We all share the disappointment but you really get to see the character of a person in these situations. The way he has responded to that setback, there is no doubt in my mind he will be a better player and a tougher competitor. While it is disappointing that our supporters won’t get to see Daniel play this year, and I’m sure he would have forced his way into the side, this is a temporary pause on what we believe will be a very strong career in Saints colours. He’s already learnt from it and sees the opportunity out of the challenge. I respect the way he’s handled it.

How do you handle the external expectations that the list is in decline?

I don’t listen to the noise. We’re focused on continual improvement. We’re focused on high standards. What is important is our effort and our values. They will be measured extremely strongly internally. They are non-negotiable and we control them. If we continually hit those markers you earn respect and earn the right to be a Saints player. There are people who are paid to make those speculative assessments, that’s their job. It has no impact on our process and our strategic plan. We’ll focus on our values, our effort, our roles and a team-first philosophy. The result will be the result.