St Kilda Development Coach and Sandringham Senior Coach Jake Batchelor runs through each Saint who played in the Zebras' practice match against Werribee.

Jake Carlisle

"Jake was our No. 1 ruck for the day, was really good around stoppages and won some good clearances and hit-outs for us, but his main strength of the day was his follow-up work.

"That was a clear focus for him given by the coaches, that if he wants to add the string to his bow of being a ruckman, follow-up has got to be really important.

"Naturally he’s got the defenders’ mindset, so he had a bit of a defensive focus and he did that pretty well for us.

"He definitely won his fair share of hit-outs for us and gave our mids first use. We didn’t take that opportunity many times, but certainly can’t fault Jake’s effort and ability to win the ball for us."

Dean Kent

"Kenty is a real impact player, so the more that we can get him in the positions where he can impact and be explosive and power through the contest, the better he and the team will play.

"He really stood up for us in the last quarter. I challenged the boys to ramp things up and get something out of the game still, because we were going away from the way that we play.

"A big part of that was winning the ball and then transitioning with it, so he was a big starter of that for us.

"It was probably 50/50 between inside mid and forward. That will be the challenge – to find the sweet spot for him where he can use his explosive power, but we can also have him ahead of the ball because that’s where he impacts."

Darragh Joyce

"Darragh was probably our best player, along with Jake. Two weeks in a row now he’s had some really good form and he’s just marking he ball whenever it comes near him.

"It’s really good for a bloke who four, five weeks ago probably was more focussed on his opponent and stopping them.

"He’s always a leader down there, he’s a good connector of the two teams by his ability to play as well.

"There were a couple of times where the ball hit the ground and he followed up as well, which has been a focus for him being about 195cm. If he can add that ground-level stuff to his game then he’s rounding himself out nicely."

Luke Dunstan

"Spook got tagged from the first bounce. Spook being Spook didn’t say anything, he just wanted to work harder and help the team out by working through it.

"We brought it up at half-time and basically said to his teammates to help him out. I challenged Luke to try something different and go to an opposition mid just to free up someone else, and he did that as well. 

"There were a few bumps and bruises on him and he knew he’d played a game of football the next day.

"He didn’t stop all afternoon and won some good clearances for us and impacted when he needed to."

Mason Wood

"Mason played probably 50/50 half-forward and wing. Similar type of roles, but a really good experience to him to get more minutes on the wing.

"He showed some really good signs of running those patterns, got back for us and helped in defensive-50 and then exploited going back the other way at the right time. 

"Realistically, that was his first half on the wing for the year, so that will be something that we keep looking at – he’s got the tank, he’s got the size and the skills.

"If we can keep putting him in that situation where he can flip then that’ll be good for him."

Sam Alabakis

"Because Jake was ruck, Sal played a bit more forward and was our go-to key position player down the line.

"He was a bit inconsistent in getting to the right spots, but he’s only played footy for two years and (he’s normally in) a different role to playing forward.

"He’s got a great work ethic, so he’ll definitely want to keep working on those patterns. If we get some bigger players coming in, he’ll have to make sure he can play not just in the ruck. but up forward as well.

"The more minutes we can get into him, the better he’ll be. The big focus is obviously his ruckwork, but down the line and contested work will be pretty important to his development too."

Leo Connolly

"Leo’s still finding the consistency of what makes him a really good player, and once he gets that down-pat he can start to work on the other sides of his game.

"Whenever he’s got the ball in his hands he’s elite for us. It didn’t happen as much as the previous couple of weeks, so it was a bit of a down week in that sense.

"He’s continually improving on defending those smaller forwards which is really important for us, so we’re going to need that down there, especially on a small ground for all our home games at Trevor Barker Oval.

"A good learning curve game for Leo, and I’ve challenged him to bounce back and build that consistency moving forward."

Matthew Allison

"Matty is in a similar boat to Leo as well. He had some really good contests ahead of the ball and his running patterns are still going to be a big focus for him.

"Werribee had some really mature bodies, so like last week he’s going to find himself playing on some bigger bodies if he’s our key forward down there at the moment.

"He might get that third tall defender a bit later down the track, which might allow him to showcase his strengths a little more.

"This is an exciting challenge for him over the next couple of weeks (about) how can he keep working through these different types of opponents."