St Kilda Development Coach and VFL Senior Coach Jake Batchelor runs through each Saint who played in the Zebras' clash against Box Hill on Sunday. 

Luke Dunstan

35 disposals, three goals

“He’s doing everything he can. He’s winning the ball and that’s his main priority. He’s a brick for us. We’ve got a young midfield at the moment so he’s good for leadership and cracked in really hard.

“He didn’t stop throughout the whole game and got a few goals which was a good reward for effort. 21 contested possessions - he just keeps turning up.”

Tom Highmore

30 disposals, 14 marks

“Tommy won the medal and was best on ground for us. He started the game really well when it was up for grabs with five intercept marks in the first quarter.

“He did what he could - defended his man when he needed to - but the pleasing thing was he then took the space and used his strength as a marker when he had to. He uses the ball really neatly. In AFL level he’ll probably be a hybrid for us – not just tall and not just small.”

Jack Lonie 

22 disposals, three goals

“His pressure was through the roof. The chasing, the harassing, the scrapping was very good to watch.”

“He’s a real leader of the whole club. His attitude was great and I think the boys thrived off that.”

Ben Long

25 disposals at 96 percent efficiency

“Longy won the ball back for us and used it really well at 96 per cent efficiency. He was really smart and calm with the ball.

“We’ll keep working on some defensive things with him. We want him to be really aggressive and proactive with his positioning and coming forward to defend. He had a good game and like Lonie his attitude was pretty good."

James Frawley

12 disposals, four marks

“Chip got through unscathed - which was the main priority.

“He hadn’t played footy in a long time, so he was a bit rusty in reading the flight of the ball and his defensive acts were a tiny bit off. But he got through and he’ll be better for it, he'll always bring the leadership to the younger defenders. A bit to work on to get back into the pace of things, but he’ll definitely benefit from getting a good run in.”

Leo Connolly 

30 disposals, nine marks

“Leo was very good. You know he’s on when he grabs the ball and just runs, takes space straight away and doesn’t get rid of it/backs himself. He’s got great kick and great leg speed.

“It was great that he demanded the ball. He was loud and demanding and his teammates were looking for him, which was very pleasing.

Mason Wood

17 disposals, one goal

“Mason played on the wing. He’s going to be a flexible player going forward.

“He made an improvement this week. His patterns are getting better on the wing and running the lanes that he needs to. He got forward and kicked a goal from a wing pattern which was pleasing. He impacted really well and had a few good defensive efforts.”

Matthew Allison 

11 disposals, six handballs

“Matty’s been thrown around the last couple of weeks and this week he played as a backman.

“It was pleasing to see that he didn’t look out of place. He intercepted the ball a couple of times, took a couple of marks and his positioning was surprisingly good for a bloke that hasn’t played in the backline very often."

Sam Alabakis

14 hit-outs, one goal

“Sal probably had his best game for us.

"He competed so well, when he was forward/ahead of the ball he brought the ball to ground every single time and that’s how our forwards can put on pressure. He competed really well and took a couple of contested marks."

Oscar Clavarino

17 disposals, one goal

“Oscar had a mixed day because we had such a tall backline, so he probably had to adjust the most by playing on small and medium hybrid types. His leadership and communication is unquestionable, when he's playing well that's always on song.

“The challenge for him is to be able to consistently perform and do what’s required on the small blokes. It was good learning for him to mix up those roles. He might have to be the flexible one for us - we swung him forward late and he didn't look out of place."

Shaun McKernan 

Five marks, one goal

“It’s always a hard challenge when you’re playing against two or three key defenders and they’re just trying to body you up.

"We've been doing a bit of work on getting him active so his defenders can’t lock him down and he can still run and jump at the ball, when he's doing that that he’s hard to stop. We just need to find the right balance when he's up the ground versus when he's deep, because we need him around the ball." 

Paul Hunter 

23 hit-outs, 16 disposals

“Paul was good in the ruck and had six clearances and five tackles - his follow-up work has been a big focus of his over the last couple of weeks. He competes hard and his follow-up work was really good, 13 of his possessions were contested.

“A few things to tidy up as a forward but he’s improving each week, which is what we want to see.”

Dean Kent

“Kenty got a head knock. He looked to put on a block for one of his teammates and a collision with his head happened.

"It was disappointing for him because he started the game well and was looking really lively.”