SAY whatever you like about St Kilda and the ups and downs the club has endured on and off the field since the end of last season, when it lost the grand final replay to Collingwood.

But there is one thing Corey Enright and his Geelong teammates know for sure about the Saints: when the ball is bounced at the MCG this Saturday night, they will have come to play, and play hard.

“Recent history of the past few years says we have had very close battles and very similar to last week’s game against Hawthorn,” Enright said. “Every game seems to go down to wire and there doesn’t seem to be any blowouts. It’s going to be another tough game ahead of us.

“The last couple of weeks they’ve improved a fair bit and seem to be playing some good footy and getting back to the way they have been the past few years. We know how they play and they’re very good at what they do so we’ve just got to negate those things they do well and how they want to play and we have to play the way we want to play.”

It’s quite a simple outlook, but one that cannot be argued with given Geelong’s perfect 11-0 start to the season. Interestingly, the run started against the Saints in Round 1 with a one-point triumph at the MCG.

Since then, St Kilda has won four games, lost five and drawn one to be sitting just outside the top eight and poised to make a run at the finals spots over the second half of the season.

As they have become accustomed to doing, Geelong and St Kilda will both be eyeing a serious run through September and both teams have continued to improve and add some edges to their game since opening night.

“A few things have changed since then so we’ll have a look back at that game and see what we did well,” Enright said. “Having said that, they’ve probably changed the way they’re playing a bit and so have we so we’ll have to adjust a bit going into this week.”

Just as the Saints will have to be fully prepared to face the Cats as they look to extend their unbeaten run to 12 games at the top of the AFL ladder.

There is no question new coach Chris Scott has made an impact at Skilled Stadium and the players have responded so positively to the tweaks in the game plan and the emphasis placed on defensive responsibility right across the field.

“Every game we play we get a bit more confident and get a bit more used to our systems and structures and playing with each other,” Enright said. “Since Round 1 we have probably improved quite a bit across the board I would say.

“Probably as a group we’ve got better defensively across the ground. We’ve probably defended better each week and tried to work on those things. Our midfield depth has improved over that period, too, with more players going through there and playing different roles and that benefits our team. So I guess our defence and midfield areas are probably the ones that have gained a fair bit of improvement.”

The Cats midfield will be without suspended star Joel Selwood, but there is more than adequate depth to cover for him in what could be a really tough, hard encounter.

That would then indicate another tight finish is on offer, but Geelong continues to come through those close finishes on the right side too often for it to be lucky.

“The more you play in them and the more times you win it gives you a huge amount of confidence and belief that you can win them from any position,” Enright said. “It takes a fair bit for us as a group to stop believing because we’ve been in a number of situations and circumstances where our backs are to the wall and we’ve found a way to push on to the final siren and play the game right out.”