THIS week marks St Kilda's fourth preliminary final in six years, but two of its more senior players don't have to think too hard to remember a time when September football seemed nothing more than a distant dream.The Saints kicked off this decade finishing 16th, 15th and 15th when Lenny Hayes and Nick Riewoldt were just in their football infancy.Speaking in the lead-up to this week's preliminary final against the Bulldogs, both acknowledged that the memory of those dark years made them appreciate the chances they have now."In our first few years the club wasn't all that successful and as a younger player you get tired towards the end of the season and you almost look forward to the end so you can go away and do what young guys do," Riewoldt said."The more experience you have and the longer you spend playing AFL footy, these are the games you want to be involved in. You want to be driving to the MCG for training in preliminary final week and you want to be preparing for these big games."The experiences we've had in our careers – we're in a good position now to capitalise on some of the hard work we've put in. We'll prepare just as we have all year and see where that takes us."With almost a full list to choose from and having suffered just two losses for the year, the Saints' premiership aspirations look as strong as they have ever been.Riewoldt, who on Monday was appointed captain of the All-Australian team, said the Saints were well aware of the opportunity they had."We feel as well prepared as we ever have been. We're as well-prepared as we can be. We've got a fit and healthy list and have studied our opposition really thoroughly and we're looking forward to it," he said.Fellow All-Australian Hayes is among the longest-serving Saints and said he remembered clearly if not fondly the struggles of his first few seasons."Having spent 10 years at the club, in my first couple of years we didn't get to experience September. I got here in '98 and we didn't play finals until '04 I think. You don't take it for granted," he said."A lot of hard work has gone into this season and right from the start of pre-season. To get to this point is really exciting and all the boys are really looking forward to getting out there on Friday night."Hayes is known as one of the AFL's most diligent players and he said it was important to keep the weekly routine the same."To be honest it hasn't been too different to any other week. We've had our normal amount of training sessions. We've just prepared pretty much in the same way we normally do," he said."The ball is going to be bounced Friday night like any other game. We haven't focused too much. We've gone through our normal preparation on the Bulldogs as we do each week."It hasn't been too different to be honest; obviously there's a bit more up for grabs, but at the end of the day it's a game of footy. There hasn't been too much different to any other weeks."