ST KILDA coach Alan Richardson has hinted his team is preparing to be aggressive in the upcoming trade period as it looks to graduate from the rebuilding phase.
The Saints will watch from the sidelines in September for the sixth-straight season after Sunday's results went against them, on top of their own 41-point loss to Richmond at the MCG.
St Kilda's 11 wins were one fewer than last year's tally, a disappointing outcome after many expected the men from Seaford to post a breakthrough campaign.
But Richardson was encouraged at the individual improvement of the likes of Jade Gresham – who kicked a career-high five goals on Sunday – Jack Billings, Tim Membrey, Billy Longer, Jimmy Webster, Blake Acres and Jack Sinclair.
More intriguingly, he highlighted how well inside midfielder Koby Stevens and key defenders Nathan Brown and Jake Carlisle had fitted into the group after crossing from rival clubs.
"We've got two relatively early selections in the draft and we'll make decisions to try and improve our list," Richardson said.
"You've only got to look at the three footy clubs that are often contending – that is Hawthorn, Sydney and Geelong – and how aggressive they've been for a long time now (in recruiting), and we're in that space.
"We need to improve with our personnel … then look to bolster from a list perspective."
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Richmond's Dustin Martin, Giant Josh Kelly and Adelaide's Jake Lever head the out-of-contract market, with the first two players linked to the Saints throughout the season.
"We're looking to add quality players. I won't go into individual names, but the two (Martin and Kelly) you mentioned are outstanding players," Richardson said.
"We think our recruiting staff has done a really good job, in terms of bringing in great people and some great players, but we've still got a bit of work to do.
"So that's the calibre of player and it's hard to get in who you want, but our club is committed to doing whatever we can to try and get good people to our club. Now that could be through the national draft (or) it might be through trade."
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Leigh Montagna's future looks likely to be decided by week's end, with the 33-year-old missing the last five rounds because of a hamstring injury. Champion forward Nick Riewoldt played his last game on Sunday.
"There's still a bit of work to do on that one. We'll get into that this week," Richardson said of 287-gamer Montagna.
"But I mentioned earlier in the week that we'd park that. Joey was certainly not in a rush; there are ongoing conversations about what it might look like.
"It'd be fair to say Joey's had a bit of time to think about what it might look like, but we're not quite there yet … I won't go into any details, but we reckon it'll be clearer for our fans later in the week."
