WHEN Luke Penny unexpectedly retired days after the 2005 draft, St Kilda fans wondered where their next tall defender was going to come from.

But it seemed the Saints, recognising the need for a big backman, had already picked out Penny’s replacement.

With the club's first selection in that draft, recruiting manager John Beveridge chose Sam Gilbert – a 194cm hopeful from Southport in Queensland.

Gilbert was far from the traditional key position type. Weighing just 84kgs, he didn’t have the build to match it against the gorilla forwards of the AFL and, instead, graduated as one of the Saints’ best running defenders.

Now, after a couple of seasons in the system, Gilbert has added eight kilograms and is comfortable with retaining the role he made his niche.

Just as long as coach Ross Lyon is happy.

"At the moment I'm just happy to play wherever they want me to play. If they give me a game I'll keep doing whatever they want," Gilbert said.

"In the long run I'd love to be the one who can run around a bit but, if the team wants me to play on the tall forward, then I’ll do that."

Gilbert only played two games in his first season, where his most memorable feat was accidentally breaking teammate Matt Maguire’s leg against West Coast.

Last year he emerged as one of the Saints’ most exciting young talents, playing 18 games and winning fans with his goose-stepping and hard tackling that he learnt as a junior rugby league player.

The 22-year-old says some of his rugby league skills have merged nicely with his football career and recommends AFL clubs incorporate training from other codes.

"Coming from rugby league it is a similar game in some ways. Tackling is one of the main parts of it," he said.

Gilbert is returning to to top form towards the end of a frustrating season that saw him sidelined for seven weeks with a shoulder injury.

He says the injury was a bigger setback than he thought it would be.

"I didn’t think it would [be hard to get back to form]. When you do a shoulder you can still do a lot of running and outside activity," he said.

"I thought it would be easy to come straight back in but it is a lot harder than you’d think."

Having grown up near the New South Wales-Queensland border, Gilbert’s name is sure to be floated when the new Gold Coast team starts looking for recruits.

But he has no intention of moving back.

"Not at all," Gilbert said. "The boys have joked around about it but I couldn’t see myself going there so I’m not too worried about it.

"I’m very happily settled in Melbourne."