FOR THE second week running, St Kilda coach Alan Richardson has praised his players for adhering to their pre-season goal of being tough and hard at the contest.
The Saints won their second straight game on Saturday, which leaves them unbeaten and well in front of where the critics suggested they might have been entering round three.
The seven-point win over Greater Western Sydney at Etihad Stadium had to be ground out in a similar way to last week's 17-point win over Melbourne.
They had to fight back from a 20-point deficit in the third quarter and were inspired by another vintage performance from captain Nick Riewoldt and David Armitage's work in the middle.
After being thrashed by the Giants in a pre-season game in Wagga on March 1, Richardson said the fact the Saints won both the contested ball (147 to 141) and the tackles (75 to 69) was another example of how they've stuck to their goals.
"The gist of the message afterwards to the guys was character, (and) hanging in there," Richardson said.
"We thought our ability to continue to come and be aggressive and hit forward hard was as good as we've done, and as good a team defence as we've had all year.
"The guys have embraced everything we've asked of them and the significant focus has been about pressure, about winning your own footy and about being able to buy in and jump on board in terms of defending and supporting our backs.
"We thought we were tough. While they still had opportunity, the pressure we were able to put on the ball that gave our defenders real opportunity against quality forwards was really successful for us on the day."
Riewoldt's leadership and pressure, along with his five goals, Armitage's contested work, Eli Templeton's composure and Lenny Hayes' toughness were highlights for the first-year coach.
It was also hard for him to ignore the performance of ruckman Tom Hickey, who kicked a career-high three goals and was excellent around the ground despite being pitted against the hulking pair of Shane Mumford and Jonathan Giles.
Hickey, who set himself the pre-season challenge of becoming the club's No.1 ruckman after the departure of Ben McEvoy, said he knew he had to get the former Sydney Swans big man moving if he was to make a difference.
"There's not too much of me and Mumford is probably 120kg so I knew coming into it, one thing I wanted to work on was spreading him because he likes to get back and help the defence," Hickey said.
"So, [I tried] to make him a bit more accountable and also to try and get him moving because if he stands still, there's no one who can move him.
"I tried to run him around a bit and get him on the outside."
Hickey had the bottom of his foot treated in the second half and appeared limited in the fourth quarter but said he expected it to be fine.
He also said there was "healthy competition" within the young ruck brigade with Richardson employing a tough selection regime across the whole team.
"By no means are either me or Rhys [Stanley] safe in the ruck because Billy [Longer] played last week [in the VFL] and played super and I assume he's playing well again today," he said.
"It's good because we've got healthy competition for spots and Richo is pretty big on if you play well you're in the team and if you don't you're out so it keeps us honest."
Richardson said Sam Gilbert rolled his ankle in the third quarter after it was initially thought his pre-season fracture site had flared up.
The defender was able to finish the game while Beau Maister and Jarryn Geary were treated for cuts to the head.
