Unfinished business to spur Saints

WHILE inheriting a side that has made consecutive grand finals, new St Mary’s co-coach Glenn Keast knows creating a sustainable environment for years to come is his biggest goal for a group hellbent on taking the next step.

“The whole idea of taking on the job was with the thought that this is a club that’s right in the mix and that’s certainly very exciting from a coaching point of view, getting them to the next level”, said Keast, who takes the role alongside Travis Robertson following Troy Mitchell’s departure.

“We’ll be young, but that’s really why we took the job on — to set it up not just for this year, but in the coming years.”

Keast believes a balance must be struck between bringing new ideas to Anthony Costa Oval while not “losing the natural flair” that helped stun St Joseph’s by 40 points in last year’s semi-final, before Joeys turned the tables in the main event a fortnight later.

“There’s clearly a natural flair on how they want to play historically, and some of those things may have actually contributed to getting the position they’ve got to and not taking it to the next level,” Keast explained, adding work on defence and pressure have made up a big chunk of the Saints’ pre-season.

The big addition of ex-Geelong midfielder Josh Cowan offsets the 27 players on the Saints’ list who are aligned with the VFL and Geelong Falcons, with Keast admitting the Saints “might not see much of” players like Sam Dobson and Jack Blood in 2018.

Keast said managing the Falcons and VFL footballers inclusions on a week-to-week basis would be vital for him and Robertson, with players like silky left-footer Pat Dowling and utility Tom Lang finding themselves aligned with Geelong at VFL level after standout 2017 seasons.

“One of the challenges we’ve got as coaches is how we manage that situation,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure when they do come in to our structure they understand the way we play and do the things we want them to.”