Boom recruit Brad Hill starred and Jack Lonie kicked four goals as St Kilda completed an unbeaten AFL pre-season series with an 11-point win over Collingwood.
Trade period acquisitions Hill, Zak Jones and Dan Butler all played important roles in the Saints’ 10.8 (68) to 9.3 (57) victory at Morwell at Sunday.
The strong performance helped fuel belief amongst an expectant supporter base going into the 2020 season under Brett Ratten.
Ex-Fremantle wingman Hill had 28 disposals, while Jack Steele (25) and Ben Long (24) also impressed.
Lonie kicked four goals for the second successive game, with former Richmond forward Butler adding two.
Dan Hannebery had 18 disposals and a goal to set himself up for a much better start to the year than he had in an injury-riddled 2019 and Dylan Roberton, who missed all of last season because of a heart concern, did well again with 16 disposals.
Talented teenager Max King impressed early with several strong marks and a goal, but finished with only seven disposals.
A relatively dour contest came to life in the final term as the Saints outscored Collingwood four goals to three to seal the win.
“There are a few errors early in pre-season but I thought our pressure was pretty good throughout the game,” Hill told Fox Footy post-match.
“Especially in the third quarter and even in the last quarter, the last couple of minutes we wanted to seal the game.
“You practise those things throughout pre-season, getting extra numbers back and keep things close at stoppages, and I thought we did that well.”
Jordan De Goey gave Collingwood fans a taste of what to expect from him in a new midfield role.
He started both halves in the centre square and spent most of his time in the engine room, gathering 18 disposals.
De Goey also ran hard to have multiple involvements in a smooth possession chain during the third quarter and finish it with a goal.
The impressive display followed Magpies coach Nathan Buckley’s suggestion that De Goey – the club’s most prolific goal kicker in the past two seasons with 82 from 38 games – could spend much more time on-ball in 2020.
He might need to early in the season after Collingwood lost Taylor Adams to an apparent groin injury minutes before half-time.
Adams was kept on the sidelines after the main break as a precaution, while Adam Treloar (hamstring) was already out of action and faces a race against time to be fit for round one.
Magpies captain Scott Pendlebury was also rested for the second half.
Steele Sidebottom was amongst Collingwood’s best contributors with 25 possessions and two goals.