St Kilda's mix of recent first round draft picks in Mattaes Phillipou, Alix Tauru and Tobie Travaglia have been put under the microscope for an apparent lack of development this season.
The club paid a high price to secure Phillipou (pick 10, 2022), Tauru (pick 10, 2024) and Travaglia (pick eight, 2024) in recent drafts and has copped flack for the incremental progress each player seems to be making.
It feels an unfair assessment on the latter two given it's their second season at the level, but the impact and performances from Fremantle young gun Murphy Reid who was taken with pick 17 in the same draft, rightly or wrongly has put pressure on the Saints pair.
Speaking on the Saints TV podcast, former St Kilda legend and current VFL coach Brendon Goddard said he is confident and happy with how the pair have been progressing.
"Alix Tauru and I get along really well," Goddard told Saints TV.
"I'm his duty of care group. He is a great young man. Just young naive, eyes wide open. He is an incredible athlete.
"Obviously, has to change the way he plays a bit (currently serving a four-game ban) but that's the way he has played his whole life. As a junior he actually got injured a lot because of what you have seen at AFL and the VFL stuff as well with his attack on the ball and stuff.
"I work with Tobie and he is different again. A bit like me he is an over-thinker. Trains really hard.
"He has floated wing early days, half-back and then he's been inside and then for a while there we thought wing is his best position, but no then it's half-back.
"Over the last five or six weeks where he has been progressing really well is predominantly played at half-back for the first two quarters and then gone as an inside mid for the second half at VFL level. One, he is trying to figure it out and so are we, but also to give him exposure in both areas because he has got strength in his athletic ability which can shine in both."
Phillipou is another young Saint who has been criticised at points this season, but after a two-week stint in the VFL under Goddard, the 21-year-old produced his best performance at AFL level in 2026.
He registered a season-high 25 disposals, one goal assist, seven score involvements, four clearances and four tackles against Essendon.
Goddard said Phillipou was mature and understood the motives for dropping him to the VFL after Round 13.
"Not only this time around but last year his attitude was incredible going back (to the VFL)," he said.
"He has got pretty good self-awareness for a young man. He knew he was battling a bit in the last month of AFL footy. Even chatting to his mum in the Sydney game, they had been talking about it as a family and Mattaes is in those conversations.
"You use the word 'patient' a lot with first years but they don't want to hear it. Kids these days are more so in a hurry to do everything and they just want things now.
"He was like, 'No, I want to be an AFL midfielder and I am willing to do whatever it takes'.
"In his words, when he comes back to VFL, he actually feels less pressure to perform and there's less pressure on him, so he is allowed to go out there and play freely and instinctively. Which we saw two weeks ago in particular against the (Footscray) Bulldogs, he was outstanding.
"I only saw the backend of the game (yesterday) because of our VFL game, but he looked like a completely different player to what we saw four or five weeks ago in the AFL.
"Two weeks in the VFL has made a massive difference to him."
