EVERY strugglingAFL club now wistfully looks at Port Adelaide's 2013 season and thinks "ifonly ..."
St Kilda coach AlanRichardson was the Power's director of coaching when they dramaticallytransformed from a 14th-placed rabble to fifth-placed boom team.
This year, Portshould challenge for the flag.
Last year, theSaints finished bottom for the first time since 2000.
Richardson admitsto reminding his players once or twice in this pre-season about what happenedat Port.
And much moreimportantly, how it happened.
"As a coach,there's a lot of storytelling that happens - and I don't mean you're making upstories," Richardson said.
"You'recertainly referring back to some of your experiences so that you can reallymake the message stick.
"I haven't labouredthe point, but I've spoken about the attitude of the group at Port Adelaide.
"Clearly, whatdid happen was there was a playing group over there that rolled their sleevesup and worked their backsides off and wanted to do something about thesituation that they and their footy club found themselves in."
There are obviousdifferences between the Port of two years ago and St Kilda's current scenario.
Most glaringly, thePower had a much more balanced playing list and nothing of the Saints' blackhole between the veterans and youngsters.
Regardless of thecircumstances, Richardson keeps coming back to two words - hard work.
Under Richardsonand his predecessor Scott Watters, St Kilda has had the right outlook of smartdrafting and putting as many games into those kids as possible.
No.1 draft pickPaddy McCartin and defender Hugh Goddard lead the latest crop.
St Kilda showedsigns of life last year, but all too rarely.
There was nocontinuity in the team as it went through 42 players.
There has also beena rash of hamstring injuries in the pre-season, with Farren Ray and Seb Ross to miss big chunks of games.
But whateverhappens, Richardson will demand greater consistency of effort from those whoare playing.
"Theconversations have gone along the lines of, 'if you can do it, you can doit'," Richardson said of their pre-season.
"And that'sled onto 'if you're good enough, you're old enough'."
In the past threeyears, they have lost Lenny Hayes to retirement, plus Nick Dal Santo andBrendon Goddard to free agency.
Any team wouldsuffer losing a trio of that calibre.
It puts even moreemphasis on the few veterans who are left, such as captain Nick Riewoldt, LeighMontagna and Sam Fisher.
It cannot have beeneasy for players who went so close to at least one premiership in 2009-10.
In the blink of aneye, their focus has had to become about leaving the right legacy at theSaints.
"Certainlythere are no conversations that we spend on what's happened in the past and'woe is me'," Richardson said.
The coach also admitsto being careful about the season's targets.
"It's moreabout the way we want to play and what it means to become a consistentperformer," he said.
"As opposedto, 'righto boys, out we go and we're aiming to win X amount of games'.
"It's not whatthis group needs.
"Having saidthat - playing to win - that certainly doesn't get left behind."
