"THIS is a good noise. That's what we want to hear."

Brendon Bolton leans over and whispers the point, while gesturing across the room. Education has been the focus this summer inside St Kilda Football Club, which is why the 41 players sitting inside the theatrette at RSEA Park are all engaged in animated discussions at the same time.

Last Friday marked the final day of the pre-season. It involved a full day of training, weights, treatment, recovery and meetings. Lots of meetings. The Saints were disappointed with how they started the AAMI Community Series game against Port Adelaide six days earlier. They have spent each session since drilling in the learnings, reviewing the review.

St Kilda has dramatically overhauled its list in the past two years, turning over 20 players to complete a transition from the second oldest list in 2021 to enter this year with the fifth youngest list – and fourth least experienced – but the age profile only tells part of the story. They were third youngest until they signed 27-year-old ruckman Harry Boyd from Norwood in January.

Minutes before this meeting started at 8.30 am, baby-faced first-round picks Tobie Travaglia and Alix Tauru are two of the first in the door with notepads and pens – they are mandatory at this club – followed by Lenny Hayes and his sons Hunter and Jacob. St Kilda has an open-door policy when it comes to the children of staff members: they are always welcome.

Before Bolton started his AFL coaching journey at Hawthorn, the former Carlton senior coach was a teacher in Hobart. He hasn't taught in a classroom since he moved to coach Box Hill in the VFL in 2009, but he is never not teaching. It is why he opted to move from Collingwood in October. After a year as interim head of football, the 45-year-old realised he wanted to coach, not stay in operations at the AIA Centre.

There is St Kilda royalty in this room – Robert Harvey, Lenny Hayes and Brendon Goddard – who collected 13 All-Australian selections between them, plus the six blazers Corey Enright amassed across his decorated career at Geelong. But the other former teacher, Damian Carroll, St Kilda’s head of development and learning, is responsible for educating this young group. Carroll, a VFL great in his own right with Springvale, is another former teacher from the Alistair Clarkson era at Waverley Park. Embedding the game plan is part of his portfolio.

"'DC' leads this," new assistant coach Jared Rivers says after the meeting. "If you review Wednesday and do something else on the Thursday you can forget about what you learnt. It's about touching on it again to stimulate the mind. Every time we do educate, the next meeting we review the review. It's a really important part of what we do here."

Ross Lyon has been sitting up the back of the theatrette observing the presentation with staff from the membership team. Each week admin staff rotate through to attend team meetings. He chimes in from time to time, but before the meeting is adjourned, he explains why I am spending a day inside the inner sanctum, before cheekily pointing out that I have been sitting in his seat, much to the amusement of the room.

Ahead of St Kilda's round one trip to face Adelaide at Adelaide Oval, AFL.com.au was invited to spend the final day of the pre-season inside RSEA Park to find out how the Saints have prepared for the 2025 season, following another year of widespread change on Linton Street.

ROSS Lyon was just 39 when he replaced Grant Thomas at the end of 2006. After assistant coaching gigs with Richmond, Carlton and Sydney following his 129-game playing career with Fitzroy and Brisbane, Lyon's first stint at the Saints was widely considered a home run, especially given the financial duress the club was under and the state of Moorabbin at the time.

Back then, St Kilda was ranked bottom four for spending in the football department. Every dollar counted. Lyon had Tony Elshaug, Stephen Silvagni and Leigh Tudor as lieutenants but not much else at his disposal. He did defence, offence, ran training and the game plan.

Things are vastly different this time round. The RSEA Park he walked into when he returned for a second stint in 2022 has levelled the playing field. St Kilda has a deep coaching panel and a football department that is well stocked in every area, from welfare to medical to high performance. Then there is the Danny Frawley Centre.

"I'm not here to make a judgement on prior, but if you talk to the last time I was here, all there was was a playing group, an editing system and coaches. It was a condemned building. I went to Fremantle and was like what is all this? Every player had a laptop, we had 18 coaches, I was like this is crazy, I couldn't believe it. It was excess," Lyon said.

"Neil Craig walked in here when Dave Misson went to Melbourne and said: 'Tell me they didn't do what they did from here'. It was embarrassing. But now we are proud. A lot of people have worked really hard. The environment is probably the one everyone asks about. Look around, see for yourself."

Corey Enright, who has been promoted to St Kilda's head of strategy and game plan over the off-season, opens the door early in the interview to interrupt and says: "We've just lost two – Hugh Boxshall and Liam O'Connell – which leaves us thin on numbers". Lyon and his 2IC quickly devise a plan to cope with the change to match simulation.

At 58, Lyon is far more collaborative than he once was. Extra resources have allowed him to do that, but it has also been a conscious decision to improve harmony inside the building. Last time he was coach, Lyon was the architect of 'The Bubble'. Now everyone contributes, everyone feels a part of the journey.

"We do collaborate more than we once did," Lyon said. "Corey is head of strategy and really works closely with me in linking to the other coaches. The overarching stuff where you need to drive spirit and mindset, you get more time for that.

"For me, personally, when you're spinning all those plates, it was like having two jobs: you're doing all the mechanics but then you've got to do all the relationships. They were big days and you probably end up neglecting a bit at home. This is what I found, when you're in the club you couldn't do your work on the football analysis because the whole philosophy is when someone comes into your office, you can't be on your laptop, you are talking. Then I would do my technical stuff at night after I put the kids to bed, so you're working from 8-12 watching two games of the oppo. I think that's what has changed.

"I think now that all the X's and O's are being collaborated and fed up to you, you don't have to do that at night and you can get to the connection with players and pick them up. As you get closer to round one you can feel the stress and anxiety building with the players. I had a two-hour breakfast with a player yesterday from 8am. We had a poker night the night before and we were all together. You could see I gotta get to you. It was much harder, if not impossible, when you were doing it the other way in the past."

With wily old veterans Graeme Allan and Silvagni in charge of the list management team, St Kilda will continue to pursue free agents and rival stars. They are yet to land the big fish they want to reel in – Finn Callaghan, Zach Merrett and Jordan De Goey all stayed – but Lyon is confident the Saints have created – and are still developing – the right environment to attract top tier talent.

"We've got lots of players that have grown – Nasiah, Mitch, Phillipou, Wilson – if I'm a young player I would look at us and see they are growing and developing there. If you are defining a destination club, that would be the first thing I'm looking for. 'Can I get there and become great and be developed?'" he said.

"Have we got a football program that can help problem solve and develop and all the resources? I'd argue yes. We've got 60,000 members, but we've got a dormant base. If we start winning Marvel is going to be too small for us and we'll be knocking on the door of the AFL, a bit like Carlton. They've got an extra four games this year. We are not the club where if we start winning a lot the crowd won't come; I guarantee Marvel will be packed out if we start winning because I've seen it before.

"The operating environment has changed since I've got here. Ultimately players speak about environment and a lean program; our players have three days off a week in-season. two days post, half day and day before the game; if anyone does more than that I'd like to hear it. So environment, ability to grow and develop you, fan base, passion and financial muscle, we've got all that and some great emerging coaches. As a destination club, if they are the boxes, I think we tick a lot of them. But talk is cheap. I think we've had a spate of signings. The proof is in the pudding."

WHEN Corey Enright called out of the blue in September, Jared Rivers knew he wanted back in. Four years after his time at North Melbourne ended just six months in due to COVID-19 cuts, the 40-year-old was ready to return to the AFL. Richmond had been keeping tabs on him. Melbourne interviewed him for a vacancy. But St Kilda felt right.

Rivers ended his playing career with Enright at Geelong, adding 44 appearances in the hoops to the 150 games he played for Melbourne. After starting his coaching journey at Collingwood, the Kangaroos were the next step in his progression.

The pandemic changed those plans. Rivers ended up coaching Collegians in the amateurs, leading them to the A-Grade premiership in 2023, before stepping back from coaching to focus on his day job as an account manager at TAB Corp. Now he has reunited with Enright and dual Brownlow Medallist Robert Harvey, who he worked closely with at the Magpies.

"The way it all finished at North, it just sat there for a long time," Rivers said. "If I was ever going to get back into it, now is the time to do it. I worked my way up at Collingwood from development to VFL coach, then the North role came up as backs coach, finally got the job I wanted and earned.

"Then six months into a two-year deal it completely crashed, which I didn't see coming. It was a really big shock for my wife and I, with young kids at the time, it was a really tough time.

"I probably got the passion back for it when I was coaching at Collegians because you are so hands on – they just love their footy – you get to really teach it and coach it the way you want to. Then to win it was really rewarding. I felt like I got that real drive back for coaching, which I didn't think I would after North. I just wanted to see how I would go and if I didn't love it I would have moved on to the next chapter.

"My wife has been really supportive. She works full-time as well, which is a challenge with three young kids, but she knew I still had the passion for it."

It wasn't always this way, but collaboration is critical under Lyon. He was overseas when Rivers was appointed, delegating the task to Enright and Misson. Rivers oversees the defence at Moorabbin, which starts the season without Dougal Howard, six months after losing Josh Battle to free agency.

"Coming in, I've definitely felt that collaboration focus," Rivers said. "It's probably one of Ross' big things: we just all want to be on the same page and understand what we're trying to do. With that, you need everyone to buy in and understand what your role is.

"We've got a young group, so the education side of it with the playing group has been really consistent throughout the whole pre-season. We give the boys a lot, but they seem to let it sink in and take it day by day. I feel like everyone is in synch. Clearly Ross gives you your role and wants you to execute."

THE LOSS of Josh Battle stung St Kilda into action last off-season. The Saints were well remunerated in terms of free agency compensation – they used that pick to select Gippsland Power defender Alix Tauru at No. 10 last November – but they still thoroughly reviewed the factors behind the defender's decision to move to Hawthorn.

David Misson, who returned at the end of 2022 for a second stint at St Kilda, this time as general manager of football after previously working under Lyon as fitness boss during the 2009/10 era, was involved in making changes to how the club interacts with families to improve the connectivity of the club. They have mapped out the entire year for post-game functions and events. They now have a matchday concierge for parents and families to liaise with in the Rogers Room at Marvel Stadium.

"We felt at the end of last season that we needed to bring the stakeholders that are really close to us more on the journey," Misson said as he observes the rehab group on the far side of RSEA Park. Mitch Owens is racing the clock to play in round one after injuring his shoulder, but will ultimately fall just short.

"With partners and families, we've made some big changes there about engaging with them a lot more, making the matchday experience more enjoyable, more accessible. We are calling it our club connection program, dialing into that and added some resources."

THEY call it the 'Four Pillars' meeting at Moorabbin. It involves the four key leaders at the club – Andrew Bassat, Carl Dilena, Ross Lyon and David Misson – and is held on a regular basis at RSEA Park. St Kilda hasn't always been aligned from one end of the building to the other, but they are determined to all row in the same direction now.

"It has been a focus and it is a core part of the strategy we've been developing. We've been putting together a five-year strategy for the club and Ross and 'Misso' and 'AB' and I are all on the same page about this one-club mindset," Dilena said.

"We specifically have, what we call, the four pillars meeting, so we are aligned on what we are doing and where we are heading, what the issues are, checking to see if we are on the same page.

"I think Ross is keen on knowing where we are going as a broader club, as well. He is big on high performance, so he likes to see the whole club being high performance, as do I. There has been such a focus put on it, and it's a core pillar within our stategy and we really want to get that right. Communication is important in understanding what we need to do."

Amid all the changes that occurred in the 2022 off-season, Dilena's return to clubland went under the radar. Simon Lethlean hired him as chief operating officer three years after he departed North Melbourne, following 12 years as a board member as well as seven years as managing director and CEO at Arden Street.

By the start of 2024, the board had moved Dilena to interim CEO and then appointed him to the role full-time by May, which is why he is sitting in the main office, overlooking the consumer operations and partnerships departments on the Linton Street side of RSEA Park, answering questions about St Kilda's vision.

"The overall philosophy around creating a high performing environment – a premiership club in terms of not just silverware, but being one of the best clubs in the competition – and that's where Ross and I would like to get the club from an on-field and off-field perspective. That's a massive focus," Dilena said.

"We have very simple objectives: we want to win a premiership like any club, we want to expand and grow our membership base to 100,000 members, and move from being $6m in debt to having a $10m future fund. They are the simple pillars we are aiming for. There is a lot to be done, but everyone is pulling in the same direction it makes a massive difference."

St Kilda will play 13 times at Marvel Stadium this year – two are away fixtures – and only twice at the MCG – round nine home against Carlton and round 22 away against Richmond. They want more exposure to the MCG, which Bassat has publicly requested. Dilena knows how much that will help the bottom line, but understands the club must perform better and bring more fans to the stands if they are going to get those games.

"We would love more marquee slots, but we have to earn them. I'd like to see us as a club that really becomes an exciting team to watch, drawing bigger crowds, earning the right," Dilena said.

"There is the equity piece in the competition where there are a group of clubs that helped fund the competition in the early days going way back with the stadium at Docklands. There was a period there where the clubs were pretty much sent broke playing there. It was a real disadvantage. The AFL has done a lot to change the economics over time, but there is nothing that beats 70 or 80,000 at the MCG. You can't get those returns at Marvel.

"What we'd like is more games at the MCG – we want to be a bigger club – but it goes hand in hand with performing well as team and exposure on the big stage, getting lots of fans in and playing in front of big crowds. That's what we would really like."

JACK Macrae didn't expect to be sitting on this balcony eating lunch at this football club this time last year. But nothing lasts forever. The three-time All-Australian hadn't played in the VFL since 2015 – and had only played six times at that level since being drafted at pick No. 6 in 2012 – but found himself playing for Footscray three times in 2024 around four games as the sub for the Western Bulldogs, including the elimination final loss to Hawthorn in September.

Despite his history at the Whitten Oval – 249 games, 2016 premiership medal, 2021 Gary Ayres Medal, four times in the top three in Charles Sutton Medal – Macrae knew he had to move clubs or risk withering on the vine. He found himself in foreign terrain in 2024, but rather than spit the dummy, Macrae copped it on the chin, just like Caleb Daniel, exiting with grace to retain his status as a modern great of the club.

"It was challenging. I was pretty fortunate that I had good security with my contract, so I wasn't too stressed from that point of view, but at the same time, it was foreign to me. For the first time in 12 years I wasn't picked in the team," Macrae said.

"I still loved coming into the club in the weeks I was playing twos because the environment was so good to be around. It's easy to get caught up in 'woe is me', but I tried to keep good perspective on the bigger picture. I've been very fortunate in my career.

"I just tried to be a good teammate. It was helpful having Caleb. We were in similar situations, so we leant on each other a lot. He played a big chunk of VFL in the middle part of the year and to see how he handled it really set the tone for me.

"I was always taught growing up to judge people's character during the hard times. In any footy career, there are going to be ups and downs. I really tried to show my character when things weren't going well. People look at that even more so when you're not playing well. I was really proud of the way I handled last year, but in saying that, it was easier because of how I saw the way Caleb handled it. I respect the way people go about it when things don't go well. I left the club with no bad blood or anything."

Macrae hasn't put a foot wrong since walking inside RSEA Park in October, completing the full pre-season program under the Saints' high performance boss Alex Sakadjian. The Carey Grammar product has thrived back on the inside – he collected 32 disposals, 16 contested possessions and seven clearances in the AAMI Community Series – after attending only 12 per cent of centre bounces in 2024, down from 36 per cent in 2023, and well below the 77 per cent he attended in 2021.

"It's funny when you get to my age, it creeps up on you at 30. You are in your prime then one year later you are getting on and it can change really quickly. I felt like I could get back to my strengths here, I wouldn't have made that move if I didn't feel I could still play A-Grade level," Macrae said.

"It has freshened me up personally. I didn’t leave the Dogs because I wasn't still loving footy, even through hard times last year I was still loving coming in. it has been really invigorating meeting new people, having new experiences, helping younger boys. I have enjoyed it so much."

Macrae turns 31 in August and is one of the oldest players at St Kilda, behind Jimmy Webster, Brad Hill and Mason Wood. The latter stops by the media department after lunch for a chat. Five years after being delisted by North Melbourne, Wood is now one of the most impactful people inside RSEA Park, which is why he has a contract through until 2027.

The consummate professional has been hosting draftees for years, teaching them how to eat, recover and prepare to train and play. Wood has had a profound impact on Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera's development. Now he is teaching Alix Tauru what to eat – and more importantly, what not to eat – as well as Liam O'Connell, who will become the next Irishman to play in the AFL on Sunday. The group live in the house of a former Saint, who recently moved to Perth to coach one of the biggest clubs in the country. 

"SENIOR coaching takes grown men to places they should never go."

THIS year marks 30 years since Ross Lyon had to call time on his playing career prematurely due to a knee injury. He had one hip replaced at the end of 2023 and needs the other side done. Aside from that, the veteran tactician feels reinvigorated ahead of 16th season as a senior coach. 

Despite 352 games of senior coaching experience – he has a winning percentage of 56.4 per cent – and a new contract that will take him into his 60s when it expires in 2027, Lyon still wakes up on game day feeling crook in the guts, but that is the price of admission in a sport where only 18 men at one time have this coveted title.

"It is a privileged position. Where else on the planet can you get this experience? You can't buy this job, right. I'm surrounded by successful, high net-worth guys that are fantastic in backing the club, but at the end of the day, you can be president or this and that, but you can't buy your way into this seat," Lyon said.

"I remember running off Grand Final day after the anthem and there were 100,000 people chanting and I was like wow. You just can't buy that. And the privilege of working with great teams and great players up close, they are inspirational. I wish I could do what they do. The game day feeling sick, where else do you go to work feeling sick as you walk through the door? You are alive, all your senses are alive. Where else are you assessed within an inch of your life by the fifth estate?

"I've loved it, but still driving for a flag and driven to build the foundations here. But I don't think it's for everyone – and I don't think everyone can handle it – but I don't think you really know until you do it. And as Rod Butters said, which is my favourite quote of all time: 'Senior coaching takes grown men to places they should never go'. That is my absolute favourite quote.”

There is still only one premiership cup sitting inside the museum at RSEA Park, as you pass on the way to the club's training and administration base. Allan Jeans remains St Kilda's only premiership coach. Lyon came close, not once, but twice. He may not be as close right now, but he appears to have St Kilda on the right track again.