With a freakish goal sense, Milne has proved a match winner in attack for the Saints; rewind to round 22, 2005 when he kicked 11 goals without a blemish against the Brisbane Lions.
But on the flip side, it is not uncommon to see Milne take a mark, run around, get caught and turn the ball over.
There was plenty of play and miss for the 28-year-old in Friday’s win over Essendon.
Several crucial errors in the third quarter had coach Ross Lyon screaming down the phone, but Milne made amends early in the fourth quarter when he kicked two goals to snuff out any chance of an Essendon victory.
Milne admits his first instinct is to play on even when it is not the best option.
"I always do it but it’s never too late to change and I’ve really got to get it out of my game," he said after the game. "A couple of times there were crucial parts where I stuffed the kick or played on when I should have held it up.
"I’ve really got to work on it and the coach was pretty angry because I should have held it up."
Milne says he doesn’t have an aversion to the set shot but sometimes the urge to run around and kick a fancy snap is too great to pass up.
"I kick them [set shots] at training and before the last few games I’ve been hitting them alright… I’m not sure why I play on, maybe I feel a little more comfortable but I feel pretty comfortable having a set shot," he said.
"I’m normally a good kick but I’ve got to nail those ones."
After the match, Lyon confirmed he had dragged his small forward because of a lack of accountable football.
"He was reasonable," the coach said of Milne. "I thought at times he slaughtered the footy in the third quarter, played on blindly and turned it over a bit.
"I took him off because he’d been playing on blindly."
Milne was part of a revised forward line on Friday night, one that didn’t feature dual Coleman medallist Fraser Gehrig.
But he says it will not be long until Gehrig returns to work in harmony with fellow tall forwards Nick Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke.
"It always feels different when the G-train isn’t back there but hopefully he can squeeze back into the side," Milne said.
"There is room for him there, especially if Kosi’s (Justin Koschitzke) going to play ruck. Tonight didn’t go his way but hopefully he can squeeze his way back in and start kicking a few bags."
