THERE must have been times during the season when former Swan Adam Schneider doubted his football antennae.
The player dubbed 'Schneider-man' during his time in Sydney came to St Kilda with the expectation of growing as a footballer with a team he believed was on the highway to success.
But several weeks ago, and with the season sitting at 5-7, even the most devout Saints fan would have started to question Schneider's foresight. Four wins later, and the pacy forward's crystal ball seems to be in perfect working order.
"No, it was all excitement," Schneider said when asked if his off-season move south held any trepidation for him.
"I chose to do it to further my football, and I saw the opportunity for this team to have success because I think the list is great and has some very talented players.
"The boys have been fantastic, they've welcomed me with no worries and definitely made me feel more comfortable".
Not everyone in football's Mecca was so accommodating. Patchy form from the Saints brought with it plenty of scrutiny from a media that had talked up the side pre-season. The attention was something Schneider was not used to.
"One thing I have noticed down here is the difference in the media," he said. "You know, you open the paper and there's eight pages of AFL, where I'm used to having one or two. I guess everyone's entitled to their own opinion but it's definitely one difference I've noticed."
The rocky start coincided with personal frustrations for Schneider, who has missed groups of games twice due to injury. His latest return, against Hawthorn last Saturday night, could not have come at a better time.
The versatile left-footer gathered 19 disposals, two goals and two goal-assists in St Kilda's impressive win; undoubtedly its best of the season. But according to Schneider the form that saw the Saints stage a 10-goal turnaround against its highly-fancied opposition has not yet peaked.
"We still believe we've got a lot of improvement to go, especially after the weekend. For us it's all a positive thing, knowing we haven't played at our absolute best yet – it's a great opportunity for us to build on it this week."
Known predominantly as a goalscorer with the Swans, Schneider says he is enjoying a more expansive role in the red, white and black guernsey. Nevertheless, he is in no doubt as to what he is expected to bring to the team.
"The main role is probably forward and occasionally to sneak into the midfield or have a little bit of a run up and down the ground," he said.
"It's just a bit more of an opportunity to get involved in the midfield – I know there's no chance of getting a permanent role in there with blokes like (Nick) Dal Santo and (Lenny) Hayes and (Robert) Harvey and (Luke) Ball."
This week, St Kilda travels to Subiaco to take on a West Coast team down on personnel and form. But Schneider, who puts the Saints' improvement down to 'clicking' as a team as opposed to any change in game plan, says there is no danger that the Eagles will be taken lightly.
"That's one thing we've focused on this week: to make sure we don't go in casually. When you do that, it can work against you. We do know West Coast is a good side; especially at home, they're an even better side. You've got to respect them -- they've been in two grand finals the past three years and they've got a lot of premiership players there."
