AFTER a spate of slow starts, St Kilda will this week call upon its leaders to ensure the players don't wait for Hawthorn to make the first move on Sunday at Etihad Stadium.

The Saints are set for their biggest test this season against last year's premiers, and will enter the game with momentum having staged a brave comeback last week to beat the Brisbane Lions.

But they'll have to ensure their first quarter is better than it has been in the past six weeks, with the Saints last winning an opening term back in round four against Carlton.

"We've had some pretty good starts this year but the last couple of weeks have been a bit tardy," Richardson said on Thursday. 

"We've just been a little bit conservative.

"We've almost waited for the opposition to throw the first punch; it's as if we've gone out there not wanting to lose, as opposed to playing to win. 

"The players (have) acknowledged we can be much stronger in certain areas early.

"It's everyone's responsibility and leaders need to set great examples.

"They have no illusions about their responsibility to make sure they're strong and set great examples but we need everyone to jump on board."

Richardson said David Armitage and Jack Steven – who will play his 100th game this Sunday – had been strong in setting an example for the team's younger players in their recent fightbacks.

The Saints will need to make at least two changes to last week's team with Maverick Weller suspended for one game and Daniel McKenzie still suffering the after effects of a concussion.

Seb Ross, Tom Curren and Farren Ray are in the mix, while Sam Gilbert played 80 per cent of a VFL game last week but is likely to need another before being considered for senior selection. 

Richardson said they wouldn't draw on last season's 145-point loss to Hawthorn, because that had been labelled a "footy audit" where they were taught a significant lesson.

With the players now into their second year under his tutelage, much has changed about the way they're going about things.

"There's a lot of new players in our team, we're playing a different way and our game plan has evolved," he said.

"We're defending a bit differently, we're looking to move the ball a bit differently and we've got different players in the team so there's been no reference at all to the last time we played."

However, they have revisited the 106-point loss to the Hawks in the final round of this year's NAB Challenge, where a Nick Riewoldt-less line-up faced a team featuring 18 members of last year's premiership side.

Richardson said they would consider learnings from that March encounter but wouldn't allow it to compromise what they were trying to achieve on-field regardless of the opponent.

"We've looked at it from a coaching group, we've been through our opposition presentation this morning, we've looked at it when Hawthorn are at their best this year and when opposition has been able to have some success," he said.

"Most of what we do on game day is all about us and what this week presents for us is an opportunity to be really strong again in the areas that are important to us.

"That's the way we attack and defend as a group against a very, very good footy team and that's something we're looking forward to."