Once their AFL premiership window clunked shut, St Kilda needed a renovation.

There’s too big a hole in the middle of their playing list, in between the core group of veterans at one end and a lot of kids at the other.

The gap is understandable – the Saints went so close to an elusive second premiership in 2009 and 2010.

They bet the house and it nearly came off.

But now St Kilda are living with the reality that renovations always make a mess.

Brendon Goddard left under free agency, Jason Gram was sacked for off-field issues and Jamie Cripps returned to WA.

St Kilda being St Kilda, there were other dramas as well – Lenny Hayes, their heart and soul, needed heart surgery and Sam Fisher was the subject of speculation about his social life.

But there’s also a lot to like about this fix-up job, because the recently-appointed master builder gives every indication he knows what he’s doing.

While the Saints missed the finals in 2012 for the first time in five years, new coach Scott Watters did a lot right.

His focus was on developing the youngsters as quickly as possible and he knows that has to stay the priority for the time being.

“Measured and methodical is how we’d like to be described,” Watters told AAP.

He chuckles when it’s noted those words could also sum him up.

“All I know is there are no shortcuts in this game,” he replied.

“So set a path, stick to the path and stay focussed.

“Is there pain ahead? I think there’s exciting times ahead and part of that excitement is that there will be challenges thrown at this group as it evolves.”

While losing Goddard and Gram was especially painful, their departures reflected a bull-headed determination that the Saints would stick to their guns.

“We made some tough decisions at the end of last year,” Watters said.

“Some of them are salary cap-based decisions and some of them were decisions on our values and what we wanted to stand for as a football club.

“Sometimes when you make those decisions, there can be some short-term pain.

“But we have a very clear strategy and pathway on where we want to be and what we want to move towards.”

None of this guarantees the plan will work – history shows that no-one can stuff up quite like the Saints – but early signs of the Watters era are encouraging.

Tom Hickey and Tom Lee are new recruits with long-term potential, while Jack Steven leads an emerging group of players.

Watters is rapt with Bill Davoren, who joined as their high performance manager and organised a successful pre-season trip to Colorado.

During that pre-Christmas trip, Watters met with his senior players – the likes of captain Nick Riewoldt, Hayes, Stephen Milne, Fisher, Jason Blake, Nick Dal Santo and Leigh Montagna.

They know their time is coming and their chance of winning a flag has probably passed.

But Watters’ building plan is big on making the most of heritage features.

“The meeting was really pivotal to re-setting the challenge again for that group,” Watters said.

“They’ve attacked this pre-season in a very, very aggressive fashion.

“They’re proud performers, so they’re relishing being written off and they’re certainly looking forward to what’s in front of them.”