Former Wangaratta Rovers young gun Darcy Wilson has exceeded expectations in his first year at St Kilda according to coach Ross Lyon.
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As the Saints and Western Bulldogs head into Thursday night's clash at Marvel Stadium with stuttering 2-3 records, it is youngsters such as Wilson which give Lyon great encouragement that his club is on the right track.
One of Wilson's main mentors at St Kilda is assistant coach Robert Harvey, the two-time Brownlow Medallist who built his game on exceptional fitness and endurance.
"He's probably exceeded for a first-year player. He's an incredible young player for running capacity," Lyon said of Wilson, who was an 800m runner.
"He has plenty to work on, he's still building his contest, understanding team defence, attack.
"We're thrilled to have him.
"There's a lot of joy for our supporters ... if you're a Saints fan and you see those young players, that's the joy and excitement."
The No.18 pick in last year's draft has made an eye-catching debut, playing in all five Saints games this season.
Wilson has had his moments - a blind handball that went astray, and a crunching tackle from Richmond opponent Maurice Rioli - but he has also shown excellent endurance.
His football nous also stood out during the frenetic last quarter of the Saints' win over Richmond two weekends ago at Norwood Oval, when Wilson had a couple of big moments in defence.
This week, however, St Kilda is coming off a one-point loss to GWS where they fought back from a five-goal deficit.
"You can lose going backwards or lose going forwards. We know where we're headed, we know what challenges we have," Lyon said.
"But we want to win - we want to win, baby.
"We're all a little bit frustrated, but I think there are a number of teams in that same boat.
"We want to be brave emotionally from the start, we don't want to be a 'come from five goals down' team and have an honourable loss, because it's not brave enough."
The Saints have lost Max King to a knee injury, while there is plenty of pressure on the Bulldogs and coach Luke Beveridge.
The Bulldogs somehow lost to Geelong, before underdogs Essendon upset them last week.
Just as the Saints will miss King, the Bulldogs will be without star midfielder Tom Liberatore, who is undergoing further tests after his dramatic collapse late in the Essendon game.
