Alan Richardson says older St Kilda players to become more important as Saints" list continues transition Sam Edmund November 23, 2014 7:01PM Pick Me for AFL Draft: Christian Petracca 2:01 Sport/AFL/Previews & Reviews St Kilda coach Alan Richardson. Photo Sarah Reed Source: News Corp Australia ST KILDA coach Alan Richardson has stressed the increased importance of the club's dwindling group of veterans, with the Saints to be even younger in 2015. The retirement of club great Lenny Hayes and the off-loading of experienced pair Clint Jones and James Gwilt will further expose a youthful underbelly 12 months after Nick Dal Santo and Ben McEvoy were traded. Richardson yesterday said the likes of Nick Riewoldt and Leigh Montagna were more crucial than ever. "As long as they have the appetite and the want to do everything that is required at AFL level ... they're invaluable those sort of guys," Richardson said. For those guys to be out there when we are so young and so inexperienced is vital. We're certainly going to be younger again. St Kilda coach Alan Richardson has returned to training with the Saints" 1-4 year players ... and there's a lot of them. Picture: Jason Sammon Source: News Corp Australia Richardson felt it was important to address his older players over the evolution of the side. There can be some unease with the more experienced guys. They can think: "What does it mean for me? Am I not going to get a gig? Are we purely going to play young blokes?" he said. In fact, it couldn't be further from the truth and in many ways they become more important because we can't be too young. We need to make sure we've got some wise hands and big bodies and some blokes that have been around the traps for a while to set the right example, which they've certainly done. Richardson said the re-signing of skipper Riewoldt until the end of 2016 was a win for the club's medical team. We've been able to have people around him medically who have a real understanding of his body. Obviously his performances suggest they've got it right, he's got it right and we're really confident that he's going to see out the term, absolutely," he said.