A key meeting in the midst of last year's disappointing AFL season continues to pay big dividends for St Kilda, who have extended their winning streak to four games.
The low-profile Saints held off a scratchy Gold Coast on Saturday to win by 26 points at Marvel Stadium.
Brendon Lade continued the perfect return for stand-in coaches this season, while Jack Higgins kicked five goals and Jade Gresham marked his 100th game with a best-afield performance in the 13.9 (87) to 9.7 (61) win.
The last time they won four straight was in 2020, when St Kilda finished fifth.
Last year they were 5-6 and on the way to a disappointing 10th placing when Sydney beat them by nine points at the SCG.
It prompted a meeting that Lade said has proved a turning point for the Saints.
"We had that meeting in Sydney ... and we'll refer back to it," Lade said.
"We got some things out of (it) that were really important for our footy club.
"We've just focused on them and we saw a big jump in our performance in the second half of last year.
"It's just continued through the pre-season into this year, which has been great."
The knives were out after Collingwood beat them in round one but the Saints have not missed a beat since.
Much has been made of their lack of star power but players such as Gresham, Brad Hill, Seb Ross, Jack Steele and Max King are playing their roles brilliantly.
Higgins returned from concussion to give them plenty of spark in attack.
Adding to the good news, Zak Jones made a successful comeback in the VFL on Saturday after he took leave two weeks before the start of the season for personal reasons.
"People look at our side and they've commented all year, 'where are your superstars?'," Lade said.
"But we play pretty well as a team. We have some real clarity in our roles, what we need to do.
"That's the challenge for us, to make sure we keep getting our roles done."
Lade also played his role, stepping in this week after senior coach Brett Ratten was forced to isolate because of the league's COVID-19 protocols.
Lade joked that Ratten called football department boss David Rath "50 times" during the game but only rang him a couple of times.
Meanwhile, Suns coach Stuart Dew was left lamenting a performance that was well short of last Sunday's outstanding win over Carlton.
They were well beaten in the clearances, with Touk Miller largely playing a lone hand through the midfield as he racked up a game-high 32 possessions.
"We kept nagging, nagging without getting our game going," Dew said.
"We hung in but we were battling away rather than arresting momentum ... not through lack of trying.
"They clearly made the most of their inside 50s as well."
"(But) we're not walking out of Marvel Stadium scratching our heads going 'gee, where did we lose that game?'"
Suns forward Mabior Chol suffered an adductor injury and teammate David Swallow was forced off in the last term with a dislocated finger.
