While the Andrew Lovett saga drags on and Luke Ball settles in at Collingwood, St Kilda's Brendon Goddard is focussed on another AFL campaign.

The Saints showed last week that they are coping with their off-field dramas, as an understrength side recovered from a 43-point deficit in the third term to beat Collingwood by one point in the opening NAB Cup round.

That earnt them a return to Etihad Stadium on Saturday night for a quarter-final against Sydney where they will welcome back front-line players Lenny Hayes and Nick Dal Santo.

"Definitely in the past, we've dealt with controversy pretty well and the group is very good at blocking things out ... staying in that bubble we talk about," Goddard said.

"It hasn't been much of a distraction and last week we managed to focus on the game, we'll do the same this week."

After the Saints lost Ball to Collingwood through the draft, they sacked Lovett and are now mired in a legal dispute with the former Essendon midfielder.

Lovett's sacking means St Kilda are short one onballer, but younger players such as David Armitage and Alistair Smith are showing strong potential in the midfield rotation.

"That's been done to death, the thing about Luke, everyone has talked about the negatives," Goddard said.

"But they're the positives - David gets an opportunity ... he's been ready to go for some time.

"Himself and Alistair Smith, you see the positives come out of it."

Change is also in store for Goddard, who earnt his first All-Australian selection last season.

Having made his name as a defender and midfielder, Goddard is set to join Dal Santo in spending more time as a forward.

"Due to injuries and things in the past, I haven't been able to do that (play in attack)," Goddard said.

"It's always been on the books or in the plans to get me up forward." Making the NAB Cup quarter-finals is also a pleasant change for Sydney's Jude Bolton, with the club usually knocked out in the first round.

"Normally we're off to Narrandera or any part of the world (in the NAB Challenge)," Bolton said.

"It's good to be down here and playing against a quality side.

"We've had a longer pre-season, so we've been ready to play practice matches a number of weeks ago, we've been playing little scratch matches and things like that."

There is plenty of excitement at Sydney about new recruit Lewis Jetta, who impressed in last week's round-one win over Carlton.

"As soon as he walked in the door, you knew - 'Jetstar', I guess he has something special about him," Bolton said.

"That's exactly why we picked him up, he just adds that element to us, that he can break open a game."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP