THERE was a strange air of familiarity about the St Kilda team at stoppages on Friday night at the Telstra Dome.

Fans have seen Steven King and Michael Gardiner contest the hit-outs before, but it was the first time they had seen it in tandem — and in red, white and black.

In terms of performance, King was solid and Gardiner promising, which is not altogether surprising given that King has just come off a season in which he rucked in two premiership sides — one in the VFL and then in the AFL a week later — while the injury-riddled Gardiner has played one game in two years.

King finished with the better stats, winning 16 hit-outs and gathering 11 possessions, while Gardiner won 14 taps and five possessions — one a handy link-up with Koschitzke late in the third quarter that resulted in a goal.

King could not have imagined that after his premiership success in September, he'd be playing for St Kilda in mid-February, but would be counting his blessings the Saints threw him a lifeline and looked fit and committed to repaying the favour. "At the moment I'm just rapt to just be getting a game and just trying to fit in," he said after Friday night's 40-point win over the Tigers.

King said he was feeling more confident about drawing on his own leadership history to contribute more. "I think actions speak louder than words when you first come to a club, so you just try and knuckle down and do the hard work through the pre-season," he said. "Now that games are coming around I'm slowly getting out of my shell a bit more. There's a hell of a lot of experience at this club, as well, but if I can share my experience that I've learnt over my time at Geelong, then hopefully that just adds something to the group."

For King, there are also shades of the familiar about his first pre-season with the Saints following a summer shakedown at Moorabbin, highlighted by a new-look fitness department working to bury the injury struggles that have haunted the team over the past few years: "I probably experienced something similar that Geelong did the year before."

Sadly for the Tigers, there was also a lot of the familiar on display for them last night. Poor decision-making, sloppy execution and an inability to maintain intensity were the kind of hallmarks the club and its fans would have hoped would be shed over the summer. The bad news continued yesterday when it was revealed highly rated No. 2 draft pick Trent Cotchin had been added to the long-term injury list.

However, there was one real positive, with returning ruckman Troy Simmonds a great sight for the yellow-and-black faithful. Simmonds started in the ruck and showed promising form, winning 12 hit-outs and moving freely. While he spent plenty of time on the bench, he was able to divide a good amount of the game between ruck and the forward line, gathering 10 possessions.

With fellow ruck options Adam Pattison and Tristan Cartledge also performing well, Simmonds was optimistic that the Tigers would be better off for talls this year. "It's a great feeling to have a few big guys around the club," he said.