Dermott Brereton's harsh introduction to life at St Kilda

Dermott Brereton has suffered a harsh introduction to life as a part-time coach at St Kilda, suffering two blows at training.

The AFL commentator and five-time Hawthorn premiership hero joined the Saints from this week to school their young forwards in the art of forward craft.

But it didn’t go all that well on his first day.

Out of sync with Robbie Young during marking drills, Brereton was taken down hard by the untried 24-year-old.

That wasn’t his only baptism of fire on Thursday, with an elbow to the face from Matt Parker during a drill also adding to the pain.

"I've got a hard head," Brereton said.

Presuming those are the last times he’s taken out by a St Kilda player, Brereton will be tasked with building up No.4 pick Max King.

King is making solid progress as he returns from a knee reconstruction and trained on Thursday morning, where Brereton worked with the Saints for the first time.

"He's a huge gold nugget with just a few edges that need knocking off at the moment," Brereton said.

"But he's going to be a player in the league of considerable note."

Brereton said within 20 minutes of watching King at training, he could see areas of improvement.

He noted King's next big challenge will be playing against grown men.

"The world has been full of super talents, though, who haven't gone on," Brereton cautioned.

Brereton is also enthusiastic about the Saints, who have made a surprise 3-1 start to the season.

Despite St Kilda kicking no more than 85 points in a game so far this season, Brereton said their attack boasts plenty of potential.

"It has the makings of being a team that can consistently kick 15-plus (goals) a week," he said.

Brereton has an impressive CV of specialist coaching roles that includes Sav Rocca, Jonathan Brown and Jeremy Cameron.

His former teammate at Collingwood and Saints coach Alan Richardson said he also learned a lesson during Brereton's first day.

Invited to speak to the team before training, Brereton's couple of minutes extended to half an hour.

Told of Richardson's comments, Brereton didn't break stride with his comeback.

"That is true because Richo said to me before ... 'Can you say a few good things about me as a player?'' Brereton said with a grin.

"So I stood there dumbounded for 15 minutes, trying to remember something Richo had actually done of any note ... no."

Brereton is the latest addition to the new-look Saints coaching group that also features rugby league great Billy Slater in a leadership and development role.

with AAP