The Saints are favourite to win a second consecutive wooden spoon. But even if they complete this unwelcome double, Alan Richardson is virtually guaranteed of retaining his job in 2016.

No, the measure for Richo this year will be collective and individual improvement and how he steers a young group. The club knows where it sits, which is in year two or three of what it likes to call a "regeneration", more commonly known as "a rebuild".

Several clubs are in the throes of rebuilding their playing lists. Collingwood has accelerated its refurbishment by ditching and then losing senior players, Carlton is in the early stages of reconstruction after recognising the dire state of the list. The Bulldogs have been a building site since Rodney Eade's exit. The Cats are trying to rebuild and contend simultaneously - tantamount to training to win the marathon and the 100 metres, and they're making a fair fist of it.

The magnitude of St Kilda's challenge is reflected in the reality that Richardson can coach the club to 17th or 18th, without fearing the sack. The club hasn't set the bar high for wins and losses - Richardson will be hailed if they win seven or more games and finish 16th. The Saints are not building from the same platform as Collingwood, Geelong or even the Dogs. Theirs is much closer to a total rebuild - how many of the 2010 grand final side(s) will remain when they next play finals?

The job at hand isn't merely a matter of drafting and trading the right players - a task this club has found difficult enough. The Saints also are in the midst of a club "regeneration" that involves reducing a debt of more than $9 million, sorting out their administrative and training base (Moorabbin calling?) and, most critically, reconnecting with supporters who've, understandably, dropped off.

Winning back the faith of fans and building a larger, sustainable membership and business shapes as even more crucial to this club than scaling the ladder, albeit one outcome begets the other. In the footy economy, every club's business fluctuates according to results on the field. The AFL will provide a prop, but, as Lyndon Johnson said during his war on poverty (the second unwinnable war he launched), what they need is a hand-up, not a hand out.

The club that the Saints should aspire to emulate in the short term isn't the cliched usual suspects of Hawthorn and Geelong. It's the more modestly performed Richmond, which, lest we forget, was in shabby shape when Brendon Gale and Damien Hardwick stepped aboard the ship more than five years ago.

The Tigers culled a raft of senior players and embarked on a youth policy, with selective senior players - at one point, they overdosed on recycled journeymen. They were patient and managed expectations carefully.

Where they were most successful, though, was in forging optimism and trust with hitherto untrusting and despairing fans. Today, on the back of two fleeting finals appearances, Richmond has surpassed 65,000 members and filled the MCG on Thursday evening. They've energised their base, without having to win finals or make the top four. Gale tapped moneyed Richmond people - they do exist - helping to extinguish a debt that had hung around since the Collingwood recruiting war of the 1980s.

Granted the Tigers have the larger supporter base than the Saints (31,000 and up on last year). Yet, if the AFL's numbers are accurate, the difference isn't as large as one would imagine. St Kilda says it has a national following about 10 per cent smaller than the Tigers, whose membership is more than double that of the Saints.

The Tigers had the advantage of playing at the MCG, of a more attractive fixture, and when Gale and Hardwick arrived they already had less developed versions of Trent Cotchin, Brett Deledio and Jack Riewoldt. Yet, on the minus side, they also faced a hurdle that the Saints won't encounter - the introduction of new teams and heavily compromised drafts.

Given that the Saints' chief executive is Matt Finnis, Gale's successor at the AFL Players' Association, it is no surprise they are attempting what has been Richmond's most impressive feat - getting the fans on board, persuading them to be patient, selling a vision of what the club can become. It will take more than $3 pies and kick to kick after the game at Etihad.

As with all lowly teams, the Saints must sell blue skies by showcasing vibrant young talent and demonstrating progress. No.1 draft pick Paddy McCartin, who was not selected for Sunday's season opener, can't channel Plugger Lockett in his debut season and will be eased gently into the team. Jack Billings, who had a pre-season hamstring, was likewise stuck in the VFL this weekend as he recovers fitness.

While the precious early draft picks won't be there to take on the obscenely draft-endowed Giants, the Saints won't want for compelling human stories in their first game. The inspiring Nick Riewoldt is picking himself up from a genuine tragedy – the loss of his younger sister. Ahmed Saad is returning from a 18 months suspension for using a banned substance. The once outstanding defender Sam Fisher, too, is back from a prolonged absence.

The Saints are underdogs against the Giants and will remain so for most games this year. Winning games will be less important than winning hearts and minds, and fostering young talent.

In the meantime, the Saints have to find a place they can call home that isn't Seaford, which can help to reconnect with their disaffected and disengaged supporters. On both counts - people and place - their mission is to re-establish their base.