St Kilda is not prepared to flirt with its form even in the pre-season, according to utility Jason Blake, and will play to win in Saturday's NAB Cup grand final against the Western Bulldogs.
"At St Kilda we don't want to pick and choose, we want to remain consistent with our effort the whole way through," said Blake ahead of training at Moorabbin on Tuesday.
"The NAB Cup is all about preparing ourselves for Round 1 and for the season."
"We want to practice excellence."
Blake, who missed the Saints' 70-point semi-final win over Fremantle because of back tightness, said he expects the selectors to name the best available line-up on Saturday in a full dress-rehearsal for the club's opening-round fixture against the Sydney Swans at ANZ Stadium.
"I think it will be our best 22 in," said Blake.
"Whoever's available, our best 22 will play because it's very important to get those final preparations in before Round 1."
Quizzed about his own selection prospects, Blake said: "I just had a bit of back tightness in the warm-up."
"It was a little bit restrictive and I didn't want to risk anything."
"It was very minor, but they wanted to take the safety approach."
"I'm feeling a lot better, but hopefully I get through training tonight and Thursday and we'll go from there."
The underrated defender who turns 29 next week, agreed he would a prime contender for the job on in-form Bulldogs forward Barry Hall who's bagged 10 goals in his two NAB Cup outings against Hawthorn and Port Adelaide.
Zac Dawson and Sam Fisher are probably next in line should Blake not happen to make it.
Blake said he's been impressed with the Bulldogs' pre-season form - in particular, their defensive work and tackling.
He said the contest would give the Saints a good idea of where they stand heading into the new season.
"Obviously we're there to win and to get some momentum going," Blake said."
"During the season it doesn't really count for much when you come up and play them again - it's a new game and different scenarios play out."