St Kilda coach Alan Richardson says Saturday night’s game is arguably the biggest of his coaching tenure.

The Saints have been in a rich vein of form over the past two months, winning seven of their last nine games, and now sit ninth on the ladder.

With two wins separating them from North, in eighth, it’s a huge game for Richardson’s men.

“It’s probably the most exciting opportunity we’ve had (in my time as coach),” the Saints’ coach said.

“If we get a really positive result, the noise and the opportunity continue.

“There’s some really positive noise about the direction the teams heading. There’s an opportunity we know (to push for finals) – we’d rather it be a bigger opportunity, we’d rather be in control of our own destiny – but we’re not.”

The North Melbourne players will no doubt be desperate to get the result for Brent Harvey in his milestone game, but Richardson is backing his players to stay calm when the heat is on.

“It’s a big game, there’s no doubt about that and our boys are looking forward to the challenge,” he said.“Fundamentally we need to continue to control what we can and that’s to play our way and that’s been our message for the last month really.

“There’s no doubt with this game, if we can park the milestone conversation, there’s a bit more significance for both teams.

“There’s an opportunity for both teams, in the Kangaroos case to make sure they play finals, for us it’s to stay alive.”