A lot is going well for St Kilda utility Brendon Goddard and his team, but only an AFL premiership will fulfil him.

Goddard made his second successive All-Australian team this week, named on a half-back flank.

The ability of Goddard and Hawthorn's Luke Hodge to play in a range of positions led to plenty of speculation about where they would be picked.

Hodge was named in the centre and also captained the All-Australian team.

But the well-deserved individual honour means little to Goddard, compared to the dream of a premiership.

The Saints will start favourites in Saturday night's preliminary final against the Western Bulldogs.

They are potentially only a week away from breaking their 44-year premiership drought.

"It hasn't paid off yet, so to speak, we've probably underachieved as a footy club on what we've set out to do," he said.

"I've said before, we all strive to win premierships and we'd swap any individual honour or accolade for a premiership.

"There's a lot more water to go under the bridge, I don't think we've peaked as a team yet.

"I don't think you can say the hard work has paid off yet."

Goddard is also wary of talk that the Saints are well-placed to make their second-straight grand final.

They earned the week off with a tight qualifying final win over Geelong, while the Bulldogs finally turned their form around last Saturday night to beat Sydney in a semi-final.

"Externally, a lot of people have been writing them off, but we know at our footy club that's not the case, they're a quality outfit and they've proven to be the last three or four years," Goddard said of the `Dogs.

"They didn't finish in fourth position for no reason."

Goddard was named on the interchange bench in last year's All-Australian, but this year he had clearly earned selection somewhere in the "starting" 18.

It was only a question of where the selectors decided to put him.

"That's something I've worked on pretty hard, my flexibility, and that's the role I play within the team," Goddard said.

"I really can't complain if I get picked anywhere in the All-Australian team, it's a great honour, but I'm just lucky to be up there."

Asked about his preferred role, he replied: "I'd like to say midfield, you get a lot more opportunities to get the footy, but I'm probably comfortable playing anywhere - as I say, it's something I've worked hard on, my flexibility.

"My role changes from week to week and it's something I've been lucky and blessed with, I guess, the height and build that I am to be able to play anywhere."

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