"It's always been his release - he's a natural on the farm."

Five years on, the Saints' No. 1 ruckman chuckles when reminded of his mum's dream.

"I don't think the footy club would be too keen on me getting in the saddle these days," McEvoy said.

"The horses will have to be a post-football thing now.

"It's just a sacrifice you make for footy."

Since leaving the farm, McEvoy has played 69 senior games, been shouldered with the club's No. 1 ruck role and is this year part of the Saints' leadership group for the second consecutive season.

"In some ways it has been a quick rise," the 23-year-old said.

"But it's still taken five years and I've still got a way to go when I compare myself to the best ruckmen in the league.

"I was very fortunate in my first couple of years - I was probably gifted some games through suspensions and injuries and I think that's proved to be beneficial for both myself and the footy club."

He recalls his early years in Melbourne as being "tough at times".

"My first year was pretty easy, it was all new and exciting and I was mostly playing VFL.

"But in my second year I started playing a few (senior) games and the pressures of playing AFL footy probably got to me at times."

It's pressure McEvoy has handled with aplomb - even amid the disappointment of being dropped for the 2010 drawn Grand Final against Collingwood, only to be reinstated for the losing replay.

His work ethic and leadership have seen him touted as a possible future leader of the Saints by captain Nick Riewoldt, while coach Scott Watters has labelled him "an aerobic animal".

More comfortable in the bush than the big smoke, McEvoy made the most of St Kilda's decision to switch its training base from Moorabbin to Seaford a few years ago. He ditched the inner suburbs, bought a Kelpie puppy and found some space at "laid back" Mt Martha on the Mornington Peninsula.

"It's cruisier down there and close to the beach. I probably struggled a bit being in the city - it's not really my scene."

Despite the Saints' fair share of off-field indiscretions in recent seasons, McEvoy remains a model student, blessed with an old head on young shoulders.

He's far more likely to have his nose in a book or his ears tuned to country music than be tinkering with the newest gadget.

"All the boys think it's hilarious, but I don't really care.

"I'm absolutely still a country boy.

"There's no doubt I'll head back out to the country as soon as I've finished with footy."

With Dederang almost a five-hour drive from Mt Martha, McEvoy admits trips to the farm aren't as regular as he'd like, "but Mum and Dad come to most games".

A closer option is a visit to his sister, Kate, in the Wimmera.

"She's on a farm just east of Stawell and I've got a little piece of land there myself now, at Joel Joel, so I head up there as often as I can."

McEvoy is two-thirds of the way through an online business degree, after his first course choice of agricultural science was put on the backburner.

But his short-term goal is a successful and injury-free season for the Saints, after being sidelined for six weeks following knee surgery last year.

"It's not much fun watching, but it was the first time I'd ever missed a game through injury at any level of footy," he said.

"I felt better and stronger towards the end of the year because I'd had a spell."

While many experts give the Saints little chance of a flag this season, McEvoy said the group was capable of playing "really competitive footy".

"There's pretty low expectations of us so I think that gives us a clean slate to go out and have a free swing.

"It drives us a bit - it hurts when people don't rate you."