O'Connell bounced back emphatically from his soft 33 in R10 to post 67 in St Kilda's 52-point home loss to Hawthorn — 37 points above his 30 BE and his second convincing score above BE in three weeks. At $205.7k with 9 games and positive cash gen of $1,382/week, he is doing exactly what a rookie DEF cash cow should do. The R9 buy verdict was correct and the R10 soft week was a blip, not a trend. The 67 shows he can score even when the Saints are under pressure. Rookie DEFs with this profile at this price point are rare and valuable. Buy — the cash generation trajectory is clear and the role in St Kilda's backline appears settled.