“We can’t pretend this was an aberration”: Saints smashed in West
St Kilda coach Alan Richardson admits his team took a backwards step in yesterday’s 103-point loss to West Coast, saying his players run the risk of becoming ordinary unless they rediscover their intensity.
Nick Riewoldt leads his team from the ground after a drubbing at the hands of West Coast. Photo: Tony McDonough, AAP.
The Saints were seemingly on the improve this season after pushing flag fancies Hawthorn and North Melbourne all the way, as well as beating Collingwood and Melbourne.
But they came crashing back to earth on Sunday in their 20.12 (132) to 3.11 (29) defeat at Domain Stadium.
West Coast led 57-1 late in the first quarter after spearhead Josh Kennedy booted his fifth goal, and things barely improved from that point on for the Saints.
Richardson was shocked by the nature of the defeat, saying he didn’t see it coming at all.
And he won’t be writing off the result any time soon.
“We can’t just pretend that this is just an aberration. This was real,” Richardson said.
“We need to learn from it.
“There’s some really obvious lessons for our guys, that if we don’t come with the physicality and intensity like we did the previous two games against the Demons and the Kangaroos, then we can be a pretty ordinary footy team.”
Richardson is confident his players will atone in Sunday’s clash with Essendon at Etihad Stadium.
Veteran defender Sam Fisher is expected to return from injury, while ruckman Tom Hickey will have a point to prove after being singled out by Richardson after Sunday’s loss.
Hickey tallied 26 hit-outs from 11 disposals, but Nic Naitanui’s dominance in the ruck allowed West Coast’s runners to unleash all sorts of carnage at ground level.
“That was Hickey’s worst game,” Richardson said.
Meanwhile, Melbourne key forward Jesse Hogan had a sloppy Sunday against the Bulldogs but coach Paul Roos doesn’t believe it’s a chronic case of the yips.
Hogan, the club’s talented youngster who comes off contract at the end of the 2017 season, clutched nine marks in the 32-point loss to Western Bulldogs at the MCG.
But the 21-year-old failed to convert that dominance into goals, managing just 1.3.
David Schwarz, who booted 243 goals for the Demons from 1991-2002, described Hogan’s kicking as a “disgrace” earlier this season.
Schwarz and other pundits have critiqued Hogan’s unique run-up but Roos feels the issue has been overplayed.
“The goal that he kicked was a good goal. Probably similar to the ones he missed,” Roos said.
“When it (Hogan’s run-up) becomes a problem you start to address it.
“But over the course of his career so far, which is short, his accuracy has been pretty good.”
Jesse Hogan marks against the Dogs. Photo: Julian Smith, AAP.
Hogan has kicked 62.33 in his 28-game career, including a career-best haul of 7.1 against St Kilda in round six of the 2016 season.
The retention of Hogan remains one of the Demons’ top priorities, with the West Australian expected to attract a monster offer from Fremantle.
Roos noted there were few forwards in the history of the sport who could shake the yips during a game.
“Goal-kicking is often mental isn’t it? Unless you’re one the greats of the game like Tony Lockett,” he said.
“He could miss three then kick his next five.
“But the majority of forwards are confidence kicks. If they miss their first, often they can miss a couple in a row.
“Technically we’re not too worried about him at the moment … he’s actually been pretty good (in terms of accuracy) over the 18 months he’s played.”
-AAP
