PRESS ROOM

Inconsistency Hurting Saints’ Cause

08 Jun 2008

ST KILDA coach Ross Lyon lamented an inability to make the most of a good start against the Bulldogs on Sunday, but highlighted the inconsistency of his group as the telling factor in the 27-point loss.

The Saints slipped back to five wins and six losses on the back of the result, but Lyon hasn’t given up on a finals berth just yet.

“My instincts were that we slaughtered the footy and they used it very slickly which we know about the Bulldogs; the punishment factor is really high for them,” Lyon said.

“We’re five-six and the obvious question you ask is ‘are your finals over?’ Clearly it makes it more and more difficult, but we need to get to work on the things that we need to be competitive for four quarters and at the moment we are inconsistent in that.

“If we can build our consistency clearly we are going to be in a lot of games of footy, but at the minute it’s frustrating for myself and the group; the inconsistency in our football.”

Intent on playing an accountable one-on-one style, St Kilda dominated the first quarter, but emerged with only a two-goal lead at the first break after several set shots went astray.

“It’s been a bit of a pattern for us in a number of games that we’ve stated really well with a lot of inside 50’s,” he said.

“It’s hard to quantify what effect it has on the next score and the one after that and then the final result, but we really need to work on our finishing in front of goal because we could have a bit more scoreboard pressure on and then who knows?”

Nick Riewoldt finished the game with 2.2 with another shot falling well short and Lyon conceded his skipper was doing it tough in front of goal.

“It’s hard to talk about the emotions of it, but the facts are there that he’s missing some opportunities,” he said.

“There’s no doubt he’s had the torn medial [ligament] which we know and strapping can affect dynamics so what I do know about Nick is he’ll work really hard to improve it, but I thought it got better as the game went on.

“There’s no one more disappointed than Nick, but he needs to keep working on it and none of us can drop our heads.”

The coach changed up his midfield in the final term to inject the pace of Jason Gram, Sam Fisher and Brendon Goddard which he felt was necessary to complement the class of Luke Ball, Lenny Hayes and Nick Dal Santo.

“We’re not using it as an excuse, but we are looking to re-engineer a little bit in there and probably the last quarter was the first sign of it because I can’t keep getting the same result and keep going to the same group,” he said.

“We do need to build through there, we need to recruit speed, we need to add in speed and complement what we’ve got.”

The Saints road to the finals doesn’t get any easier with a trip to Sydney next week; a journey they would have made as a top-eight side if they’d managed a win on Sunday.

“If my auntie had whiskers she’d be my uncle wouldn’t she?” Lyon quipped.

“We talk about a lot of ifs and buts and I can’t get caught up in outcomes now. What I’ve got to do is assess, review, plan and implement and get to work and be solution-based.”

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Inconsistency Hurting Saints’ Cause

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