COLLINGWOOD had 77 forward 50 entries on Friday night, 27 more than Gold Coast registered in round two against St Kilda and the fourth most of all time.

But rather than blame the under siege defenders for the defeat, midfielder Jack Newnes has cited his own department’s lack of competitiveness in the clinches as the reason for the 74-point loss.

“We weren’t strong enough in the contest,” Newnes told SAINTS.com.au post-game.

“They smoked us in contested ball and that’s where it starts… they got through us and had too many entries.”

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St Kilda led by one point at quarter time following a free-flowing first term where 12 goals were kicked, but from there on the Magpies booted 15 majors to four.

While Newnes refused to blame the travel factor and back-to-back six-day breaks as the reason for a poor second half, he suggested that an eight-day break is exactly what the team needs ahead of Saturday’s game in Wellington.

“Last week was pretty much solely about recovery and having short sessions. This week coming up we will have some longer ones and come out firing on Anzac Day,” he said.

“The Magpies were clean and we weren’t. We shot ourselves in the foot with our ball use… we have our main session on Wednesday and we will just train those things.”

MATCH REPORT: Saints fall to Pies

The 22-year-old collected 26 disposals in his 50^th AFL game on Friday night. While he said it was good to reach the milestone, he preferred to applaud stand-in captain David Armitage for his efforts.

Armitage had a team-high 33 possessions and laid nine tackles in another stellar performance.

“Armo stood up again and we needed him to,” Newnes said.

“He’s been unbelievable over the past two weeks. Hopefully he can continue that for the rest of the year.”

St Kilda will travel to Wellington on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s Anzac Day clash against Carlton.

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Jack Newnes was one of St Kilda's best on Friday night.