St Kilda’s ability to respond when under siege from Fremantle, rather than waiting to review the game on tape on Monday without the win, is a sign the Saints are making progress, says Luke Dunstan.

After St Kilda dominated the opening 15 minutes of Saturday night’s game, the Dockers wrestled control of the affair, restricting the Saints to just two goals across the middle two quarters, including a calamitous second term where Fremantle wreaked havoc.

Alan Richardson expressed his delight at his side’s ability to review and rectify on the run at Etihad Stadium and Dunstan echoed his coach’s sentiments, indicating it was the key to becoming a good side.

“We’ve spoken a lot at the club about trademark and not reviewing games once they’re finished and being able to rectify what we’re doing wrong during the game and that’s the key to becoming a good side,” Dunstan told Crocmedia’s Sportsday.

“When things started going the wrong way in the second quarter we were able to respond in the third, although the scoreboard didn’t go our way we were a bit better around clearance and winning the ball.

“We reviewed it pretty strongly on how things changed in the last quarter. The main thing we put it down to was our mindset and aggression around the contest.”

After struggling to recapture his exceptional debut season form last year, Dunstan has carved out a strong first half of 2016, as part of a diverse engine room.

The South Australian is averaging 18.3 possessions, 5.2 tackles and 3.7 clearances across his nine appearances and is pleased he’s been able to rediscover the grunt side of his game that suffered after he returned from a shoulder reconstruction last year.

“On a whole, I’ve been reasonably happy with my year and my contest and stuff has been a lot better this year and attack on the ball. That’s where I’m getting back to and it seems to be working,” Dunstan said.