St Kilda Coach Alan Richardson says his side must be better and stronger for longer if they are going to end Hawthorn’s 19-game winning streak in Launceston, particularly after the Hawks bounced back last weekend.
After losing their first four games of 2017, Alistair Clarkson’s men ended their winless start to the year at the MCG, easily accounting for West Coast by 51-points on Sunday night.
Hawthorn boasts a formidable record at University of Tasmania Stadium, but after the Saints pushed the Hawks all the way in the corresponding fixture 12 months ago, Richardson is confident the Saints can return home with four premiership points on Saturday night.
“I think the footy industry expected them to bounce back so it was no surprise. We know that we’re going to be up against a fierce opponent that has a lot of belief in this venue so we look forward to the challenge,” Richardson said at a press conference at Melbourne airport on Friday.
“We went really close last time (and lost by) three-points, (we) had some opportunities to win the game. We think our footy for big parts of the year has been really positive.
“If you can park Round 1, at three-quarter time (of every other game) we’ve been in a position to win the game or at least be really strong in terms of the opportunity to win the game. We’ve been disappointed with a couple of our finishes, particularly Geelong and West Coast.
“We’re really close to playing our best footy. We need to be better and stronger for longer, there’s no doubt about that.”
After a seesawing third season in charge last year, Richardson believes St Kilda has narrowed the gap between their best and worst from week to week. Now, his side must do the same from quarter to quarter.
“We spoke in the intro to the year about the gap between our best and worst. This time last year I think we’d been to Perth and been beaten by 100-points and had been beaten by the Bulldogs by 60-points,” he said.
“So we think we think we’re becoming much more consistent with our performance but there are still periods in the game that it’s getting away from us and that’s a focus.”
St Kilda has made two changes ahead of Saturday’s game with midfield recruit Koby Stevens coming in for his first game for the Saints, along with midfielder-forward Jack Sinclair, who comes in for his first game of 2017, at the expense of Luke Dunstan and Ben Long.
