St Kilda defender Dylan Roberton says the Saints didn’t start Sunday’s disappointing loss to Melbourne with the required level of intensity, which all but extinguishes their finals hopes.
The Demons made the faster start at the MCG, kicking seven of the first eight goals to carve the game open by midway through the second quarter.
Roberton, who was one of St Kilda’s key contributors on Sunday with 27 disposals, 557.4 metres gained, eight marks and seven rebound 50s, conceded it was always going to be difficult to haul in the Saints’ slow start.
“Our start was really disappointing,” Roberton told saints.com.au after St Kilda’s 24-point loss at the MCG on Sunday.
“We just didn’t bring the effort and we coughed the ball up a bit and then blokes weren’t on their man when we turned the ball over so they just had easy looks.
“We responded well but you can’t give good teams like that head starts so it was very disappointing.”
Monday Wash-Up: Round 21 v Melbourne
Roberton said St Kilda Coach Alan Richardson outlined in his post-match meeting that the Saints had coughed up the opportunity to control their own destiny, in what was the most important game this group of players had featured in.
“He said it was a disappointing way for the biggest match we’ve had as a group,” Roberton said.
“It was in our control, as in finals if we won every game, now we’ve got to wait and see what happens in other games which
St Kilda must now win their final two games against North Melbourne and Richmond, significantly improve their percentage and rely on other results to fall in their favour.
While mathematically it is still possible to return to September, in reality, St Kilda will have to wait another year before returning to the finals.
