We played a very good opposition today. They were first to the ball, they spread really well and we couldn't get to them. They used it really well. I think we certainly weren't at our best but they played very, very well. Credit to the opposition, I thought they were really well led by Nick Riewoldt. I thought they had a few bob up. Hayes and Armitage were terrific. Rhys Stanley played a very good game today, Schneider was dangerous and I thought some of the kids were really good and they just ran and worked harder than us. There's no easy days in the AFL and two club's have been reminded of that really sharply. North Melbourne obviously and then us today.
Did you sense something was not quite right today?
I'm not a very good judge of that. I just think, in hindsight, clearly there's something somewhere in our preparation that has meant we haven’t been ready to play, so we'll look back at that, whether it be signals sent, but we prepare the same every week pretty much. So we had a lighter week on the track so we've got no excuse for heavier legs. We're pretty much fit and available. We're a no excuse footy club, we're not looking for excuses, we were beaten by a better team today with greater effort. It just shows that potential outcomes mean nothing, you've just got to get to work and get it done. To all our members and fans, we're obviously really disappointed but we'll work hard to rectify, we go to the break and we seriously need to improve our footy.
Did the players underestimate them?
I don't make assumptions. Sometimes I don't know what I think. I just coach the actions. The actions we saw today were unacceptable to get a win in the AFL. It's pretty simple from there, we didn't do the work, and we paid the price of work rate that's required and they did.
St Kilda were outstanding, but what disappointed you most about your team's performance?
I think I've covered it. I thought our effort to run and work was not good. Early we were right in the contest, we were winning the ball but once it became a spread situation we didn't work hard enough and work together well to get to them really. They had 140 uncontested marks. We average about 80 against us. They had 270 kicks and our average when we win is 189 kicks. Our ability to get to them, pick them up and force turnovers and stop it in the midfield was really poor.
Was Lenny Hayes a factor in the end?
I can't talk for them. I'd be disappointed. We've handled bigger occasions and bigger things going against us. At the end of the day, they were fantastic and we couldn't compete with them?
How early do you review this or do you write it off as an aberration?
I don't flush anything down the toilet. I have a good look at it. We'll have a meaningful review.
What about the attitude today? Is that a problem?
I think on the surface you'd have to say our attitude wasn't great, was it? Again, I haven't got an attitude barometer except for the actions that are put in front of me. So the barometer, if we're measuring attitude by action, it was clearly at the low end because our action was poor. It's a simple equation.
How do you reflect on the decision to leave Sandilands out?
We didn't just leave him out. He had a number of indicators that told us he was at risk.
Hayden Ballantyne has been suspended for the second time this year and you've had a loss?
I don't condemn anyone. We win and lose together. I didn't see Hayden out there today. We had 22 fit and available players. My position on Hayden is exactly the same at it was last week.
It didn't cost you last year when you went to Simonds Stadium and won, but there's a huge difference between second and third. You took a hit today for a top two spot.
Yeah we did take a hit on that measure today, you're absolutely correct. It's evident that it's not pleasing?
Your forward line was pretty much ineffectual today. Did it make it that there was no reward for effort for the work up the field?
I think it was two things. We didn't score that well and when they went in they scored really easily. I thought they went forward and scored and we went forward and didn't. We'd like to score better, yes, but it was all areas, it was all phases. You can't home the blame on one thing. We win and lose together, coaches, assistant coaches, so it's certainly not panic stations, but it's certainly not ideal. We would have liked to go to the break with a better feeling than this, but our guys have done a lot right for a long time. There will be some prices to pay, but we'll give the majority an opportunity to get going again.
What were the signals that were sent?
I don't know. I'd have to go back and review them. But somewhere, at a subconscious level, something affected our effort somewhere. Did we train hard enough? Did we train long enough? Did we train early enough? Were our meetings sharp enough? Were there the right questions asked? We'll go back and review. You can't just ignore a performance like this.
How big a mental test is this now to make sure things don’t derail from here?
I think today was a really good lesson. I repeat it. The mantra is past results count for nothing, good ones and bad ones. They can build confidence, because confidence comes from consistent good actions. If winning determined the next result, we've won eight and they'd lost seven of eight, you'd think we would have won today. So past results mean nothing. Therefore, going forward off this, the previous result doesn't affect the next one. The probabilities don't change. All I know is we can control the best outcome by delivering strong actions and training well. Nothing changes.
Is the bye at a good time now?
I haven't thought about it, really. I think I deal in reality. We've got the bye, we'll deal with it. We've got a plan that won't change. There's no knee-jerk reaction here. The players have all planned and prepare, they go away and then come back and we get stuck back into it. We play Carlton on the Thursday so we'll be training over the weekend.
Can you touch on who you will get back for Carlton?
I haven't thought about it really, I think you can work it out.
Walters no chance for Carlton?
Unless miracles do happen.
