St Kilda coach Ross Lyon says his players are staying “level” after securing a finals berth and has challenged the Saints to reduce the gulf in class between them and the top four.
The Saints travel to the Gabba to meet a red-hot Brisbane on Saturday in the strongest possible test of Lyon’s side on the eve of finals, with the chance to secure sixth spot and a home elimination final if they win or Sydney lose to Melbourne.
Lyon admitted he was “a bit disappointed” by the outcome of the finals-shaping Essendon v GWS and Adelaide v Sydney games before the Saints were locked into the top eight with the Eagles’ upset win over the Bulldogs.
He said the Lions clash was St Kilda’s first opportunity to close the gap on the competition’s best, with the Saints only managing to beat Carlton, GWS and Sydney out of the other current top eight sides this season.
“Kudos to Jamie Cripps (for his five goals in the West Coast win), an ex- Sainter, that was nice,” Lyon said,
“We’re pretty level … obviously it’s a nice little milestone. It’s not the highest bar, but it’s a start … we play a very good football team this week at their home ground where we’ve got a formidable record, but we’re really looking forward to getting out there and challenging ourselves.
“The top four (teams) have put a gap on the rest of the competition … we’re trying to bridge that gap this week.”
Lyon said the Saints were “ticking a few boxes” in terms of their form and player availability heading into September, but he did not believe in the concept of peaking at the right time of the season.
“I know we’ve bounced back to some reasonable form, and you want to go into this part of the year near your best with availability … we think we’re ticking a few of those boxes, but our accuracy let us down last week, and the challenges keep coming,” he said.
“Confidence comes from actions, and our actions have been pretty strong, but unfortunately what we did last week is not going to count when the ball is bounced … I think everyone in the AFL has experienced that recently.”
He said Seb Ross was set to be available for the first week of finals following his hamstring strain against Geelong, backing last week’s sub Hunter Clark to fill his midfield role in round 24.
“Hunter Clark came on, so he’ll be in the 22 … he was very good, Hunter,” Lyon said.
“Seb went down early, he was looking good though – we think the (injury) is at the minor end and he’ll be available for selection all things going well, as long as he hits his milestones for the following game.”
Lyon said key forward Jack Hayes would need more football under his belt before being considered for a return after his six-goal haul for Sandringham on Sunday.
Anthony Caminiti (two goals) sustained a head knock during the third quarter of the game and will sit out this week in the concussion protocols.
Lyon refused to weigh in on whether the Saints deserved to host a final at home ground Marvel Stadium or the MCG.
“I played all my junior footy at Reservoir Colts at Crispe Park, on Crispe St, Reservoir, so I’d be happy to play there to be honest. We’ll play anywhere,” Lyon said.
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