Yesterday's no-holds-barred review with an intense focus on player accountability has Callum Wilkie hopeful it’s the ignition St Kilda needs to rectify its post-bye slump.
The Saints have dropped five of their six matches by an average margin of 35 points, with a 28-point loss against the Western Bulldogs the most recent in a series of performances which have lacked consistency and effort across the board.
It’s prompted Wilkie and the Saints to look deeper into the ‘why’, with yesterday’s game review – driven by Wilkie and the leadership group – seeing players called out for the repeated showings which have seeped into the Saints’ game.
“It’s been a lot better than it has previously, a lot more honest and hard conversations which have needed to be had and putting more stuff on the table about why it’s happening... how it’s making everyone feel and the flow-on effect of the lack of consistency of effort,” Wilkie told reporters this morning.
“You actually heard people talking from the heart and not just hearing and watching the bad efforts or lack of structure, we actually got a bit of care out of it.
“We had people speaking really honest and truthful about the effect it’s having on the whole team. It felt like we got further than we have in previous reviews when you’re not just looking at the bad efforts, but delving deep into the why.
“I do, most of the players do, and they do care so much about taking this group forward.
“Everyone’s keeping the door open. There’s five games to go, we want to try to instil some respect back not just for ourselves and not just for our fans, but the wider community that we can play finals.”
A spot in the top-eight is still within reach, but is reliant on a swift return to the Saints’ form before the bye, which had them sitting comfortably with an 8-3 record.
St Kilda will look to get its foot in the door with important games against West Coast (away) and Hawthorn, with tough fixtures still to come against Geelong, Sydney and Brisbane.
Wilkie admits that although the past few weeks have made it harder to recognise what the group is capable of, the belief to rekindle the club’s early season form – albeit with some stoking of the fire – remains.
“We’ve shown patches that we’re a tough team to play against, but (also) patches that we’re just too easy to play against. It’s just not good enough,” Wilkie said.
“We’ve shown in the front half of the year that we can beat some good teams when the consistency of effort is there. That’s dropped off for a number of different reasons.
“When you’re having (those) patches where it’s absolutely not there, you do lose a bit of sight of that (what we’re capable of).
“Obviously we had the weekend to think about it, especially myself being part of the leadership group spent most of the weekend thinking about taking responsibility for not just the back six, but the whole team.
“It comes down a lot to the players. I haven’t seen too much of the media speculation – I try to keep away from that – but our gameplan in the front half of the year has stacked up against good teams. It just comes down to 100 per cent consistency to abide by the team structure and the gameplan, which we’re just not seeing at the moment.”
Wilkie and the Saints will head west on Saturday morning in preparation for their crucial game against West Coast, but won’t be underestimating their opposition.
The Saints will have Seb Ross and Marcus Windhager available to return from Health & Safety Protocols while Hunter Clark is in the frame to return following his sickening facial injury last fortnight.
“We’ll hope to really galvanise the team and get the boys together,” Wilkie said.
“We’re obviously feeling the pinch a bit after the last six weeks and some hard, honest conversations to each other yesterday.
“It’s just about getting to work for this week and then going over there and getting the job done.”
