Heading into the pointy end of the season, there's a lot of ground to cover at Ross' weekly press conference.

Catch up on all the latest heading into Sunday's match against North Melbourne.

Making headlines

It was a direct but fair assessment of the game from Ross Lyon last weekend's post-game debrief, understandably garnering attention as the Saints' position in the top-eight remains in the air.

While upfront and to-the-point, Lyon isn't avoiding the fact that an emphatic reply this weekend is required and that the red, white and black can earn their spot in the upper rungs of the ladder come season's end. 

Ross says...: We sit sixth on the ladder, so we must have done something right, although if I read the headlines I don’t think we have. But I think I created that, really. I used some emotive language after the game because I was really disappointed in how I got the players to the line and how they played. We fumbled a lot, we did stumble a lot, and we wouldn’t deserve to play finals… but we can earn the right.

Coming out swinging?

In the aftermath of a disappointing defeat to Gold Coast and a blunt press conference to boot, many were tipping Ross to come into Tuesday's team review all guns blazing.

But as has been the norm this season, Ross - albeit considerably more direct and firm - is continuing his mantra of 2023 being a year of exploration for the club and its capabilities.

Ross says...: It was a typical review. We have a review every week. Obviously we played what we did well and where we needed to improve… obviously we didn’t do as much well as we would have hoped over the weekend.

Moving magnets

St Kilda has boasted a relatively consistent line-up despite its injury woes - fielding just 31 players for the season, the lowest figure in the competition - however Lyon has tipped some changes ahead of Round 19.

Jack Hayes is potentially in the frame for a call-up over a year after rupturing his ACL, while Jack Higgins and Jack Billings could also be in the frame after respective knee and thumb setbacks put them on ice. Meanwhile, Zaine Cordy will miss with concussion, initially sustained in Round 17 against Melbourne.

Ross says...: We think there needs to be some changes. We've been quite stable but there's people who have played well and are in form that we'll bring in. 

'Dirty entries' to be tidied up

While hit hard by injuries to its key forward stocks, St Kilda's inefficiency inside-50 has become the main topic of conversation, exacerbated off the back of Saturday’s match against Gold Coast. 

St Kilda registered a 27.1 per cent efficiency rating for the game - well down from the season average of 45 per cent - to record just eight goals, six of which came after half-time. But it's no excuse for Ross, who is imploring the Saints to tidy up their "dirty" entries and move the ball smarter and more efficiently.

Ross says...: All year… we’ve been 18th for efficiency of scoring. We can talk about if Max King and Tim Membrey were there, would we score a little bit more? I think marginally. Really, should we have been able to sort it our and problem-solve more effectively than we have as a playing group and a coaching group? I would think yes, so that’s a frustration, but there was probably a tipping point on the weekend.

Saints v Roos, 2.0

With the confirmation of Alastair Clarkson returning to the North Melbourne senior coaching role by Round 21, former coach Brett Ratten will be at the helm as the Saints and Roos square off at Marvel Stadium.

The Roos, under Clarkson, forced the Saints to work for the win back in Round 8, but despite the prior history, Lyon is putting the conversation behind him come Sunday.

Ross says...: They really challenged us last time and there’s a lot of noise around Clarko (Alastair Clarkson) coming back and Brett (Ratten) being there having been the senior coach here, but it all means nothing come game day.