Euro-Yroke's selection shake-up won't be exclusive to this week, Ross Lyon says, as he and his side walk away "bitterly disappointed" in the wake of tonight's defeat at the hands of Walyalup.

The Saints made six changes ahead of tonight's contest at Marvel Stadium, managing Seb Ross, Tim Membrey and Liam Stocker amid the omissions of Jack Hayes, Angus Hastie and Hugo Garcia, however a win was again elusive as the Dockers steered home by 17 points to put their opposition at 3-7.

Paddy Dow's inclusion made him the seventh new face to feature in club colours this season, with the Saints using 34 players within the first 10 rounds. Yet Lyon says the on-field mix will continue to be shifted as he and his coaches both reward form and search for a winning combination.

"We're really disappointed, we made a lot of changes... we'll keep turning things over, keep educating. We've got to try and reward form, we rewarded a bit, we’ll look at who delivered," Lyon said post-game.

"We're trying to stay positive. (Caleb) Serong really is a young star, and (Marcus) Windhager would have learnt a bit on him, (Luke) Jackson and (Rowan) Marshall had a battle, Ro's been pretty good. I thought the defenders tried to hang on, but it got in there pretty quick. 

"Mattaes (Phillipou) got an opportunity, he didn't grab it today. Bit frustrated. I know he's better than what we're seeing. He was happy to stay in the twos and play midfield again, but we thought we'd give him a midfield opportunity in the seniors because he's part of the future of the club. He didn't deliver today, but I'm sure he will in time.

"I thought Max King was pretty positive, he looked a lot better tonight, attacked the ball really well. But we've got a lot of work to do."

The Saints will regain Jack Higgins from suspension and possibly fellow small forward Dan Butler (hamstring) and midfielder Brad Crouch (knee) in time for next Sunday's match against Narrm, with a small gash to Dow's forehead the only injury concern from tonight's encounter. 

Euro-Yroke trailed by single figures at the first two changes and had drawn level by the third, however were unable to push ahead as Walyalup galvanised late and converted at opportune times.

While Lyon conceded the opposition's inaccuracy (9.18) played a notable hand in keeping the Saints within reach, the Dockers' strength around stoppage (24-42) was ultimately the deciding blow.

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Caleb Serong posted four of his nine clearances in the final term to jettison his side onto the home straight after being contained earlier in the piece, while Luke Jackson (10) and Andrew Brayshaw (eight) were equally pivotal despite the efforts of skipper Jack Steele (eight) and Rowan Marshall (nine).

"We thought we played the right way in the first half, we were really pleased, but it just lays bare some of our weaknesses in our midfield, our inability to control a game... there's no secret that it's going to take some time to turn it around in there clearly," Lyon said.

"Obviously, we're disappointed. Two contrasting halves... felt like in a lot of ways we left a bit on the table. A few of the things we came in to do – we controlled Serong, we were always worried about their midfield and their potential dominance, we were doing some things that were working for us," Lyon said.

"I wouldn't say we were buoyant (at half-time), but we thought we left a little bit on the table. We wanted more of it. They got well on top in round-the-ground stoppages, got ground position and we just couldn't really wrestle it back from our back half. 

"We were trying to do lots of things to stem the bleeding. We got a little bit of entries later in the fourth, but it was only their inaccuracy that kept us anywhere near it, to be honest."