St Kilda wingman Jack Sinclair believes the Saints have rediscovered their confidence in the last fortnight after a form slump around the mid-season bye.
After three consecutive losses, all against finals contenders, the Saints have won their last two games against Gold Coast and North Melbourne to move back inside the top eight.
Sinclair, who has thrived since moving to a wing earlier this season, said St Kilda had to win their last two games to reignite their season, which was teetering on the brink after the poor loss in Adelaide a fortnight ago.
“It was really important that we turned it around at that stage of the year. If we lost another one we probably could have fallen behind the pack,” Sinclair said at a press conference on Tuesday.
“We’ve got our confidence back up and we’re playing some good footy.
“We’ve been back playing the way we want to play moving the ball and our offence and defence has been pretty good after a few lean weeks around the bye.”
Monday Wash-Up: Round 14 v Gold Coast
St Kilda travels across to Perth to face Fremantle this weekend in search of their first victory at Domain Stadium since 2011, back when current Dockers coach Ross Lyon was at the helm of the Saints.
While the Dockers have won only one of their last five games, they narrowly fell short of upsetting Geelong at Simonds Stadium last Sunday and Sinclair knows how tough they are to beat at home.
“It’s going to be a tough gig over there and I’m really looking forward to the challenge,” Sinclair said.
“They had a pretty good performance on the weekend and took it right up to Geelong down there which is obviously a pretty hard thing to do.”
Sinclair believes the Saints will take confidence from their last trip to Western Australia, where St Kilda led West Coast from the opening minute all the way until the 21st minute of the last quarter, before Josh Kennedy helped the Eagles pinch the win in Round 2.
“We had a pretty good performance against West Coast, dropped off a bit late but overall it’s a big improvement on the last couple of years over there,” he said.
“We’re really looking forward to going there and trying to get a win on the board.”
