At a glance:
- Brett Ratten says his side's final term fadeout against North Melbourne was unacceptable, with the Saints conceding five of the last six goals.
- St Kilda held a 43-point advantage at three-quarter time before ending the match just 20 points clear.
- Ratten says midfielder Bradley Hill isn't meeting the high expectations he set himself, but wasn't helped by his teammates' decision-making at times.
St Kilda coach Brett Ratten says his side’s final term fadeout against North Melbourne on Saturday was unacceptable, after the Saints conceded five of the last six goals but held on to win by 20 points.
While the Saints never looked like losing the game and led all day, Ratten bemoaned his side’s inability to compete for four quarters.
He said he talked to his players post-game and made it clear they needed to be ruthless, even after the game was seemingly won when 43-points up at three-quarter time.
"To get the four points was what we’re after but I think the last quarter was not to our liking at all," Ratten said.
"To get outscored five (goals to) one … we’ve got to be better than that.
While Saturday’s win was a big improvement on last week’s 111-point thrashing against the Bulldogs, Bradley Hill's form again went under the microscope.
Hill – who was tagged out of the game by North youngster Bailey Scott – registered six touches under the roof as he moved between half-back and half-forward.
Ratten admitted that Hill set high expectations for himself which he was currently failing to meet.
But he said some of the blame needed to be directed towards his teammates, who were not helping bring the speedster into the game.
"Even towards the end there, how doesn’t he receive a handball going inside 50 (when) he’s in the right spot?" Ratten said.
"They’re some of the things I was talking about, not doing the predictable thing for your teammate. And then everyone says 'Hilly only had six touches' but he should have got it four times with handball receives but we didn’t give it to him.
"Especially in the last quarter I thought he was in some really good spots, but we chose not to."
