St Kilda coach Ross Lyon says his gamers are staying “level” after securing a finals berth and has challenged the Saints to scale back the gulf in school between them and the highest 4.
The Saints journey to the Gabba to fulfill a red-hot Brisbane on Saturday within the strongest doable take a look at of Lyon’s facet on the eve of finals, with the possibility to safe sixth spot and a house elimination closing in the event that they win or Sydney lose to Melbourne.
Lyon admitted he was “a bit disappointed” by the end result of the finals-shaping Essendon v GWS and Adelaide v Sydney video games earlier than the Saints have been locked into the highest eight with the Eagles’ upset win over the Bulldogs.
He mentioned the Lions conflict was St Kilda’s first alternative to shut the hole on the competitors’s finest, with the Saints solely managing to beat Carlton, GWS and Sydney out of the opposite present high eight sides this season.
“Kudos to Jamie Cripps (for his five goals in the West Coast win), an ex- Sainter, that was nice,” Lyon mentioned,
“We’re pretty level … obviously it’s a nice little milestone. It’s not the highest bar, but it’s a start … we play a very good football team this week at their home ground where we’ve got a formidable record, but we’re really looking forward to getting out there and challenging ourselves.
“The top four (teams) have put a gap on the rest of the competition … we’re trying to bridge that gap this week.”
Lyon mentioned the Saints have been “ticking a few boxes” by way of their type and participant availability heading into September, however he didn’t consider within the idea of peaking on the proper time of the season.
“I know we’ve bounced back to some reasonable form, and you want to go into this part of the year near your best with availability … we think we’re ticking a few of those boxes, but our accuracy let us down last week, and the challenges keep coming,” he mentioned.
“Confidence comes from actions, and our actions have been pretty strong, but unfortunately what we did last week is not going to count when the ball is bounced … I think everyone in the AFL has experienced that recently.”
He mentioned Seb Ross was set to be accessible for the primary week of finals following his hamstring pressure in opposition to Geelong, backing final week’s sub Hunter Clark to fill his midfield position in spherical 24.
“Hunter Clark came on, so he’ll be in the 22 … he was very good, Hunter,” Lyon mentioned.
“Seb went down early, he was looking good though – we think the (injury) is at the minor end and he’ll be available for selection all things going well, as long as he hits his milestones for the following game.”
Lyon mentioned key ahead Jack Hayes would want extra soccer underneath his belt earlier than being thought-about for a return after his six-goal haul for Sandringham on Sunday.
Anthony Caminiti (two targets) sustained a head knock in the course of the third quarter of the sport and can sit out this week within the concussion protocols.
Lyon refused to weigh in on whether or not the Saints deserved to host a closing at residence floor Marvel Stadium or the MCG.
“I played all my junior footy at Reservoir Colts at Crispe Park, on Crispe St, Reservoir, so I’d be happy to play there to be honest. We’ll play anywhere,” Lyon mentioned.
Source: www.news.com.au
