St Kilda’s horrendous fade out against North Melbourne on Good Friday left coach Alan Richardson with plenty of questions to answer.
For a side with finals aspirations, the Saints were made to look second rate by a rebuilding team late in a 13.17 (95) to 5.13 (43) win in front of 33,966 fans at Etihad Stadium.
The Roos led by 11 points at three-quarter time and sealed the victory with a seven-goals-to-nil final term blitz.
Richardson must seek answers to several questions this week, but one stood out for the coach.
“The biggest question that we spoke about as a group was, ‘How can we get outworked so consistently across four quarters, given that that’s a strength of ours?'” Richardson said.
“Our ability to get across and support our mates, our ability to be able to outnumber at a contest is a real strength (usually), so that was the biggest question that we had to ask.
“Why were we not prepared to roll our sleeves up and really dig in to support a mate?
“We spoke at length about what we’re going to do about this result.
“That’s where we’re at as a group and we look forward to doing the work required.”
St Kilda host Adelaide, who are coming off an encouraging win in the grand final rematch against Richmond, at Etihad Stadium in round three.
Richardson will also do well to ponder just what he is to do with his three-pronged attack of Paddy McCartin, Josh Bruce and Tim Membrey.
None was able to kick a goal against the Roos, but Richardson gave them the benefit of the doubt.
“It’s an awkward game to assess from that perspective,” he said of his forward structure.
“Our use was so bad … I’ve not seen us kick the ball as poorly as that.
“The Kangaroos were able to make it really challenging for us in terms of being able to get back and fill holes. At their best they’re very hard to score against.
“They looked like they were marking our kicks more than we were inside forward 50.
“It was a hard day to assess forwards.”
Richardson may be spared a difficult selection decision on McCartin, who was reported for a clumsy, late bump on Trent Dumont in the third quarter.