ST KILDA coach Alan Richardson has bemoaned the "naïve' mindset his side took into the Good Friday clash against North Melbourne, naming it as a key factor in the disappointing loss.
After finishing off Brisbane with a nine-goal second half in round one, a young Saints outfit couldn't sustain that form against the Kangaroos, with the warm favourites crashing to a 52-point loss on one of the biggest stages they'll grace this season.
In review, Richardson said it was clear the Saints didn't take the right attitude into the game.
"I think our guys just expected the back-end form against Brisbane to roll on – it was nothing at all to do with the Kangaroos, it was more about us," Richardson said on Thursday.
"(The mindset) was pretty naïve, pretty immature in many ways.
"What's important is we do something about it, and that's been our focus to get to work (on the training track)."
How his side used the ball and fared in contested situations against the Kangaroos also frustrated Richardson, but he said those deficiencies would hopefully be rectified by hard work.
While the side managed a disposal efficiency of 75 per cent, a hammering in contested possessions (150-119) may also indicate the Saints' minds weren't completely on the job.
The coach was hopeful some "fairly willing" training sessions and changes to the team will have the Saints better prepared for Saturday night's clash with Adelaide at Etihad Stadium.
"Our focus is to make sure we train with real urgency and intensity, and we select 22 players who are willing to do something about what happened on the weekend," Richardson said.
"We broke even in clearances, hard-ball gets we were down, but it was more the work to get to the next contest was our biggest concern.
"We turned (our ball-use stats) around in a negative way (because) we went from No.1 in the competition effectiveness by foot to 18th.
"If you're off, you're off, and in this incredibly even competition, if you're not quite right, you're not going to win and you're not going to kick the ball well.
"If you're a fair way away from not quite right, you're probably going to get embarrassed, and that was the situation in the end.
"We've done a fair bit of work on the contest stuff, on the work to support each other, and clearly we need to get enough kicking in (at training), and the boys will be doing that."
Hard nut Mav Weller could be one of the changes Richardson forecast after 25 disposals and five goals in a VFL practice match on the weekend.
But key forward Paddy McCartin could be a casualty after a quiet Good Friday, with Richardson stopping short of guaranteeing the former No.1 draft pick would retain his place.
The 21-year-old only kicked one goal in round one and registered just two behinds from 10 possessions in the loss to the Kangaroos.
"We've got to make sure we're picking a team that gives us the best opportunity to win every week, and Paddy has been a part of that, and this is a very important training session for a lot of guys," Richardson said.
"We'll have to wait to see how they train and how blokes pull up."
