ST KILDA coach Alan Richardson says full-forward Tim Membrey is hurting after booting a wasteful 1.5 in the Saints’ 30-point loss to Fremantle at Optus Stadium on Saturday night.
After a horror first half, the visitors hit back with six third-quarter goals to be within 14 points at the last change.
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They continued their domination early in the final term, but two missed set shots from Membrey – one of them a soda from straight in front 25m out – stalled their charge and allowed the Dockers to get home.
"There was a big opportunity for us which we missed, and then young (Adam) Cerra was able to kick a really good goal for them," Richardson said.
"That was really important on the road, to maximise your opportunities particularly when we had been so disappointing in the first half and given Fremantle such a head start.
"You need to make the most of your opportunities."
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Membrey’s game was superb except for his misses, providing a focal point and attacking marking contests fiercely.
"Tim’s historically for us, been as good a kick as we’ve had. He’s having some issues with his set shots there’s no doubt about that," Richardson said.
"He’s an outstanding contest player Tim, he’ll work through this.
"He’s hurting, we’re hurting. They are opportunities he’d normally nail. No one works harder on their skill, his is marking and kicking and leading. He’s a real pro so that will turn.
"He sat on the bench and was there with about three minutes to go and I had the opportunity to talk to him then and was just to (say) 'continue to present, compete strongly and when it’s there we’ll back you in – take the kick'."
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The Saints haven’t won since round one and have booted 53.79 in those six losses and a draw.
They looked to have broken the spell with 6.2 in the third term before the yips returned.
"Sometimes I worry that I get the guys in a state that they care too much about outcome and result," Richardson said.
"Not that I ever talk about that you’ve got to kick the goal but you know, the opportunity from the game perspective. The season’s not gone the way we want in terms of win-loss, that’s obvious. Am I getting a bit anxious when they are at that moment when they’ve got to nail their routine, they’ve got real clarity on what works for them?
"We continue to look at that, we’ve got a really strong program in place and the guys are working through and we are confident that will turn.
"Most clubs that I have been involved with and other clubs that I haven’t been involved with have periods where they don’t nail their opportunities.
"So we’ll turn that around."
However, Richardson took plenty of positives from the third-quarter fightback.
"When we played the sort of footy that we prepared for, when we kick it too each other … our inability to be able to hit targets on rebound just killed us in the first half," he said.
"We only had one goal on the board at half-time but after that it was good to see the guys dug in and responded and became really aggressive at their footy.
"That makes it frustrating that it wasn’t there when the game was up for grabs.
"The fact that the guys responded was something we will take out of the game … it was certainly the most effective quarter we’ve played for a while."
