Utility Brendon Goddard said the side was already bunkered down in preparation for Sunday’s clash with all-conquering Geelong.
“It’s the David v Goliath kind of thing. They’ve proven to be the yardstick in the competition and have been for the last three or four years. It’s a great challenge for the playing group, and we’ll continue to improve and make some steps,” Goddard said.
Goddard while the Saints would go into the game as underdogs, they could knock off the reigning premiers if they were switched on.
“Anything’s possible. It’s a big challenge and as long as we put in the effort; that is the main thing,” he said.
The Saints thumped Essendon by 108 points on Sunday, but only sealed their top four spot towards the end of the game.
While Goddard said the players didn’t spend the final quarter calculating their ladder position, they knew they had to win by as much as possible to give them the best chance of securing the double-chance.
“It was probably the most intense quarter for the whole game," Goddard said.
"Sitting back and watching most of the games for the weekend, most of the boys knew what the situation was and what we needed to achieve. So it was quite thrilling in the end."
The former number one draft pick said the Saints had to be methodical in their approach after soaring up the ladder in the last month.
“(It helps) just to know that if we get over the line in the first game, we get a week off. Nothing should change even though it is finals. We’ve got a lot of young blokes in the team that should take it as another week in football,” he said.
“It obviously does help when you get a second chance, but it shouldn’t change your mindset.”
St Kilda has only played Geelong once this season – resulting in a 42-point win to the Cats after they trailed at quarter-time.
Goddard said the Saints had shown they could match it with the best, but just had to sustain the effort for the whole match.
“Our effort was pretty good, and at the time we weren’t playing really consistent four quarters of footy,” he said.
“That’s the main focus for the 22 that will run out there on the weekend.”
