Speaking after the Saints saw off a gallant Bulldogs’ side by 24 points in Saturday’s preliminary final, Fisher said the pain of that defeat had been a constant motivating force in the drive to the premiership decider.
“We’ve been working towards this for two years now so our blokes will be able to draw on the hurt from last year,” Fisher said.
“It’s something that’s motivated me throughout the whole year especially when the games get tough during this finals series. That’s something that a lot of the guys have had deep inside their guts.
“I think we brought [the 2009 loss] up once going into the Geelong game. We watched a bit of a package, but it’s up to the individual.
“I know myself I’ve watched a bit before each game to sort of bring back that experience of how much it really did hurt and when times get tough out there tonight you really look back on that and you don’t want to go through that again so you give that bit extra.”
With the majority of the Saints’ team backing up from that game, Fisher was hopeful his they might be able to gain an edge on Collingwood in better dealing with the hectic lead-up to the big day.
But he admitted St Kilda would have its work cut out for it having watched the Pies demolish the Cats in the other preliminary final.
“They were impressive; they’ve been the best side all year,” he said.
“With their tackling and pressure they really took it up to Geelong and they played really well. They’ll go in favourites and deservedly so.
“I think we’ll keep things pretty much the same. Last [year] training was very good. It was just the grand final parade which was a bit different so it was good to have experienced that, but I don’t think much will change.
“We’ve just got to bring our game plan and effort on the Saturday and that’s what will get it done in the end.”
