The same group of gentlemen went ducking for cover last night, either unable, or unwilling, to explain a premiership campaign that has crashed and burned after just three weeks.
None of the Saints leaders was on hand after the awful 52-point loss to Essendon at Etihad Stadium, presumably preferring to leave the tough talking to their coach, Ross Lyon, a job he did with aplomb.
With just a draw and two losses from three matches, and the bye to come, St Kilda would need to draw inspiration from North Melbourne in 1975 - also winless in its first four matches - to win the flag from here.
The bookies have given up the chase. The Saints were about $5 before the start of the season and have now drifted to $30 and beyond. Betfair doesn't list the Saints among its top eight chances for the flag. Nobody wants to know them.
Lyon, whose words on The Challenge mounted a convincing case that the Saints could contend again, is now openly speculating that the premiership window might have closed. He called the loss "indefensible" and said that for chunks against the Bombers, the Saints were "non-competitive."
That's four straight losses for St Kilda against Essendon, but this was clearly the worst of the lot. The Saints were shown up for their lack of pace - again - but the defensive systems that have served the Saints so well for so long just weren't there.
Not since 2003 have the Saints conceded eight goals in a quarter as they did on Sunday night against the Bombers. St Kilda's famed structures - its ability to dictate the tempo of a game and play it on its own terms, has all but disappeared.
The Fox Sports vision of Lyon glaring at his coaching staff as the Saints conceded a series of soft goals from stoppages in the first quarter was most illuminating. We're not even sure Fox commentator Paul Roos - Lyon's best mate in footy - was joking when he said Lyon was probably in the mood to sack his stoppages coach there and then.
St Kilda's trademark grunt seems to have gone with Lenny Hayes' ruptured ACL. The confidence and the swagger has also disappeared, and to turn in that sort of performance on the night of Nick Riewoldt's 200th game was, as Lyon said, a mark of disrespect to a champion.
Lyon has proven himself to be a great coach. But he has 11 days to decide whether to load up for one last crack at the finals or to go down the path and "regenerate" the word he volunteered on Sunday night. His words were straight to the point, with a slight measure of hope with the use of the opener 'if': "If it's a transition phase, that's what it is. This group has been to five prelims, three under me and two Grand Finals under me," he said post-match.
"Maybe it's a full transition. Maybe everyone's been right, maybe I've been in denial, maybe we've climbed the mountain too many times and we need to regenerate."
The Saints have a bye this week, followed by the Lions at the Gabba, followed by Adelaide (at AAMI) and Carlton (at Etihad).
For the optimists at St Kilda, North ended up winning 14 of their last 18 in 1975, finishing third on the table before mounting a famous campaign to win their first flag.
***************
Meanwhile at Essendon, the more we see, the more apparent it is that the move to unseat Matthew Knights as coach and replace him with the James Hird-Mark Thompson combination was a switch that had to be done.
Reflection is an easy viewing platform, but if there was a tipping point that forced the Essendon board's hand, it was in rounds 19 and 20 last year, when on consecutive Friday nights at the MCG, the Bombers were humiliated, first by Carlton by 76 points and then by Collingwood by 98 points.
Both times, Essendon was the home side, which meant that a lot of influential Bomber people, sponsors and coterie members were in attendance. They didn't like what they saw, and went public about it. Knights was a dead man walking.
Skip ahead eight months or so. The Blues and the Magpies again loom next on Essendon's schedule. The Dons will be the away team this Saturday to Carlton, then home to the Pies on ANZAC Day.
The Bombers have been outstanding to date and are a better team than last year in so many ways, but the next fortnight is just massive for the club - perhaps in different ways - and will tell us just how much they have improved and will give a clear indication what we can truly expect of them in 2011.
The men in suits will already feel tremendously pleased with their work. Imagine how buoyant they will be if the Carlton or Collingwood results can be avenged over the next two weeks.
***************
There's a lot of love in the room for Hawthorn on the back of a pair of wins over Melbourne and Richmond at the MCG.
But why not the Sydney Swans? Unlike the Hawks, the Swans have yet to drop a game and their wins - Essendon at ANZ Stadium and West Coast at Subiaco - stack up better than those by the Hawks.
The Swans' comeback over Essendon last week was essential Swans footy, and looks even better after what we witnessed from the Bombers against St Kilda.
But the dramatic win over West Coast on Saturday night was reminiscent of those halcyon days of 2004 and 2005, when these two clubs went at each other like banshees. In case you missed it, the Swans were down a couple of goals at Patersons Stadium to a West Coast side with its tails up, yet came away with a 13-point win.
Good side, the Swans. Fast, tough, well-drilled and, importantly, able to pull out the close ones.
The hero for Sydney was Andrejs Everitt, yet another example of a Swan excelling after making the switch from the Western Bulldogs to Sydney.
Going back the to the recruiting of defender Craig Bolton from the Brisbane Lions back at the start of 2003, the Swans have made an art form of recruiting cleverly and selectively from other clubs - and they rarely get it wrong.
Bolton, Nick Davis (ex-Collingwood) and Darren Jolly (ex-Melbourne) all played major parts in the 2005 premiership. It was the last-quarter heroics of Davis in a semi-final a fortnight before the Grand Final that got the Swans there in the first place.
Before last season, the club's recruiting radar spied Shane Mumford (Geelong), Josh Kennedy and Ben McGlynn (Hawthorn). Mumford was still badly wanted by the Cats, Kennedy and McGlynn also by the Hawks, although perhaps not as much given the plethora of quality midfielders at Hawthorn.
They have all filled major holes at the Swans - Mumford replaced the Collingwood-bound Jolly in the ruck, Kennedy has added midfield grunt and McGlynn some pace, run and carry.
The Cats are doing OK without Mumford, as are the Hawks without Kennedy and McGlynn. But the Swans repeatedly find these fringe players and make them work, which speaks volumes for the coaching staff and for Stuart Maxfield and Kinnear Beatson, who head up the club's list management area.
Beatson, it must be remembered, played a big part in assembling those who played in Brisbane's hat-trick of premierships from 2001-03. The Swans choose their recruiters as well as those recruiters choose their players.
And now the buzz is over Everitt, who couldn't quite make it for a regular berth in an admittedly strong Western Bulldogs unit in three seasons. The Swans liked the flexibility he offered - and his character - and both were on show on Saturday night.
He spent a good deal of the match down back and was worked over a bit by Quinten Lynch, who booted four goals. But he was thrown forward and with the two late goals - one to put the Swans ahead then the sealer on the siren - he became, as the TV commentators pointed out, yet another AFL retread to have found salvation in the red and white.
Club by club
Collingwood: The win over Carlton looked very good on the outside, apparently not so on the inside, if you believe the coach. Classic Mick Malthouse.
Geelong: Still hasn't lost at home since round 21, 2007. With six more games at Skilled Stadium remaining this year, only the Western Bulldogs and the Swans would appear to pose any sort of threat to that astounding record this year.
Sydney Swans: Cracking SCG opener coming up against Geelong on Saturday night.
Carlton: Hurry up, Matty Kreuzer. Hurry up, Lachie Henderson.
Western Bulldogs: Fremantle, Collingwood and the Swans after this week's bye will give us a better handle on whether the Bulldogs are the genuine article.
Essendon: James Hird is determined to play three talls this week. So who gets dropped?
Hawthorn: Need to squeeze Cyril Rioli and Sam Mitchell into a side that's travelling nicely. Good signs there; not so good with the prognosis on the excellent Ben Stratton.
West Coast: Can't afford to blow a two-goal final-quarter lead while playing at home, but is the most improved side in the competition.
Fremantle: Tremendous road win in Adelaide and Matthew Pavlich deserved nothing less in his milestone game.
Melbourne: Jared Rivers will go down as the unsung hero against the Brisbane Lions.
Adelaide: The bye came at a shocking time for the Crows, with all the momentum from the stirring win over Hawthorn in the season opener lost by the fortnight between games.
St Kilda: Brendon Goddard is about to get dropped … by tens of thousands of Dream Teamers.
Richmond: Media street clearly doesn't agree with Jack Riewoldt. Time for 'Dimma' Hardwick to let some air out of those tyres.
Brisbane Lions: Lacked the hard bodies and experience to get past a very beatable Melbourne. But the effort would have delighted Michael Voss.
Port Adelaide: Kept it competitive for about 40 minutes against Geelong. Not the sort of form to take into this week's Showdown.
North Melbourne: Wonder whether Messrs Harvey, Wright and Hansen shared a quiet one over the bye?
Gold Coast: Prefer the leadership shown by Gary Ablett to that of Campbell Brown.
Player of the week
Lance Franklin (Hawthorn): A sublime display in slippery conditions, with 22 touches and five goals. Buddy rarely fails to deliver against Richmond, the team that infamously overlooked him (twice) in the 2004 NAB AFL Draft. Spent much of the second half in the midfield where his delivery to the forwards was superb. A scary match-up for any side if Alastair Clarkson can keep him in this 2008-like zone.
Twitterati
"Popping in to see strats today. Got a Couple of bags of lollies an a few mags for my boy." - Hawthorn's Josh Gibson (@joshgibson6) sticks by his wounded defensive colleague, Ben Stratton.
"Good win by the crew last - Luke ball still undefeated V Carlton" - Collingwood midfielder - and football stats man - Scott Pendlebury (@SP_10) after the win over Carlton on Friday night.
"Great win tonight. Another step in improving as a football club." - Essendon's David Zaharakis (@DavidZaharakis) keeping it real after the slashing win over the Saints.
If you only watch one game next week
The first of the rounds with three byes, so just seven games up for decision. Sydney Swans-Geelong at the SCG on Saturday night is easily the pick of the bunch. Not sure who will win just yet, but because of the Swans factor playing, it is sure to be close.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
