But St Kilda's Leigh Montagna says the Saints were not disadvantaged by facing the Cats in the first week of the finals.
"It helps. It still puts us in a better position than if we didn't finish top four. We're lucky we get another chance and we're in a semi-final and we're one game away from playing in a preliminary final," he said.
"Coming up against Geelong we didn't play well, but the lucky thing about having a double chance is we can redeem ourselves this week."
St Kilda now plays a Collingwood team riding the momentum of last week's inspiring win over Adelaide.
Montagna says he is looking forward to taking on one of the most loved (and hated) sporting clubs in the country.
"It's exciting for the players to play in. There's going to be 80-85,000 people there. You've got to embrace it and be excited by it," he said.
"Collingwood do play in front of those crowds a little bit more but once the game starts and the footy's there to be won, players don't think about the crowd, they think about what they need to do and try to help the team win."
Montagna said coach Ross Lyon's claims that the Saints lost respect because of their poor showing against Geelong was justified and that they would look to regain that respect against the Magpies.
"We were on the big stage playing the top team and we didn't deliver, so in some regards we do lose a bit of respect, but the lucky thing about playing AFL is we get another chance to do it again in a week's time," he said.
Collingwood has won its last three games against St Kilda and go into the semi-final as favourites.
Montagna said there was no trick to reversing the recent trend and the Saints had to simply stick to what they do best.
"There's no real secret. I think they've beaten us the last three times they've played us. At the end of the day there's no real secret to beating teams, especially teams like Collingwoood. They're an honest footy club," he said.
"We've got to get our hands on the ball first, use the ball well and give our forwards a chance, and when they've got it put a lot of pressure on them ... it doesn't bother us who starts favourites, we don't look at that."
