The Saints returned a measly 1.9 to half-time, finished with a wayward 3.15 for the afternoon and were largely outclassed by the hard-running Kangaroos who had winners all over the ground.
Veteran defender Sam Fisher made a successful return for the Saints, but with other seasoned players still missing through injury, Richardson bemoaned his side’s general lack of experience and the inability of a number of players to have any impact against North.
Five talking points: North Melbourne v St Kilda
“The reality is we’re a pretty inexperienced group and some of those guys are getting opportunities because of the circumstances we find ourselves in,” Richardson said. “We’d much rather have (Sam) Gilbert and (Jaryn) Geary and these sorts of guys out there playing for us, but they’re not.
“Younger blokes are getting opportunities in really significant positions, so you’re going to get some inconsistency.
“We identified after the game we had eight that didn’t get it done for us in terms of the effort required. We can’t afford to carry eight, no team can.”
However, Richardson did see an upside for his struggling team.
“For a good part I thought our endeavour and pressure was much better,” he said.
“It’s a small win but it’s the first time in a while we’ve kept an opposition, particularly of that quality, under 100 points.
“If we had have converted a bit more of our own opportunity the scoreboard would have been much closer. We’ve kicked three goals out of 18 shots, that’s hard work.”
“Whilst I sound upbeat and positive it’s because last week’s effort was incredibly poor. This week guys tried to do something about it (but) we still need more to jump on board.”
David Armitage was one Saint that can carry his head high, kicking two goals from 30 disposals and teaming with Lenny Hayes to ensure the Saints remained competitive around the clearances.
“David Armitage was incredibly strong all game,” Richardson said. “He’s had 30, but it’s the way he’s had his 30. He’s had 10 clearances, laid 11 tackles and we thought he was really positive there.”
“The reality is we’re a pretty inexperienced group and some of those guys are getting opportunities because of the circumstances we find ourselves in,” Richardson said. “We’d much rather have (Sam) Gilbert and (Jaryn) Geary and these sorts of guys out there playing for us, but they’re not.
“Younger blokes are getting opportunities in really significant positions, so you’re going to get some inconsistency.
“We identified after the game we had eight that didn’t get it done for us in terms of the effort required. We can’t afford to carry eight, no team can.”
However, Richardson did see an upside for his struggling team.
“For a good part I thought our endeavour and pressure was much better,” he said.
“It’s a small win but it’s the first time in a while we’ve kept an opposition, particularly of that quality, under 100 points.
“If we had have converted a bit more of our own opportunity the scoreboard would have been much closer. We’ve kicked three goals out of 18 shots, that’s hard work.”
“Whilst I sound upbeat and positive it’s because last week’s effort was incredibly poor. This week guys tried to do something about it (but) we still need more to jump on board.”
David Armitage was one Saint that can carry his head high, kicking two goals from 30 disposals and teaming with Lenny Hayes to ensure the Saints remained competitive around the clearances.
“David Armitage was incredibly strong all game,” Richardson said. “He’s had 30, but it’s the way he’s had his 30. He’s had 10 clearances, laid 11 tackles and we thought he was really positive there.”
