In a remarkable turnaround, Geelong surrendered a 16-point half-time lead and was held goalless in the second half, slumping to its first loss in seven games.
It was the first time Geelong had failed to register a major in a half since 2001 and the 24-point final margin flattered a Cats side that lost all run after the main break.
Despite the result, Thompson said he was willing to accept the result as merely an anomaly.
“If it happened next week and the week after it would be completely different,” Thompson said.
“An aberration we can accept, as long as we don’t repeat those performances.
“We have a history of being able to handle these situations and working through it and coming out the other end.”
With the ground receiving more than 10mm of rain before the game, Geelong managed to gain the edge in slippery conditions early with their much-renowned attack on the footy.
However, the Saints’ flooded backline eventually ground the Cats to a halt as forwards Cameron Mooney, James Podsiadly and Shannon Byrnes all failed to make an impact on the scoreboard.
“They’re a terrific team that totally outplayed us tonight,” Thompson said.
“Over the whole team we were down and we didn’t have much influence from the box tonight at all.
“I don’t think we changed much [in the coaches’ box]; if we did it didn’t work. It was just one of those nights where things didn’t happen.”
That the result came in the absence of several of their frontline players would be of some consolation to Thompson.
Paul Chapman, Joel Corey, Tom Hawkins and Max Rooke were all unavailable through injury while a returning Matthew Scarlett was down on his usual prolific output.
However, Thompson refused to use the injuries as justification for the performance and pointed to a Saints side still missing their most influential player.
“For the first couple weeks [after losing Nick Riewoldt] they were terrible, they were in shock almost,” he said.
“Now they have found a way to win and with him coming back they’ll be better having learned to play without him.
“But we’ll go home, go to sleep, watch the tape and come back again tomorrow.”
