St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt has admitted there were no “alibis” for Saturday’s AFL grand final loss to Collingwood but has vowed to lead a tougher and better prepared side next season.
Riewoldt told a crowd of about 1000 fans at the club’s Moorabbin base on Sunday that the players would never admit a flag was out of reach despite having failed to win one in three tries (two AFL grand finals and an NAB Cup decider) over the past 12 months.
“When you talk about the ability to never, ever ever give up, you’re the reason for that … we have no choice but to soldier on and that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Riewoldt said.
“There’s a huge amount of work that goes into preparing for the biggest day, so there’s no alibis, no excuses as far as we’re concerned.
“We’re as well prepared as can be, we’re as well coached as any team in the competition, we’re as well drilled as anyone, we just weren’t good enough on the day.
“We might not necessarily be the most talented group in the competition but we certainly work as hard as anyone and we’ll continue to make sure that that continues to be our mantra.
Sam Fisher said the Saints’ inaccuracy cost them dearly but they were determined to lift a notch in 2011.
“They were better on the day,” Fisher said. “Their pressure and tackling was really extreme and we didn’t take our opportunities. We kicked 1.8 in the first half. If we’d kicked a bit straighter we were probably in the game and (would’ve had) a bit more spirit.
“We’ve got to improve again and go again next year. We’ll try and have a better pre-season if we can and we’ve got a gap to bridge, so that’ll be the focus.”
Midfield star Leigh Montagna said the players would continue on their quest.
“We’ll stick together. We won’t fracture,” he said. “We’re a tight club. We never give up and we never die.
“We felt resolve as a playing group. There was a lot externally going on, but internally we never fractured or wavered in our determination to win a premiership.
“We stuck together. There’s a lot said about the Saints bubble and we stay in it.
“We look after each other and focus on what we can. If anything (the events of this season) have made us mentally stronger.”
cat man
Guest
Saints, the centrelink team.Heaps of cash handouts, years of high draft picks and more homes than a vagrant......tough luck
Maryn
Guest
The saints certainly had the season from hell, with more distractions than they would care to remember. It was a great effort to make the final. My worry as a fan is that we managed a draw in the first final on the back of guts and a supreme efforts from a few players. Changes and better mental preparation were required for the replay. Instead we came out flat and nervous for the third final in a row, and left in players that have continually failed in the big match. As much credit as Lyon deserves for getting us there, he needs to be criticised for our failure at the death. Last year he folded in the final quarter and left Ball off when we needed hard ball winners, and in changing instructions to bomb long balls into a well covered reiwoldt. This year he did well in the first game, but did nothing in the second, and the game unfolded as we feared. It seemed collingwood simply wanted it more. Congratulations to Ball, and to Max, who, if given the chance he deserved last year, may have helped inspire a team that seems to lack sufficient motivational preparation to win the big one. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.