St Kilda coach Scott Watters leapt to the defence of Leigh Montagna and Beau Maister who made costly errors late in Sunday’s heartbreaking four-point AFL loss to West Coast.
Montagna missed a running shot for goal from 20 metres out directly in front late in the final term, after ignoring the pleas of experienced teammates Nick Riewoldt and Stephen Milne to handball over the top to them in the goalsquare.
Maister’s mistake was even more costly.
He slipped over at the worst possible moment, allowing his direct opponent Eric Mackenzie to stroll into an open goal and kick the match-winner.
“I’m not going to highlight instances of players who absolutely put it all on the line,” said Watters.
“If you want to talk about Leigh Montagna, talk about the effort of running from the defensive 50 to actually get to the forward 50 to take that shot.
“That’s courageous running at the end of a game when we needed leaders to stand up.
“I admire that effort to put himself in that position.
“Beau Maister’s workrate tonight was second to none, getting to contest after contest.
“Maybe the reason why he stumbled at the end is because he had nothing left to give.
“Glass half empty or half full – I thought they were pretty admirable.”
The Saints’ home crowd was vocal in its displeasure at the umpiring, although Watters was choosing his words carefully in the post-match press conference.
“I’m not allowed to talk about umpires,” he said.
“I’ll leave that to you guys to make comment.”
The Eagles won the free kick count 22-14.
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