THANKS to some tut-tutting about the important issues of Monday - players making hand gestures and claims made by an anonymous talkback caller that turned out to be false - 'actual' football matters were put on hold until Tuesday.

That morning's papers were full of the inevitable claims about the demise of the St Kilda Football Club.

And it's hard to refute those claims when the Saints coach, usually one of the most ardent defenders of his team, is conceding that the team is possibly going through a transition phase and the hunger may have waned.

Ross Lyon's post-game analysis on Sunday was a scathing critique of his side and has effectively given football fans a green light to call an end to the Saints' period of relative success.

I say relative, because they haven't achieved the ultimate success but they have reached the Grand Final in the past two years and the preliminary final in three of the previous five years. It is a consistency only bettered in the modern day by a Geelong team, which will be remembered for years to come as one of the all-time greats.

That impressive record only adds to the argument that such a sustained period of finishing in the top four means that a drop off can't be too far away.

Critics point out the Saints' lack of young players, but it is an issue they are obviously addressing with Rhys Stanley, Jack Steven and Alistair Smith all brought into the team to face Essendon last week. None of the three had a huge effect on the game but all took a step in the right direction.

It also wouldn't surprise to see Tom Lynch, Nick Winmar and Will Johnson join them soon if VFL performances are anything to go by.

The major cause for concern for St Kilda is the absence of Lenny Hayes who will miss the entire season with a knee injury. There is a case to say the loss of Hayes is even greater than Nick Riewoldt's prolonged absence last year.

With Riewoldt out, the Saints could still win contested ball and get the ball up forward but they just had to rely on a greater spread of goal kickers to finish the job.

With their hardest onballer missing, they will struggle to get their hands on the football to begin with and, like Essendon did on Sunday, teams will start getting the better of them in the middle.

Nick Dal Santo would probably be the leader in the Saints' best and fairest at the moment, but some of his fellow big name players in the midfield have been slow to get going.

David Armitage is one player who has stepped up to the plate without Hayes in the engine room and he does know how to win the contested ball.

This could be the season he finally comes of age.

We should all remember that the season is three weeks old and there is plenty to play out.

The personnel has changed, as has the game, but the lessons of 1997 should be firmly in mind for those making big calls about the Saints.

St Kilda only won one of its first five games before getting its season on track and eventually making it to the Grand Final.

As for any questions about the hunger of the team, well they will be put to rest by a raft of emerging and fringe players keen to secure a long-awaited spot.

You only have to look as recently as Collingwood's premiership win last year to see that flags don't come because of a reliance on the status quo.

There were some hard decisions made and Josh Fraser, Tarkyn Lockyer, Leon Davis, Paul Medhurst Shane O'Bree and Simon Prestigiacomo all watched on from the stands as a new generation took their side to victory.

Lyon often says young players won't be gifted games, but quite a few of them are pushing their case and will get their chances.

What they do with it could answer the questions that are hovering about where the Saints are heading - and that place may not be as dark as everyone expects.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL