ST KILDA coach Ross Lyon believes you cannot compare this year to 2022, when the Saints missed the finals after an 8-3 start, following a third defeat in four games on Friday night.
Lyon's side was beaten by 28 points by Brisbane, condemning the Saints to back-to-back losses for the first time in 2023.
SAINTS v LIONS Full match coverage and stats
It also has St Kilda looking over its shoulder, with Essendon moving past it into fifth given the Saints' percentage drop, while Adelaide, the Western Bulldogs and Geelong are all a win or less behind as the race for the top eight begins to heat up.
The Saints have lost six of their past 10 games after a 4-0 start to 2023, while in 2022 they missed the top eight under Brett Ratten, finishing 10th with an 11-11 record after an 8-3 start.
"I don't think you can compare it," Lyon said.
"I understand the narrative. There's no judgement for me in it. I think it's apples and oranges a bit. I don't think it's a binary answer."
When asked if last year's fade may be in the players' heads, Lyon added: "No, I wouldn't have thought so. We played a pretty good team tonight. Last week we could've easily won.
"I think we're still in pretty good shape. I look around the competition, I didn't expect us to go through 22-0.
"Am I disappointed tonight for our fans and members for the Spud Game? Yeah, for sure.
"I'm not looking at that, 'That's the same year, that's the same event'."
Lyon's sentiment was that Brisbane was too good for his side, but he was disappointed by the differential around contests, losing clearances 40-30.
Harris Andrews was outstanding with 14 marks including nine intercept marks – one short of matching the AFL record – and 14 intercept possessions out of 21 disposals.
"I thought they were harder, they were tougher, which disappoints me because I haven't said that nearly all year," Lyon said. "They pulled us apart a bit, off the back of contest.
"Our contest wins in the second half really improved. It happens a bit with our young forwards, (Anthony) Caminiti and (Mitch) Owens. Andrews is a star. They marked it a lot. Not much went right. I thought we'd put up a better showing."
Lyon said he hadn't seen either of the incidents that led to reports of Liam Stocker for a dangerous tackle on Eric Hipwood and Max King for striking Ryan Lester.
He did praise Jack Sinclair, who moved into the midfield full-time and gathered 36 disposals, while he was happier with Jack Steele's second half after a slow few weeks, as the captain finished with 21 touches and 12 tackles.
The Lions moved up to third on the ladder with the win following Melbourne's loss to Geelong on Thursday night.
The victory was also Brisbane's seventh from their past eight matches at Marvel Stadium and coach Chris Fagan was quick to point out his side's 4-4 away record in 2023, amid talk about its run of poor form at the MCG, having lost 13 of its past 14 games at that venue.
"I think we've played eight games on the road and we're 4-4 on the road which is not a bad road record," Fagan said.
"There's some banter about we're not much of a team on the road. I don’t know if any of you study the world of sport, if you're 50 per cent on the road, you're actually pretty good.
"The (NBA champions Denver) Nuggets, their home record was 31-7 (sic, 34-7) and their away record was 19-22 and they won it. If we can be around 50 per cent, I'll be happy with that."
Fagan said Andrews "was everywhere" after his dominant display and praised Jack Payne for limiting Max King to no marks and no goals, while freeing up the co-captain.
The Lions coach was "hopeful" on ex-skipper Dayne Zorko's availability for next round's clash with Richmond, while he was quick to hail Eric Hipwood after his four-goal haul made it 10 majors in his past three games.
"He's a bit of a criticised player but he's been in great form for the last three, four weeks," he said. "I think he's been in good form all year, he just wasn’t kicking goals.
"He was doing a lot of pressure work for others and creating opportunities for others. The last few weeks he's had some chances to score. His marking tonight, he was hard to stop. I thought he did a great job."
Fagan indicated he expected veteran pair Daniel Rich and Jack Gunston to still be another fortnight away from pushing for AFL selection after stepping away from the side to undergo a training block to help re-discover their best form.
