ST KILDA coach Ross Lyon has backed his star player Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera following his second quiet match in as many weeks.
Wanganeen-Milera was tagged by Demons' youngster Koltyn Tholstrup in the Saints' 13-point loss to Melbourne on Sunday afternoon, keeping him to 18 disposals for the game.
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It comes off the back of Wanganeen-Milera's 19-disposal Opening Round match against Collingwood where he was tagged by Magpie Harry Perryman.
The two performances are down on his outstanding form last year where he averaged 30 disposals a game.
"It's part of the business, right. It's the most uncompromising business in Australia," said Lyon in his post-match press conference.
"I wouldn’t have thought he walked off destroyed. He'll continue to work through it.. he's a very young player."
Wanganeen-Milera played in an array of positions against the Demons, including a large portion up forward where he kicked three goals.
In the final term when the game was in the balance, the young star spent a chunk of the quarter in the forward line.
"It's really simple, he had a licence to go anywhere," said Lyon.
"He was getting tagged… I said 'mate, you can go and take the kick in, you can go behind the ball, you can go to the stoppage'. Sometimes you've got to let them drive the car."
Sunday afternoon's loss to Melbourne makes it two in a row for the Saints, who had high expectations placed on them following the club's off-season recruiting spree where they brought in Tom De Koning, Jack SIlvagni, Liam Ryan and Sam Flanders.
"We come here to win every week, so we've got to focus on the process," said Lyon.
"We knew when we scouted Melbourne how they were playing. Both teams lived off turnover and they were slightly better at doing it to be honest."
Former Eagle Ryan was one of two Saints injured, with Lyon confirming the small forward had corked his shoulder in a marking contest, whilst Matteas Phillipou left the game early with a corked thigh.
For Melbourne coach Steven King, he was thrilled with the performance of his team, walking away with his first win at his new club.
"I feel like I've been talking a lot around what Demon football is going to look like," said King post-match.
"But until you put it on show and actually do it, they're pretty cheap, those words. Today was a really challenging game, as all early round games are, and it was quite chaotic. I don't think we sit here today and go it was by any means perfect.
"We were challenged a lot. But, yeah, really proud of the players' resilience and composure under pressure just to win big moments, and to get the win is really special."
King confirmed that the idea of tagging Wanganeen-Milera with Koltyn Tholstrup was something he had planned a few weeks earlier.
"That was devised probably three or four weeks ago, especially after watching Nas up in Ballarat and what he did to us last year. He's an amazing talent and a great player," said King.
"Koltyn is an ultimate ruthless competitor. I knew throwing him a task could be something he'd really like and enjoy. He's got an amazing profile athletically, so I was really keen to find a role for him today. Is it something we do every week? I'm not sure."
The new Melbourne coach was full of praise for young key forward Jacob van Rooyen who kicked a career-best six goals in his first outing for the year.
"I didn't know he kicked six. I just saw his work ethic, his workrate, his energy," said King.
"That's what his whole summer's been. He put in a lot of work ... before I was even appointed. He came back looking like a different athlete.
"He's just getting rewards for that. To see him convert today under pressure is a credit to him and 'Chappy' (Melbourne assistant coach Troy Chaplin) who he works a lot with. I'm really thrilled for him to do his job today."