ST KILDA may have latched onto the back ofa logjam of teams clambering for a finalsberth with the win over Hawthorn, but coach Ross Lyon refused to admit his sidehad rejoined the finals race on Saturday night.
The Saints joined a group of four teams oneight wins with the highest of those, Sydney, sitting in eighth spot, but theSaints' coach isn't looking too far ahead and is just happy with the progresshis players have shown since a mid-season re-evaluation.
"It was always going to be a difficultgame. You don't fluke being second on the ladder, they've been in good form andit was a real challenge for our group, so it was pleasing to get away with thefour points," Lyon said.
"The way we're going about it is we'renot really looking at the ladder and our win-loss.
"Clearly we needed to improve as ateam from where we were and we set ourselves some areas to work on over thebreak and, win or lose, we want to continue to try and deliver on them. We feelwe're doing that and that's obviously created the potential for us to win somegames.
"You can talk the process, method,focus, KPIs, whatever, but we've got a couple of things we're focusing on andit's standing the team in really good stead under pressure."
A storm of controversy followed the 'ugly'encounter between the two sides when they met back in round eight this seasonand Lyon was asked whether that match hadplayed any part in his side's preparation for the return bout.
"I think a few more goals were kicked,"he said with a wry smile. "We've had a fair opportunity to look atHawthorn and when they've been winning a lot of games, but we didn't prepareany differently than we would for any other opposition.
"But you do understand them a littlebit more. They've got some very talented young players, and you start tounderstand their strengths and weaknesses a little bit more. In saying that, Inever relaxed until the siren went and it was always difficult all night."
Shane Birss was the only casualty out ofthe evening with the 24-year-old suffering blurred vision in his right eyeafter copping a stray finger.
Lyon said Matthew Clarke and James Gwilt are a chance at seniorselection next week, but he revealed time is running out for Aaron Hamill tosalvage his season.
"If he doesn't train by next weekendthen we'll sit down and assess it," he said.
"And then it's seven weeks to go andis he a chance to play senior footy? Unless he probably plays next week [forCasey], no, and then what's the best management and we'll meet with the surgeonand our doctors because he's really important to us.
