HAVING received the footballing lesson of their lives last week, it's now time for St Kilda's young players to put their newly-learned theories into practice.
Nine days after being on the wrong end of a 145-point thumping from Hawthorn, the young Saints will take on Carlton at Etihad Stadium on Monday night.
For the likes of prized draftee Jack Billings and second-gamer Blake Acres, who will both feature against the Blues, there was plenty of value to be found when reviewing last week's game.
Veteran Lenny Hayes said it would have been a wasted match if the Saints couldn't find learning points from the loss, after Hawthorn set a standard to which the Saints must aspire.
"We've got to be as good as they were – we got taught a lesson," Hayes told AFL.com.au.
"Every game's really a lesson at the moment for our young guys when they've only played a handful of games.
"I was on the end of a couple of big losses early in my career and it's just the way it goes sometimes.
"Guys like Jack Billings and Blake Acres did a few nice things (against Hawthorn) and they're going to be at least 10-year players for the club."
Billings finished with 15 possessions, seven marks and a goal to continue his impressive introduction to AFL ranks, while Acres made his debut with 15 touches and three tackles, playing a full game.
While there were lessons for the young pair to take out of the match, Hayes said it would be preferable if the team's losses were much smaller.
"There's going to be ups and downs, but you wouldn't like them to be as severe," he said.
"It's probably only the Adelaide game (round four), this game and the first half against Brisbane that we've really let ourselves down.
"So we've got to minimise those sort of efforts and get better."
- with Michael Rogers
