ST KILDA recruit Brad Crouch says it was a bit "scary" staring down the barrel of another defeat at the weekend, but feels the win over West Coast has helped erase some self-doubts.
One week after copping a 75-point shellacking from Essendon, the Saints were in big trouble when they fell 33 points down midway through the third quarter against the Eagles.
But St Kilda piled on a remarkable eight consecutive goals from that point on to run away 20-point winners, improving its season record to 2-2 ahead of Thursday night's clash with Richmond.
Crouch says the team gained much-needed belief out of the win against West Coast.
"It was a bit scary for us at times on the weekend. We could feel we were playing decent footy enough, but we weren't getting the results early days," Crouch said.
"We didn't start well at all ... but it turned pretty quick when it did.
"It gives us a heap of belief. It's only natural after a couple of tough losses like we had to have a bit of self-doubt.
"We certainly had that. We trained really hard last week and we knew what we had to work on, and we brought it on the weekend."
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Crouch made his St Kilda debut in the loss to Essendon, and he tallied just 15 disposals and one goal for the match.
His performance against West Coast was far more polished, with the former Crow finishing with 26 possessions, 12 tackles, and six clearances.
"I wanted to respond," Crouch said.
"It was a terrible loss for us first up. I definitely built myself up for the game (against West Coast). Also, being at a new club you want to show your teammates what you can do."
Former Tiger Dan Butler was also keen for a big game after booting just one goal across the first three rounds.
He cut his mullet during the week and ended the match against West Coast with 3.2 to his name from 16 disposals.
"It hadn't been working the last few weeks before that, so I thought' I'd chop it off and start fresh," Butler said with a laugh.
Richmond is desperate for a win after slumping to consecutive losses, and Butler says his team will be up for a big fight.
