St Kilda head coach Ross Lyon has called into question the hunger of his charges as they faded late on Saturday, eventually losing to Essendon by four points.
Entering Saturday date with the Dons at 1-1, the Saints blew a golden chance to jump ahead the middling fact after failing to close out the tight contest.
The Moorabbin men led at each of the first three breaks before both the Bombers and their own innacuracy bit them in the backside.
Speaking post-game, Lyon stressed that too few had put their hand up late to help secure a win that went begging.
"Sometimes a real positive start, eight shots to two [and] off last week you feel pretty good about yourselves. Then all you need is one player to go, 'oh, I'll let (Jack) Steele do the work', then one becomes two, and you're looking for an easier game," Lyon stated as the dust settled.
"It's a very demanding competition where people are dog-hungry and you leave yourself vulnerable, and I think that's what happened."
However, the two-stint Saints coach was quick to throw his arm around his young charges, stating that these were the harsh lessons that required learning at the elite level.
"(Marcus) Windhager played great last week, and Nas (Wanganeen-Milera) – it's a brutal competition to come up. We've got Corey Enright and Robert Harvey (as assistant coaches), to be those guys, we've got to come up every week, and not every second or third week, and that's the feedback they get today," he said.
"And that's OK, because they're babies, and we'll wrap our arms around them and try and bunk them up, and as they get fitter and mentally stronger, they can keep doing it week in and week out, or every four out of five at a high level like (Scott) Pendlebury and Enright and Harvey."
The Saints will earn their chance to once again square their season's ledger when they do battle against Richmond at Norwood Oval for Gather Round next Sunday afternoon.
