St Kilda coach Ross Lyon described his club's performance as "non-competitive" against the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, and the statistics prove it.
Slotted into the marquee evening timeslot on Easter Sunday, the Saints looked to rectify a poor Gather Round outing against the Giants, but failed to meet the standard set by their opponents.
All key metrics would've been ringing red for Lyon and his coaching group, as the Bulldogs ran riot under the roof, claiming a 71-point victory.
Luke Beveridge's men won the disposal count (427-344), inside 50s (69-31), disposal efficiency (81.7 to 70.6), clearances (44-23 (20-6 centre), marks (131-85) and tackle tally (56-52).
All of which was well above the Bulldogs' average output for 2025 thus far.
"We'll have to have some conversations," Lyon said.
โSix to 20 (centre) clearances, so that's a big number, and that hasn't been us all year. We've been very good in there, so it certainly gives you territory.
"It's a big responsibility in there and they (midfielders) prepare really well ... but today was a big disappointing event that we all need to own.
"It felt like we dropped our bundle where they just sieved us out of the front half, so we didn't play with that intensity."
The Bulldogs welcomed back captain Marcus Bontempelli from a pre-season complex calf injury, and he ran amok, gathering 30 disposals and two goals.
Youngster Ryley Sanders got off the chain for a career-best performance as midfielders Matthew Kennedy, Tom Liberatore, Joel Freijah, and Ed Richards feasted on the Saints' collapse.
But Lyon didn't attribute the domination to "poor planning", but more to a lack of execution from their senior players.
"I wouldn't think it's poor planning," Lyon said.
"We sit top four for centre-square bounce ourselves. I'm happy to own poor planning. It's the ability to adapt and just some tactical shifts ... in the end, it was a mauling.
"It certainly doesn't sit very comfortably."
The Bulldogs took 40 more marks than average, controlling plenty of the football, while their impressive disposal use (81.7 per cent) was the highest return of any club this season.
"We just lost all of our DNA with our ball use," Lyon said.
"And they're not a high uncontested mark team. They had 125, so it just tells you we lost them and couldn't find them, and tonight we lick our wounds."
Ironically, the only measure the Saints came out on top was their scoring efficiency when heading inside 50, returning 31 entries with 58.1 per cent of scores.
St Kilda's tough tasks don't end there, as they face reigning premiers Brisbane next week.
