Wilkie reveals new insight into training as Saints fight to overturn form slump

St Kilda vice-captain Callum Wilkie says the Saints are spending just as much time training scoring and defending as they seek to overcome a crippling form slump mid-season.

Ross Lyon’s troops have lost six of their last seven games and ahead of Round 12, are in the bottom four for the first time in Lyon’s second coming at Moorabbin.

Among the most significant issues are the Saints’ woes in the front half. They’ve failed to kick more than 62 points in each of their last three games and just once has St Kilda scored over 100 in 2024.

Only the Eagles, Tigers and Kangaroos have kicked fewer points in 2024.

Lyon returned to St Kilda with the reputation of a notoriously defensive coach given his history in previous stints at the Saints and Fremantle but was said to have changed his philosophy on the game.

Wilkie revealed defence is still the most important aspect at St Kilda, although the team trains both areas of the ground just as much.

The star defender was asked on SEN WA’s The Run Home about Lyon’s current view of the game.

“Everyone always asks this just because Ross had previously been a very defensive-minded coach, but no, he wants to score, he wants us to free-flowing footy and score immensely,” Wilkie replied.

“But defence is first and foremost, I guess all the best teams that have won premierships have always been top six defensive teams, so really trying to put a high price on that.

“We spend just as much time on offence as defence and we really want to get that part of our game going. We feel like we sort of move the ball from the backend generally alright and score pretty well and that’s what the numbers say… we’re just not getting it in our front half as much… we’re not being able to convert and make them into scoring opportunities which is frustrating and disappointing and something we’re working on.

“(We have watched) a lot of vision going into this week and we’re on the track to improve and hopefully come out on Saturday and really implement that.”

Wilkie also suggested that the Saints’ offence starts with the back six and called for improved standards across the board.

“We’ve watched some clips (this week from recent rounds) that just aren’t us. There have been in patches all year, we’ve had some good games where we’ve defended really well and just haven’t been able to score against good teams,” he continued.

“The defence is there, it’s just been too inconsistent. We were a consistent team in that aspect last year and as coaches and as leaders we nee to demand that more and demand better from everyone and we need that from the bottom up.

“We know when we’re on we’re a good defensive team and I think (Ross) has got full trust in that.”

The Saints’ fall comes after playing finals in Lyon’s first season back at the helm, a year where they kicked more points than conceded to finish with a percentage of 107.8.

But that number has decreased to just 90.4 so far in 2024.

A tough trip across the nullarbor to play West Coast is the next challenge facing St Kilda on Saturday. The Eagles have only lost two games at home this year and have the scalps of Fremantle and Melbourne at Optus Stadium.