St Kilda coach Scott Watters admits they pulled the trigger too early with their substitution in Saturday night’s tight AFL win over Melbourne.
Playing his first game for the Saints, key forward Beau Wilkes had kicked a game-high three goals when he was surprisingly subbed out for Dean Polo in the third quarter.
Watters said they had already decided to bring in Polo because of the wet conditions when Wilkes kicked his third goal.
Wilkes then took another strong mark and kicked a behind before suddenly leaving the game.
“We tried to reverse the call … but unfortunately the paperwork had gone in,” Watters said.
“Once the call had been made, it was difficult.”
Saints onballer Lenny Hayes capped his best-afield performance with a crucial goal in the last quarter to help confirm the 18-point win.
It was a much-improved performance from the Demons and they caused big problems for St Kilda in the first half.
St Kilda’s Stephen Milne kicked two goals to become only the fifth small forward to reach 500 career goals.
Milne ran to the bench after reaching the milestone with a huge grin as Demons fans booed him.
“I was pretty happy getting booed coming off. I’m probably the only person to have a smile getting booed,” Milne said.
“But it was more important to get the win and to win ugly was a great effort.
“Scott gave us a good spray at halftime and we responded.”
Defender Jason Blake and midfielder Jack Steven suffered leg injuries in the last quarter, but Watters said they were “alright”.
The Saints have three wins from five games and now head into a massive three-game block – Hawthorn, Carlton and West Coast away.
The Demons are yet to win under new coach Mark Neeld, but have shown great improvement in their last two matches.
“We touched the ball enough in comparison to the Saints, but we weren’t turning those possession chains into quality inside 50s,” Neeld said.
“Three weeks ago I wasn’t sitting here talking about possession chains so that’s a positive I suppose.
“But no-one likes losing … you hate losing, you hate it..”
Neeld said Saturday night showed “glimpses” into Melbourne’s future.
He noted the superb game that young key defender Tom McDonald played on Saints captain Nick Riewoldt, plus Jordy McKenzie’s tagging that drove Brendon Goddard to distraction.
Clint Bartram kicked an outstanding goal on the run in his 100th game, while Neeld was impressed that co-captain Jack Grimes responded well after making a couple of mistakes.
The Demons’ next opponents are Geelong on Saturday at Simonds Stadium.
In round 19 last year, the same fixture produced a 186-point thrashing that cost Demons coach Dean Bailey his job.
