St Kilda have their fingers crossed on Nick Riewoldt and will give Paddy McCartin a run on Sunday after a bad start to the AFL season.

Not much went right for the Saints in Saturday’s twilight game, with Melbourne recovering from a slow start to beat them easily by 30 points.

The bad news started well before the opening bounce at Etihad Stadium, with McCartin ruled out because of hamstring tightness.

Then they mistimed their pre-match schedule and ran out onto the ground just two minutes before the first bounce.

Still, they hit the ground running and led by four goals early in the second term.

But St Kilda could only manage 1.6 in the second quarter as the Demons kicked 7.1 to hit the lead.

Melbourne dominated the third term and the 30-point margin probably flattered the Saints.

But the low point was Riewoldt having to be stretchered off in the last quarter with his right knee injury.

Even Riewoldt initially thought it was an anterior cruciate ligament rupture – an injury that usually means a season-ending reconstruction.

But the 34-year-old Saints great and the club are hopeful ahead of Sunday’s scans.

“The doctors are saying it’s pretty stable,” Richardson said.

“It didn’t look good – experienced players usually know.

“Joey (Leigh Montagna) was in the box and probably didn’t help things with his early diagnosis.

“We’re incredibly relieved – now it’s only early and we have to get scans, but it looks more positive than it might have been.”

Otherwise, Richardson was fuming and did not mince his words, saying they were smashed in the midfield.

They were second to the ball, became reactive, did not cope with Melbourne’s pressure and their defenders did not execute properly.

While he called for perspective, noting it is round one, he demanded an immediate response from the team

“We’re either learners or losers (and) certainly we lost tonight,” Richardson said.

“But we need to learn from that, have a really strong week on the track and bounce back and do something about it, if we really care, if we’re made of the right stuff.

“We’re a bloody disappointed footy club and group and we need to bounce back.”

Richardson said he was unaware that the Saints were late out onto the ground until he was in the coach’s box, as the game was about to start.

He also said McCartin was cleared to play, but the Saints were worried his hamstring tightness might restrict him.

Instead, the key forward will play on Sunday in a VFL practice game.

“There’s fit to play and there’s fit to perform and be able to execute your role – his role is a fairly ballistic one,” Richardson said of McCartin.

The coach added veteran defender Sean Dempster was not picked for the season opener because of form.