The way St Kilda played the last time they met Richmond, they looked certain AFL finalists.

Instead when they meet the Tigers again at the MCG they will have one eye on the scoreboard, because other Sunday results will impact their slim top-eight hopes.

They must upset the Tigers and also hope Fremantle somehow beat Essendon earlier in the afternoon at Etihad Stadium.

If those results go St Kilda’s way, they need West Coast to upset top side Adelaide in the last game of round 23.

Saints midfielder Jack Newnes admits it will be tough not to have one eye on the other Sunday results.

“They usually show the scores up on the scoreboard, so the boys will know, definitely,” he said.

“It could affect the game a bit.”

The Saints only have themselves to blame for their predicament.

They mauled Richmond with 14 goals to one in the first half of their round-16 match, a win that had the Saints well-placed with a 9-6 record.

St Kilda then lost their next three games, including a two-point loss to Port Adelaide.

It killed their momentum and the round-21 loss to Melbourne meant St Kilda had lost control of their own finals destiny.

“It was pretty terrible – we were in a pretty commanding position at 9-6 and then had that little slot where we didn’t quite get the job done,” Newnes said.

“It’s probably a good learning curve.”

The 24-point loss to Melbourne was their first failure at the MCG in five games.

“We were pretty average against the D’s, we really let ourselves down and they sliced us at times,” he said.

“”We generally play good footy at the ‘G.

“We will change up a bit from the Melbourne game – we’ve watched that a bit.”

St Kilda honoured Nick Riewoldt in his last home game last weekend before retirement and had a big win over North Melbourne.

A call is also yet to be made on the future of fellow veteran Leigh Montagna, who is injured.

If Sunday is the end of the season for the Saints, Newnes said they want Riewoldt to go out a winner.

“It was good on the weekend – the way we played against North was for him.

“We’ll do the same against the Tiges,” he said.