No sympathy for the sinning Saints

ST KILDA has refused to shy away from what defender Shane Savage has labelled an “unacceptable” first quarter of the season.

Savage, 27, said the Saints, who have recorded just one win this season, had stared some “brutal” home truths in the face after the disappointing start.

“We definitely don’t sweep these losses under the carpet,” Savage ( pictured) said.

“We had a meeting on Monday where everyone got some pretty constructive feedback and we’ve been going through the games in terms of what we need to get right – and there’s a lot of things that we need to be getting right.

“There has been some pretty brutal meetings.

“Our performances have been unacceptable.” The 16th-placed Saints’ only win this season came in Round 1 against Brisbane.

Savage said the players led the charge in the wake of last week’s 35-point loss to Hawthorn in Launceston, which followed the Saints’ draw with Greater Western Sydney, in a move he said reflected the maturity of the team.

“We’re all in this together, but it’s been a lot more playerdriven,” he said.

“The players have taken a lot more ownership of this sort of stuff. The onus is on the players at the end of the day. We’re the ones out on the field.

“It just goes to show how mature we are. I know externally we look very young, but we have a really good, mature core group of players.

“It’s a credit to our leadership group as well. They’ve identified that we need to do something about this and they’ve taken real ownership.”

St Kilda has been criticised for skill errors and lack of pressure, two elements Savage said could be due to a lack of confidence.