St Kilda’s “miserable” and “ordinary” performance in their 86-point loss to Richmond has come in for criticism from Tim Watson.
Brett Ratten’s side shipped 17 goals after quarter-time as the Tigers romped to their biggest victory over the Saints since 1985.
It’s the second time in three weeks that St Kilda has been beaten by over 75 points and Watson says alarm bells should be ringing at Moorabbin.
“I think it was about St Kilda and their ineptitude last night because we know what Richmond is capable of doing,” Watson told SEN Breakfast.
“What we’ve all been thinking is that St Kilda is on the rise and they’re going to be a challenger maybe down the track - that was just put to bed last night.
“The way that they fell apart last night was extraordinary. They just stopped working. Their game plan was just non-existent after a while.
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“It was miserable the way they played last night – they looked ordinary last night – they looked like they gave up.
“That’s the second time in three weeks that that’s happened – that’s got to be alarming if you’re Brett Ratten and you’re a St Kilda fan.”
St Kilda were tipped by many to compete for a top eight spot after making the finals and winning a final last season.
Watson has “grave concerns” about the club’s premiership hopes following Thursday night’s capitulation.
“There are some real problems at St Kilda with their midfield depth and midfield class," he continued.
“They can still contend for a top eight spot, presumably, I’ve got grave concerns about them.
“They were building for a premiership; I’ve got grave concerns about them actually getting to that level to be able to compete to win the flag with that group of players they’ve got now.
“This is an absolute shellacking from a team that we thought going into this season was going to be a competitive team and was going to challenge for a top four position.”
Jimmy Webster’s groin injury compounded St Kilda’s woes after Rowan Marshall (foot) and Zak Jones (soreness) were late withdrawals.
