Josh Bruce says finals is still within reach for St Kilda

After a week of soul-searching, St Kilda forward Josh Bruce expects a response from the Saints in today’s Maddie’s Match against Richmond as they look to stay in the finals hunt.

Josh Bruce (left) with Nick Riewoldt and Richmond’s David Astbury for Maddie’s Match. Picture: Ian Currie

St Kilda forward Josh Bruce is adamant his side is still “in the hunt” for a prized finals spot ahead of Sunday’s crucial clash with Richmond.

Maddie’s Match — which helps raise funds for Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision — is the Saints’ opportunity to respond to last week’s heavy home loss to Brisbane.

The Saints’ players were this week tasked with leading the review into the Lions defeat after they conceded nine goals during a disastrous third term.

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Bruce said it was about the players being accountable for what went wrong on the day.

“The onus was definitely on us to drive the group and to take ownership of the performance, because to be frank there were some unacceptable performances out there,” Bruce said.

“We’re still well and truly in the hunt, we’re only one game outside the eight and this is a really important game for us in terms of the rest of our season.

“The review was strong but it was kind of the review we needed to have I think.

“Guys had probably been getting away with a bit here and there and it’s something we’ll look at more consistently from here on out.”

Josh Bruce and the Saints have put last week’s bad loss to Brisbane behind them. Picture: AAP

Bruce said he was expecting a strong response against the Tigers as the Saints look to record their seventh win of the season.

“We’ve won six games and lost seven, and it’s not all doom and gloom,” he said.

“Some of the teams we’ve beaten aren’t bad teams.

“We’ve beaten the Bombers and Hawthorn and teams like that, it’s just some of the losses we’ve had and the way that we’ve lost hasn’t been acceptable.

“So we want to narrow the margin between our best and our worst footy, and Sunday’s game is the first time to do that.”

Josh Bruce (left) with Nick Riewoldt and Richmond’s David Astbury to promote Maddie’s Match. Picture: Ian Currie

Bruce said it was a privilege to be a part of the fourth Maddie’s Match, a fundraising and awareness-building clash to improve the diagnosis for sufferers of rare blood disorders.

Saints champion Nick Riewoldt said his family was overwhelmed by the support of the annual game that remembers his sister Madeleine, who tragically passed away in 2015.

“Four years ago we had the first game and there was a huge groundswell of support because there was clearly a lot of emotion around losing Maddie,” he said.

“To now have come four years down the track and have funded 15 research projects to still have so much support from the two football clubs and the wider AFL community with Jack and I not playing says to all of us that it transcends us now,” he said.

“That’s what it’s been about all along, helping other people, so it’s amazing.”