St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt says his team fell away in defence against North Melbourne

NICK Riewoldt says the Saints will try to figure out this week how their full-ground press let through 21 North Melbourne goals.

Nick Riewoldt

ST KILDA captain Nick Riewoldt says tomorrow's post-mortem will be critical to the team's bid to rebound from the second half fade-out against North Melbourne.

Riewoldt admitted he didn't see it coming, particularly after the Saints enjoyed their first solid training block to work on their game plan following a succession of short weeks between games.

"We'll have the review tomorrow and I'm sure that's going to be really thorough. From there we'll identify probably a range of things because when you put in a performance like that, it's going to be more than one thing,'' Riewoldt said.

"Just off the top of my head, our ability to defend all across the ground was pretty poor and they were able to put a big score on the board. So we have to rectify that.''

The Saints skipper described this morning's rehab in the chilly Bay waters at St Kilda sea baths as the perfect wake-up call.

"There were a few bleary eyes this morning staying up watching the tour, the soccer and the golf. There was plenty on last night. I think we were in need of a bit of a wake-up call after last night,'' Riewoldt said.

"It's hard at this stage to put a finger on exactly what went wrong. It's pretty simple, they beat us in contested ball and smashed us at the clearances and they were probably a bit hungrier.

"All games you lose throughout the year that have that eight (premiership) points connotation, we've had a couple similar to that earlier in the year. But, taking the win-loss out of it, it was more the way that we finished out the game.

"I thought we were in pretty good control there early in the second quarter and from there it was pretty disappointing.''

Forward Rhys Stanley (hamstring) and defender Jason Blake (ankle) were not at the recovery, staying back at the club's Seaford headquarters to start their recovery.

"I've certainly got fingers crossed that they're ok. Rhys has missed a lot of footy with his hammy. I would say they are very important. Rhys is a promising, emerging player who gives us a bit of flexibility up forward and certainly through the ruck as well. And we all know what a great player Blakey has been,'' Riewoldt said.

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And Riewoldt couldn't identify any problems with Justin Koschitzke who was reported to have been unwell before the Kangaroos game.

"I'm not too sure what happens with any player. Within a game, there are lots of players who are far from 100 percent. But we all know when you get out there, it's game-on. So we're certainly not looking for any excuses,'' he said.

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Riewoldt said to play in-form Essendon on Saturday night was critical to reboot the Saints' finals push.

"They're all big from here. We've certainly put ourselves in a position now where every week they're really important games. This week it's probably good that we get to come up and test ourselves against one of the best teams in the competition. A really exciting opportunity and a good chance to rebound,'' he said.

"I think it's one of those unique years in regards to the ladder, so many teams around similar points. Usually around this time of the year, the top four is set and one or two positions are up for grabs whereas this year it's eight to 10.

"If you keep strings some wins together you're going to be around the mark. We're certainly not out of the picture, we've just got to bounce back quickly."