“We are challenging everyone to take their games to new levels and … not reinvent themselves, for me history doesn’t matter. It’s now and what you can be tomorrow,” Beveridge said.
That attitude has been difficult to accept, Dale admitted, but once he processed what was needed to rediscover his form he went about putting it into practice.
Influential: Bailey Dale responded with a best on ground performance after being the sub a week earlier.Credit: AFL Photos / Getty Images
“When you find yourself out of the side, you are probably just thinking: what is going on?” Dale said.
He said it was a positive when there was competition for spots, but different approaches were needed to cajole a player back to their best.
“Some people like [a circuit breaker], some people don’t, but he’s the coach, so he makes the decision,” Dale said.
“I knew I just had to get out there and try to play my best footy and free my mind up and stick to what I know that I was good at.”
Mitch Owens battled hard for the Saints.Credit: Getty Images
It’s the paradox that a player motivated to prove everyone wrong faces when they perform well after being dropped or made to feel vulnerable. They suddenly prove everyone right, or at least the method used as right.
Beveridge said he knew the group would stick together and support each other regardless of their position in the team and said that, although consistency might be hard to find for a time, as new players adjusted to their roles they had an opportunity to reinforce their method next week.
“We haven’t always bounced out of healthy wins, so it is part of our growth and maturity as a team to bounce out of a pretty impressive win to give a good account of ourselves in Perth next week,” Beveridge said.
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For Lyon’s part he said it was the Saints’ only abject failure to perform since he returned to the club.
“There was no angst after the game, but we have got to prove it was an aberration,” Lyon said.
“There were a lot of mitigating circumstances that really challenge us. We’ll look to respond.
