But Swans coach Paul Roos said subsequent results had cast his side’s round one performance in a different light.
The Saints went on to defeat Adelaide at AAMI Stadium and the Swans scored a rousing win against reigning premier Hawthorn, albeit an undermanned version.
“We were obviously disappointed from last week’s game but we saw what a good team St Kilda is,” Roos said on Monday.
“They’re probably at the moment in terms of their pressure skills, the benchmark. Maybe we played a little bit better than what we thought [in round one].”
Roos again highlighted the important contributions of the club’s youngsters against the Hawks, including Jesse White, Heath Grundy, Kieren Jack, Craig Bird and first-gamer Brett Meredith.
He also lauded the efforts of co-captain Brett Kirk, who limited Hawthorn skipper Sam Mitchell’s influence on the contest.
“Along with Franklin and Roughead, you could argue that Mitchell is their most important player because he does get them going,” Roos said.
“Sometime you take him for granted a little bit but… after watching the game today, I just felt that Kirky’s effort couldn’t be underestimated. He was amongst the best four or five players on the ground.”
Roos said there were some similarities between the Lions and the Swans, as both teams attempted to blood new players around an established structure of experienced stars.
And he said the Lions’ propensity to launch rousing second-half comebacks after trailing early in their games had been noted.
Michael Voss’s men have a 1-1 record after overhauling the Eagles in round one and falling short of an in-form Carlton at Docklands last weekend.
“As a coaching group, you look at other teams and when they tend to score and how they score, so early indications are that you’ve got a team that can kick really big scores in a quarter and can come back from significant deficits,” Roos said.
“We just need to be aware that if we’re going to beat them, we need to play minute after minute like we did against Hawthorn.”
