LAST Saturday was a disappointing effort. We didn’t play anywhere near the level we would like to and we need to get our competitive footy back on the park.

We had a lot of chances to attack but we failed to finish off and make the most of them.

St Kilda’s defensive pressure was intense and at times we overused the footy and the mechanics of our ball use weren’t that great.

It was another example of us not getting the effort for the four quarters and the result reflected that.

Losing Brad Sewell before the game was a loss. He has been a very good player for us but we can’t use that as an excuse. The Saints had a lot of high-quality players out as well and we still didn’t get the job done.

Fortunately Sewelly will be ready to go this week and he will be a handy inclusion.

One that will miss out this week is Jarryd Roughead who is done for the season with a knee injury. Roughy is the captain of the forwards and brings a lot of leadership to the group. He will still do plenty of work with the leadership group through the week but on match day we are going to need the boys to lift and stand up in different ways.

Another player whose season is over is Trent Croad, but like Jarryd he will continue to contribute to the team off the field.

He continues to help mentor our younger defenders and he also speaks to the forwards from time to time. He has plenty of experience and he has plenty to offer. He is also a great resource for some of our younger forwards who have to deal with some tight defensive pressure.

And the pressure is sure to be intense in this week’s game against Adelaide. The Crows are a very good team, very structured and mechanical in the way they go about it.

It is a credit to their system and they will be raring to go on Friday night. We can’t look any further than Friday night ourselves and we have to make sure we have the right application. We weren’t strong in some ways last week defensively and it showed.

Finally I’d like to pay tribute to Stuart Dew who retired earlier this week.

Stuey has only been with us 20 months but his impact has been significant and will not be forgotten any time soon. He brought a lot of leadership to a very young list and is going to be sorely missed.

He provided some real highlights, none better than some of his play in the grand final last year. I’m sure our fans will never forget his heroics and I would personally like to wish him well for the future. He is a smart footy guy and if he wants to stay in footy he would have no problems finding a role.