Hawthorn premiership winner urges St Kilda to go hard at Jordan De Goey as coach defends Max King

Former Hawthorn star Luke Hodge has urged St Kilda to pursue Collingwood free agent Jordan De Goey with the Saints almost certain to miss AFL finals again in 2022.

After losing by 15 points to Brisbane at Marvel Stadium on Friday night, St Kilda now faces an uphill battle to make finals.

A string of wasted chances in front of goal – most notably by Max King, who finished with 0.5 – ultimately proved costly for St Kilda as Brisbane steadied to post a 12.9 (81) to 9.12 (66) win.

While the Saints were up for the fight against Brisbane, a string of poor losses throughout the season ultimately cruelled their chances.

Hodge believes that a player of De Goey’s calibre would make a difference. 

‘I’d be going for (Jordan) De Goey if I was St Kilda,’ he said on SEN’s Crunch Time.

‘He’s a player last night who would’ve loved that opportunity and would have loved having the ball in his hands.

‘My issue with St Kilda is the effort. On Friday night, no one can argue the effort wasn’t there but where has that been throughout the season. We’ve seen games (earlier in the season) where they were really good.

‘That intensity that they showed [against Brisbane] where they were physical, that’s not consistent enough for this team.

‘Before they start bringing in more people, they need to get that right from the people on the list.’

Luke Hodge and Alastair Clarkson hold up the Premiership Cup after the 2014 AFL grand final

Meanwhile St Kilda coach Brett Ratten has no doubt Max King will bounce back after the spearhead’s wayward goal-kicking proved costly in a loss to Brisbane that all but ended the Saints’ AFL finals chances.

King gradually worked his way into Friday night’s contest against Lions star Harris Andrews but let himself down in front of goal, finishing with 0.5 in the 15-point defeat.

It left the Saints needing a series of results to fall their way in order to sneak into the top-eight.

King’s goal-kicking has been a glaring issue at times throughout his 59-game career but Ratten backed the 22-year-old to find his groove.

King had a night to forget against the Lions with a string of waste chances that cost his side

“He’s doing a power of work and what I do know is I want Max King in my corner,” Ratten said.

“He’ll be at our footy club for 10 years and when we look back we’ll be saying what a great player he is and what he’s done.

“Tonight he had a night where it didn’t work for him. He did everything right bar the finish.

“He’s 22 years of age, we love what he brings to the footy club and he’s developing, but we know he’s doing the work.

“Sometimes you don’t get the reward all the time but he’ll keep doing that and you watch, he’ll turn it around.”

Ratten was unable to rally his charges in their must-win match against the Brisbane Lions

King kicked three behinds in the third quarter, including two bad misses from set shots about 20 metres out.

He also had a chance to level the scores during the final term but missed from 40 metres before the Lions went coast-to-coast from the kick-in, resulting in a crucial Joe Daniher goal.