Kane Cornes believes reality is starting to set in at St Kilda.
After sitting on the precipice of the top four after Round 16 with a 9-6 record, the Saints have since lost two games on the trot and are now clinging onto their spot in the top eight on percentage.
Their most recent loss came against Gold Coast, with the Suns claiming a 77-51 victory at home on Saturday.
With Ross Lyon admitting post-match his side doesn’t deserve to play finals if they keep offering up similar performances, Cornes was glad to hear the coach finally be realistic about where his team is at.
“The result says more about the Saints to me,” Cornes told SEN Breakfast.
“For the first time, I thought Ross Lyon was realistic of where they sit after the game.
“He's been quite prone to just move on … a couple of the losses that they've had, one was a mulligan the second time was, ‘Ok, we haven't had too many of these so we're going to move on’.
“For the first time, I thought he's gone that was a really ordinary performance.”
Cornes believes serious questions need to be placed on the side’s attacking ability as they’ve scored less than 60 in every game across the last month apart from their win over West Coast.
He also believes the club felt their list was better than truly are, proven by their decision to sack Brett Ratten last season.
“The reality of where the group sits, I think is smacking them all in the face, because they thought they were better than this,” Cornes said.
“They sacked their coach, they thought their list was better than this, that's the reason they sacked (Ratten).
“They are no better right now, in fact, they're probably worse than when they sacked Brett Ratten and there would be numbers to back that up.
“They can't score, and questions will now start to emerge over Ross Lyon and his defensive philosophy as a coach and whether or not as a coach he can get that offensive flare that the best teams now play with.
“You look back at their scores in the last five weeks, they struggle to kick more than nine or 10 goals in a game. He said that after the game.”
While Cornes expects St Kilda to pick up a win on Sunday when they face Ratten and North Melbourne, he is certain the Saints aren’t anywhere near the competition’s elite sides.
“They've lost four out of their last five,” Cornes said.
“They've got North this week, so they'll win that, and they'll bounce back.
“But it’s a pretty sober thought, how far the Saints are away.”
The bounce for Sunday’s game between the Saints and Kangaroos is set for 4.40pm (AEST) at Marvel Stadium.