AFL Senior Coach Michael Voss speaks following the Round 8 defeat to St Kilda.

On how the game played out:

"It’s been a familiar pattern. We lost centre-square bounce, there were four or five free kicks against us - a couple in the ruck and couple on the floor - and our ability to continue to defend when we were up against it isn’t at the level it needs to be at.

"It puts you under an enormous amount of pressure when they’re kicking goals when they like and we’re getting huge runs against us. Defensively we’re not strong enough for long enough, and it’s holding us back."

On the Blues' collective defensive intent:

"The game got into some transition which is where we got scored against in the third quarter. There’s an attitude and intent, there’s some capacity in there clearly which we’ve got to continue to look at. Defensively, really poor. We need to be better.

"Across the whole year, we’ve chased the way we want to move the ball - for the majority of the game, that’s looking better. We’ve got to finish our plays better, there’s some fundamentals that we need to clean up. But if you’re looking for moments when you get pressed by the opposition, which is something as simple as having four clearances in a row against you and you lose territory, we’ve got to be better at holding up.

"That’s not a back six question: that’s intent from the whole team to get that done. Across the whole year, based on the transition of the game, it wasn’t at the level it needs to be. We’re clear on that, but we’ve got to get some shift on it."

On being unable to stop the Saints' scoring momentum:

"That’s a work rate thing. When you’re playing the game in your half, like we did for a fair bit of that game and then the ball goes from one end to the other, we’re either conceding marks or getting out the back. You need to be able to dig in and run. We just didn’t do that when we needed to.

"The delay on the ball is the first thing, but the second thing to turn and go and outnumber at that second contest was not at the level it needed to be. Whether it’s that source or another, the reality is we haven’t been strong enough defensively.

"We’re getting scored against too much. We’ll keep trying to chase the offensive part of the game and how we want that to look, but the guys are quite familiar with what we’re trying to get after. There are some fundamentals we need to clean up, but we’ve got far more defensively stronger than what we currently are against any side.

"When a side presses, stand up. Stand up. We’re not doing that."

On how the fourth quarter played out:

"The fourth quarter, we had to chase the game and go for it. The ground was always going to be longer than what we intended it to be, but if you look at the first part of the quarter, we had enough looks on goal to score. What happened at the other end? They went end-to-end and scored two goals against the run of play: that’s the part we need to be better at.

"You can only press and make a shift if you can get the scoreboard turning in your direction and make the most of your opportunities when you get them. But likewise, when it’s your turn to defend - defend. We had two goals kicked against us at the start of the fourth quarter that we could’ve prevented, and we didn’t. That’s the transition part of the game we need to be better at, and we’ve got to get a shift in that to make us a better football team."

"A lot of it is to do with intent. Right now, that’s not high enough. We’ve got to make it a priority. Is six tackles in the third quarter not good enough? Exactly."

On how the midfield battle eventuated:

"Beaten. Don’t think we need to be beat around the bush, we were beaten. We were beaten all over the ground: we lost contest, we lost clearance which is valuable territory. We didn’t get it in order tonight: small patches, but not long enough.

"Behind the ball, to and fro with the make up of our side: their talls had a significant impact forward of the ball. We went a bit more hybrid, but their rucks were able to hit the scoreboard and their talls were able to have an impact in the game.

"We’ll look at that and what gives us the best chance to be able to defend those high balls, but the height was an issue throughout the night."

On how and when things shift:

"Our eyes are in on what we need to fix. If we’re going to get a shift in anything, it needs to be there - and we need to look to players that value that."

On Harry Dean's injury:

"He’ll get scans, he obviously wasn’t fit enough to come back out on the ground. We’ll find out the extent of that. Weitering’s okay and Cowan had a HIA and passed all that. He should be fine, other than if there’s nothing delayed."

On how the week will play out:

"I’ll go home, have a look at the game, review it, turn up Monday and we’ll be really clear on what we need to be able to get after. Then we dive into the week and find the marginal things to be able to get better next week.

"What circles around it is not for me to speculate on. What we will do is get after what we need to get better at, you’ve got some insight in here tonight."

On his final message coming out of the game:

"Our ability and intent is not where it needs to be in that phase of the game. You’ve seen that we put ourselves in positions to win the game, that message seems to be working pretty well. But our ability to be able to do it for a longer period of time is not at the level it needs to be at.

"When the game is against you, you need to defend and you need to fight. And we are not doing it well enough. I can’t be any clearer than that."