IN 2001, a team coached by an ex-St Kilda captain reached the preliminary final. It had been smashed in the first final by the top team and reigning premier, but the double chance gave it another shot. In week two, it duly rebounded and vanquished a hated rival.

But that second chance would prove irrelevant, as this good-average team — which had fallen into fourth in the final round — was dismantled by the emerging premiership challenger.

At the end of that season, Danny Frawley's Richmond would "top up" with seasoned recruits, in the deluded belief that it was close to a premiership. The Tigers have not seen a finals series since.

The Saints of 2008 followed the Richmond 2001 script, with a meaty second-week victory over Collingwood sandwiched between terrible hidings by the top two.

Often reminded of how the Tigers miscalculated and then paid in the subsequent seasons — a situation caused partly by salary cap issues — Frawley yesterday cautioned his old club against replicating the Richmond pattern of seeking to fill one or two holes with seasoned recruits.

Frawley knows first-hand how a preliminary final can be the fool's gold that never leads to silverware.

"They (the Saints) need to look at where they're going to be in three years' time."

Noting the patience shown by both Hawthorn and Geelong, the former Richmond coach and St Kilda captain said long-term decisions might take the club "three steps back and six steps forward."

Ross Lyon vowed on Saturday night to "weed out" those without the mental strength to take the club forward, but the question of how the Saints can become a genuine contender — as opposed to a fourth that was really tantamount to equal seventh or eighth — makes the upcoming trade period and draft the most critical the club has faced in several years.

Robert Harvey can lay his weary body to rest, but Max Hudghton, outstanding in containing Buddy Franklin, will be asked to play on; Harvey jested that Max, a spritely 32-year-old, should sign on for three years.

Whereas Justin Koschitzke is subjected to enormous scrutiny and speculation whenever he and the Saints disappoint — Mark Ricciuto yesterday suggesting that "Kosi" and St Kilda should part ways — the team's finals series was a reflection of Nick Dal Santo's performances — cold against the best, hot versus the next.

Nick Riewoldt, whose second half of the season was beyond reproach, was circumspect in assessing how "Dal" and Leigh "Joey" Montagna had to run and carry the Harvey baton.

"I think guys like Dal and Joey, I think they've got a lot of improvement in them as well. You talk about the ability to work, to run, you know, they need to stand up and fill the void left by Harvs now in that area."

As Frawley advised the Saints to "go long" rather than falling into a short-term trap, it was clear that the club was aware of its shortcomings, and of how the advent of the Gold Coast team had raised the list-management stakes.

Another club great, St Kilda board member Nathan Burke, said the finals had shown there was "still a fair bit of work to do", adding: "I think pretty much it starts at the next draft.

"Look I'm not sure of their position — whether they're going to go for a lot of young blokes, or top-ups, or whatever needs to be.

"We definitely need quite a few players. It's not as if, you know, we just say: 'Look, probably need a centre half-back and everything will be rosy'. I think there's quite a few areas we need to build in. And look they've got to take into account the compromised draft in the years after this one.

"So it's not only a draft for this one, it could be a draft for three or four years after that."

Ben Cousins will be discussed, with all those issues in mind, though he won't cost a precious early draft pick if he is cleared to play. Frawley is among those who believes that, far from needing to top up, the Saints would be well-served if they managed to obtain an extra first-round pick. Finding one, however, will require an act of list-management courage.

Their disappointment muted by the emotions surrounding Harvey's exit, the Saints found a major positive in the team's discovery of uncharacteristic pluck.

"One thing that I'm really impressed with Ross is that I think there was six games where we were down at half-time and we came back and won," said Burke.

"Whereas traditionally, it hasn't been a strong suit — you get in front of the Saints at half-time and we're gone."