St Kilda showcased the best and worst of their 2016 AFL season against Sydney on Saturday night.
With the finals still a possibility, the Saints took it right up to the Swans to trail by five points at halftime after a hotly-contested first half at Etihad Stadium.
But then they surrendered meekly in the second as six-goal hero Lance Franklin and his red-hot team ran riot on their way on to a 70-point demolition.
Alan Richardson's side are still a mathematical finals chance two games behind eighth-placed North Melbourne, but their percentage took a hit that won't allow them to displace the Roos in the eight.
"We certainly turned up with real energy and spirit and took the game on ... so that was positive," Richardson said.
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"There's no doubt that our guys, in this last period when there has been a really slight (finals) chance, have really been strong and have wanted to stay alive as long as possible.
"From that point of view, we've been pretty proud of the way they've embraced it ... but we're equally as disappointed with the second half.
"We won't let ourselves off the hook there. We'll learn from it and make sure that we take that into the last two games."
Richardson acknowledged the gap in quality between the two teams at this stage, but added he was still surprised and disappointed by his side's lack of appetite for the contest after halftime when the Swans outscored them 15 goals to four.
And to make matters worse, defensive stalwart Sam Fisher may have played his last game for the club.
Fisher is in danger of missing the rest of the season after he was sent to hospital for scans on his jaw after a fearsome collision with Sydney ruckman Toby Nankervis.
At 34, the 227-game veteran would appear unlikely to be offered a new contract to play on next year.
"We'll have conversations with all our players in the fullness of time," Richardson said.
"We've still got a couple of weeks to go. We'll just have to wait and see, sit down and have those conversations respectfully at the end of the year."
On a tough night for the Saints, they also lost Jarryn Geary to a back strain in the warm-up and ruckman Tom Hickey to an ankle injury in the third term.
