St Kilda are counting the cost of a 21-point defeat to Melbourne after losing Max King to a dislocated shoulder - as well as Seb Ross and Zaine Cordy to separate injuries - in what could be a savage blow to their AFL finals chances.
Christian Petracca kicked four goals as the Demons posted a 12.7 (79) to 8.10 (58) victory at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night, lifting them one win clear of the chasing pack in the race for a top-four position.
The fallout for St Kilda could be disastrous as they face the possibility of fighting for a finals spot without star forward King.
The Saints were rocked in the opening seconds when the 22-year-old spearhead - their leading goalkicker for the past two years - hurt his troublesome left shoulder in a spoiling attempt on Steven May.
It is the same shoulder King had reconstructed after a training mishap last December, delaying his start to the season by more than two months.
"It doesn't look good," St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said.
"I'd be out of my lane if I hypothesised to what it is but it looks on the surface significant."
Ross (hamstring) joined King on the sidelines early in the match and Cordy (concussion) was also out of the game before quarter-time, leaving St Kilda with just two fit players on the bench.
Despite the setbacks, the brave Saints kicked three of the first four goals and stayed in the fourth-versus-fifth contest until midway through the final term, when Melbourne finally ground their opponents down.
"In the context of the challenge, I thought we stood up against a team of quality," Lyon said.
May was one of Melbourne's most influential contributors with 29 disposals, 12 marks and 13 intercepts, cashing in on King's absence and St Kilda's focus on shutting down Jake Lever.
Petracca (four), Tom Sparrow and Jake Melksham (two each) were multiple goalkickers for the Demons, who posted their highest score in almost two months.
"We acknowledge the fact that they had injuries early in the game and we came in knowing that was the type of game we were going to get from St Kilda," Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said.
"They're well coached, they play a great defensive style of footy and a lot of teams have struggled.
"We knew it was going to be an arm wrestle and that's the way the game panned out but in the end we won the game on efficiency."
St Kilda ruckman Rowan Marshall (29 disposals, 16 hit-outs, eight clearances) more than held his own against ruck rivals Brodie Grundy and Max Gawn.
Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (31 touches), Jack Sinclair (33) and Jack Steele (31, one goal) were all busy for the Saints, while Mitch Owens and Jade Gresham kicked two majors each.
Melbourne's Taj Woewodin - son of 2000 Brownlow medallist Shane Woewodin - did not look out of place on debut, finishing with 12 disposals.
