Koroit coach Chris McLaren battling a back injury

But the enforced stint on the sidelines gave the five-time premiership player a chance to dissect what went wrong for the Saints after half-time.

The Saints’ fast-start – they were 24 points up at quarter-time and clung to a 26-point advantage at the main break – counted for little as Port Fairy stormed home to produce a 17-point win.

“It was a complete flip in the second half,” McLaren said.

“Our tackling dropped right off – they broke a lot of tackles and our tackle numbers were down as well.”

McLaren said the Saints were confident they could respond in the preliminary final and keep their push for a fourth straight flag alive.

“Does first in (the grand final) help you win it? Nup,” he said.

“It didn’t help North Warrnambool last year, it didn’t help Heywood last week in a different level, it didn’t help Warrnambool a couple of years ago and it didn’t help us.”