St Kilda coach Ross Lyon believes his Saints were simply out-worked by a more committed Collingwood unit in Saturday's match at the MCG played in drenching rain.

When full-forward Fraser Gehrig kicked his fourth goal with 30 seconds on the clock in the final term, the Saints led by 21 points - the biggest lead of the match by either team.

In the conditions, it was close to a match-winning lead, but Collingwood rallied with the last four goals of the match including two to Dale Thomas to get up by nine points.

"We knew they would come, but my view is I thought they out-worked us and continued to run in the last quarter," a sombre Lyon told his post-match media conference.

"We invited them in a little bit with some really sloppy ball use and then they really got going and out-worked us - smashed us at ground ball, smashed us at inside 50s. I thought our kick-ins under pressure really fell away."

Lyon said he would be disappointed if his players felt that they had the game in the bag early in the final term.

"You're never safe in league footy and that's been proven again today. I mean, 21 points is a snack in the modern game and I just thought their work-rate was enormous and something they deserve credit for and something we need to aim to match in our next game," he said.

"Any loss is a bad loss, especially when you're 21 points up in the wet - it was a bad loss.

"Playing minute by minute and play by play, we didn't manage to do that today so that has got to be the focus going forward regardless of the opposition."

Quizzed about the interpretation by field umpires Chamberlain, Donlon and McLaren of the hands-in-the back rule in the wet, Lyon said it had always been his policy never to focus on free kicks.

Players and supporters of both sides were frustrated by a number of free kicks paid over the course of the match for almost incidental contact.

"You can have a good run and you can have a bad run from week-to-week and that can happen within games, so I don't focus on it at all," he said.

Lyon revealed that former captain Aaron Hamill has had a setback in his comeback from a chronic knee injury.

Hamill, who kicked four goals in his first game for the season in the VFL last week, has withdrawn from the Springvale line-up for Sunday's match with knee soreness.

Lyon said he expects Hamill to be fit to resume next week.