Having seen team-mates and his AFL club endure plenty of criticism, St Kilda utility Brendon Goddard feels it is only right to hand some back.

The Saints were awesome in Saturday night's 34-point semi-final win over Collingwood, with Goddard playing through the midfield and defence.

Just as St Kilda beat Collingwood with their fierce attack on the ball, Goddard was also combative post-match when asked about the general perception of the Saints.

They were hammered in the media after Geelong thumped them in the qualifying final, but will now clash with Hawthorn on Saturday for a grand final berth.

Goddard pointed out that before the Cats game, they had won eight out of 10.

"It's no fluke that we made the top four and I don't know why people keep stating that - we worked our arses off and so did everything else to get there," he said.

"Everyone is so keen to write a team off, not just us, any team. They wrote off Collingwood, Adelaide.

"I guess it's just the way the media works, a big circle.

"We've run 30km of the marathon and we've got 12 to go. The game is just beginning, really ... I don't appreciate people writing us off."

Goddard said captain Nick Riewoldt, midfielder Nick Dal Santo and small forward Stephen Milne seemed to be lightning rods for criticism when the team did not play well.

The Saints controversially dropped Dal Santo and Milne mid-season and this proved to be a major turning point for the club.

Riewoldt had a poor game against Geelong, but responded with a best-afield performance.

Dal Santo and Milne were also prominent in a superb team performance.

"I don't know why people keep writing off champions and I guess in a way it just fuels the fire in their little bellies," Goddard said.

"Champions always respond, that's all I can say."

Goddard said the team would now prepare methodically for the Hawks.

"You just stay positive - we will have a look at the tape ... and there will be a few negatives, although it was a great team effort from 22 blokes," he said.

"But we can always draw negatives and positives out of a game.

"We're going into the week just as any other week and will train as we've been training."

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