The pain of last year's AFL grand final loss comes to mind very easily for St Kilda's Brendon Goddard, who says it caused him months of heartache.

The 2009 All-Australian finished the grand final against Geelong in tears, struggling to cope with the reality of a 12-point defeat, coupled with a broken nose and a broken collarbone.

Nominated in the short-list of 40 for the All-Australian side to be named on September 13, Goddard is focusing on one thing and that's the premiership medallion which eluded him 12 months ago.

"I haven't really put much thought into it until the last couple of weeks," Goddard told Channel Ten's "One Week At A Time" program on Monday night.

"Looking back on it, it does still hurt when you actually put some time and effort into thinking about what happened.

"I guess you can't really stop thinking about it now, now that it's finals and we're getting closer.

"You probably hope that each individual could draw upon the pain they had that grand final day and the pain it probably caused for months since and draw upon it and use it at some stage."

The Saints have earned a week off ahead of a preliminary final on September 18 following their upset win over Geelong in last Friday night's qualifying final at the MCG.

Goddard said the Saints would keep working hard with three big training sessions this week.

The 25-year-old, whose long-kicking style has been crucial for the Saints, said he was equally happy in midfield or defence.

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