An Aaron Davey shocker against St Kilda will sting even more for the Melbourne star because it came in the AFL's indigenous round, coach Dean Bailey believes.

The Melbourne vice-captain, normally damaging with his pace and exquisite skills, barely contributed at Etihad Stadium on Saturday with just nine touches, while opponent Clinton Jones had 22 disposals and a goal.

But harder to take than Davey's lack of positive impact was the two goals he gave away.

The first came late in the second quarter, when Melbourne had fought back to within seven points after an early Saints' onslaught.

Davey could have marked at halfback, but failed to go back hard enough with the flight of the ball and failed to even touch it, allowing Jones to goal.

"I don't think it's a highlight that any player would want to have," Bailey said of that incident.

"It's probably (lacking) confidence to go back with it."

Davey's other costly mistake came early in the final term when, after Saints skipper Nick Riewoldt won a free kick, Davey failed to throw the ball back to him, giving away a 50m penalty.

It set up a certain goal, putting the Saints 17 points clear and Melbourne did not get closer than 15 points for the rest of the match.

Bailey did not rule out dropping Davey, saying he did not want to make that call in the heat of the moment straight after a game.

But he said given the importance of the indigenous star's precise kicking, a move away from halfback might be more likely.

"He got closely tagged today on a halfback flank," Bailey said.

"He didn't play well. Aaron would be the first one to sit here and say that 'I didn't perform at a level that I should'.

"He's pretty honest with his assessment, Flash, so he was very disappointed after the game, particularly this (indigenous) round as well, playing this weekend."

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