Jarryn Geary's broken leg has capped a nightmare Shanghai AFL debut for St Kilda after wilting under Port Adelaide's fierce pressure.
Saints coach Alan Richardson gave a damning assessment of his players' lack of physical pressure after the Power mauled them by 70 points on Sunday at Jiangwan Stadium.
Port were as supreme in their 22.7 (139) to 9.15 (69) domination as St Kilda were woeful, with Power coach Ken Hinkley praising a complete performance.
While the hospitality marquees at the ground were pumping in the warm weather, the grandstands were less than half full after a sellout crowd had been spruiked.
After St Kilda had to deal with ill health hitting several players and coaches before the game, skipper Geary's injury in the last quarter was the exclamation mark on a disastrous trip.
He appeared to kick the back of his left leg and one of the AFL's toughest players was in agony as trainers helped him from the field.
The Saints later confirmed that Geary has a clean break low in the leg.
St Kilda football boss Simon Lethlean said the best case was for Geary to return by the end of the season.
This was Geary's first game back in seven weeks after leg surgery left him with a gruesome scar on his right leg.
Richardson said they had no second thoughts about recalling Geary for the China trip and added their pre-game health woes were no excuse for such a poor performance.
"Perhaps if his thigh split in half, then we'd second-guess it, but this was obviously completely different," Richardson said.
He says players must respond immediately to their worst loss of the season.
They have a bye ahead of a crucial round-13 clash with Gold Coast.
"This is hard so say as a coach, but they were more physical than us," Richardson said.
"They were more committed to the contest than we were. That's been a strength of ours.
"I would be really surprised and equally disappointed if we didn't respond next time we play."
Richardson also said he was a fan of St Kilda playing in Shanghai, despite their travel woes.
By contrast, the Power kicked their highest score since round six in 2017, with everything going right.
Robbie Gray returned to top form, while Travis Boak continued his career-best form and was best afield.
The moves of Dougal Howard into attack and Dan Houston into the midfield clicked and, after struggling to kick goals, Port at one point had kicked 18.3.
This was a big game, with the two teams coming in with 5-5 records. It is easily the most significant of Port's three wins in Shanghai.
"They acknowledged this was a big moment for our football club," Hinkley proudly said of his players.
Gray and Saints defender Josh Battle will come under video review for a scuffle on the wing in the second term.