Leigh Montagna of St Kilda evades Lindsay Gilbee of the Western Bulldogs. Slattery Images
St Kilda produced a miracle on Friday night, kicking three goals in the final ten minutes to snatch a three-point win over the Western Bulldogs. But for the preceding 100 minutes, the Saints kicked just four goals and appeared afraid to venture forward in a worrying sign they can’t survive without Nick Riewoldt.
A lot has been written about the loss of Riewoldt to the St Kilda side and whether they could cope in his absence.
The gutsy win over Collingwood suggested they could, but last weekend’s loss at Port Adelaide hinted it wouldn’t be so simple.
On Friday night at Etihad Stadium the evidence was there in bright lights for all to see that the Saints have issues minus Roo, as they struggled for just seven scoring shots until three-quarter time.
For a lot of the final term those problems persisted, until a midfield turnover went in the Saints favour for a Steven Milne goal, prompting St Kilda to roll the dice with time ticking away before late goals from David Armitage and Sam Fisher clinched the miracle victory.
Make no mistake, it was a miraculous win but it came from nowhere. St Kilda looked a beaten side at three-quarter term and even for a while during the final-quarter.
The turnover for Milne’s goal, the hopeful punt forward before Armitage’s soccered six-pointer and the space Fisher found for his winner all had more than an ounce of fortune about them.
Prior to that, the Saints seemed bereft of ideas in Riewoldt’s absence, with their forward-line barely functional.
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon argued afterwards: “We couldn’t get any (forward 50) entries in the first half because the pressure was very good and forced us into a lot of handball; (it was an) incredibly high tempo game.
“We wanted to go quick to avoid a bit of the press and we became a bit reckless and a bit chaotic and non-systematic.”
But a lot of St Kilda’s problems were their own doing.
Lyon may point to their lack of forward 50 entries, but the Saints seemed reluctant to venture into attack. It appeared there was little faith in their forward options and they were more intent on restricting the Dogs’ scoring with a defensive, high-possession brand of footy.
Indeed, that seems Lyon’s way (see Port the week before), but when you don’t have a dangerous forward like Riewoldt, such tactics simply flirt with danger.
On Friday, though, the Saints played their get-out-of-jail card and incredibly it paid off. Three late miracle goals won it for them.
The Saints coach added: “In the last quarter we just kicked it a little bit more, we could’ve taken the longer 50-50 a number of times earlier and I was frustrated with the number of handballs we had. So there was obviously some modifications made otherwise we wouldn’t have scored.”
Sure, they did show a little more adventure in the final term when the game was there to be won, but those three last-quarter goals came from nothing, rather than a structured and dangerous forward system.
After the game, Lyon added he was pretty happy to bank the four points and you get the sense that’s what it’s all about for the Saints right now, in Riewoldt’s absence. Simply getting across the line whichever way they can.
It worked this week, but it didn’t last round against Port Adelaide. And that’s a concern for the Saints, because if Riewoldt doesn’t get back for the finals, they’re leaving a lot to chance.
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