St Kilda’s third term turn-around in yesterday’s 35-point victory over West Coast at Subi offered an interesting microcosm of the Saints’ form struggles of the past month. Three goals behind and battling ten minutes in, something suddenly changed and last season’s beaten grand finalists were back on their way.
Everybody knew coming into Sunday afternoon’s contest St Kilda were struggling for form after only one win in their last four matches.
And coming up against a West Coast team feeling good about themselves following solid wins over Hawthorn and Melbourne, there was a sense on Sunday the Saints had a season defining game on their hands.
Win and they were 6-3 and looking like a premiership contender again with the top four within reach.
Lose and they would be 5-4, woefully out of form and battling to make the eight.
Ten minutes into the third term it seemed the latter would prove the reality for the Saints, with the Eagles enjoying a three-goal buffer and looking good for their lead.
But in a style reminiscent of quality teams, the Saints stepped it up a gear in the premiership quarter, kicking five unanswered goals to take a 16-point advantage into the final change.
Watching it first-hand at Subiaco Oval, it seemed the Eagles didn’t know what had hit them towards the end of that quarter.
By full-time the Saints had booted nine of the last ten majors of the game to clinch a comfortable win.
And make no mistake, despite the Eagles’ struggles in the last few years, the trip to WA is never an easy one for AFL clubs and the Saints will be delighted to head home with the four points.
Sure their big men up forward struggled to have an influence on the game, with Justin Koschitzke worryingly well held by WAFL regular Beau Waters.
But there were elements of a return to form from the Saints after their problems of the past month, which coach Ross Lyon has been at a loss to explain.
The way St Kilda turned around their fortunes mid-match said plenty. They’d been battling through, as they had been in the past month, before something triggered a dramatic change and it started raining goals.
As I argued in a piece early this month after their narrow victory over the Western Bulldogs in round six, the Saints have been playing a complicated and defensive gameplan since Nick Riewoldt’s injury and it appears to have confused a few players whilst not giving them the best chance to win.
Interestingly, when questioned about St Kilda’s turn-around in the third term on Sunday, Lyon responded by claiming the Saints had triggered it by keeping it simple and getting back to basics.
“Early on we over-finessed going forward,” Lyon said. “It was a really blustery, swirly day and it was a really difficult day for all. So we played the percentages a little bit better and took our opportunities.”
Lenny Hayes, Brendon Goddard, Nick Dal Santo and Sam Gilbert all started to get on top and influenced the result by playing their natural games.
From a St Kilda perspective it was refreshing to see. What made them so dangerous last season was suddenly was back. From a West Coast perspective it seemed impossible to stop.
Indeed, it’s funny what a trip away can do for a playing group but the true tests for the Saints are still to come.
For now, though, they seem to be back on the right track after a difficult month.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.
The MRO assessed the incident, that ruled Michael Frederick out of the game, as accidental leaving Webster with no case to answer. But the…
"If you can't hit targets, you're in trouble."
There's never a bad time for a torp!
Jimmy Webster ironed him out!
It’s simple for the Saints – if you have the money, spend it. Rumours of the club putting forward a $12 million, eight-year deal…
Absolutely unnecessary from Dunstall!
