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The St Kilda Saints finished their season with a smashing win over the Brisbane Lions on Sunday, with the Lions recording a large enough score to avoid the wooden spoon.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
St Kilda Saints 25.11.161
Brisbane Lions 15.13.103
The Brisbane Lions will be out to end a horror season on a high this afternoon as they take on the St Kilda Saints in a bid to avoid the wooden spoon. Catch all the live highlights and AFL action on The Roar from 1:10pm (AEST).
The Lions are on equal points with the last placed Essendon Bombers, but hold a mere 0.5 per cent advantage on them, meaning if they lose by a decent margin, they’re taking home the wooden spoon.
Brisbane have arguably been in their best form as of late, winning two of three games they have all year within the last five rounds. Doesn’t sound huge, but considering the year they’ve had, it’s not bad.
The Saints on the other hand have snuck right up to the edge of the finals equation in the final weeks, but it still won’t be enough to usurp the Kangaroos for eighth place.
St Kilda limped past Richmond last week in a scrappy affair that many have called the worst game of the season, with dropped balls, wayward kicks and errors flying around all over the place.
Still, a win’s a win and the Saints will carry that into the final game of the season, looking to improve and finish their campaign with a W next to their name.
Statistically, poor Brisbane are sitting dead last in the league in uncontested possessions, kicks, marks, handballs and contested marks.
Even worse for Brisbane coming into this one, they haven’t beaten St Kilda at Etihad Stadium in sixteen years, dating back to Round 6 in 2000.
Team News
Both sides are bringing an extended squad into this game, with just one omission for either side in among four inclusions.
For the Saints, coach Alan Richardson will be welcoming back veteran Sam Fisher from a hamstring injury in what could be his last game for the club.
Fisher will be joined by Brandon White, Jack Sinclair and Lewis Pearce in the game day squad, with Paddy McCartin the only man to miss out this week, due to a broken collarbone.
The Lions will be missing Jackson Paine with a leg injury this week, with the retiring Trent West, Liam Dawson, Jarrad Jansen and Archie Smith coming into the side.
Prediction
While the Saints are much higher on the ladder, the Lions are the ones with everything to play for, avoiding that wooden spoon in the final round of the competition.
Brisbane have been below par all season long and it will be a tough ask against a St Kilda side that showed glimpses of being a top side throughout the year, but their inconsistencies hurt them in the end.
Brisbane will put up a fight no doubt, but the Saints should be too much for them today. They might even go down by enough to take last place.
St Kilda to win by 28
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