I have two questions coming out of Sunday’s St Kilda versus North Melbourne match.
How did St Kilda not win by more, and how did St Kilda win by so much? It was a strange game, the crowd was exceptionally quiet for much of it and there weren’t that many memorable moments.
To be fair, St Kilda fans were mostly in mourning, their finals chances having been killed off last week against Melbourne and then again Saturday night when the Gold Coast forgot to play in the final quarter against Essendon. But it was also the last game for Nick Riewoldt at Etihad Stadium.
He is arguably the most successful individual to play at that ground, so while next week may well be his last game, this week was his farewell.
(AAP Image/Matt Roberts)
One of the only obvious things that stood out for me at the game was that North Melbourne decided to double-team Riewoldt in the forward line. It was actually quite a nostalgia hit honestly.
It did seem totally pointless though, the days of needing two men on Riewoldt sadly ended a couple of years ago. But the Kangaroos’ defensive structure did seem to work to start off with.
The combination of good defence and St Kilda’s now trademark inaccuracy meant that it was goal for goal until the middle of the second quarter. And, unlike St Kilda’s other big win this year, against Richmond, this was a consistent building effort.
Against Richmond, it was really only a big second quarter that set up the game. In this game it was consistent from the second quarter to the last, which is hopefully a sign of progress.
The lead built slowly, so it didn’t feel that big, but in the end the margin felt larger than it was. It was just one of those games.
Really, there is not much else to say about the game. It was pretty much what you would expect from a game between 17th and 10th at this stage of the season. And what it means is that St Kilda’s fate is now once again in the hands of Ross Lyon, as it was so many times before.
Last week, I said I don’t believe in miracles. And I believe even less in the possibility of Fremantle beating Essendon in Melbourne. But that is the situation that the Saints find themselves relying upon.
It’s set up to be very interesting actually, and congratulations should actually go to the AFL on this. After last year’s boredom where the final eight was set early in the season and didn’t change, this year it will not be finally decided until the very last day of the season.
Expect all St Kilda supporters to have one eye on Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon, hoping and longing for a miracle delivered by Ross Lyon.
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