Roar Guru
The St Kilda Saints took a scrappy but satisfactory win over the Richmond Tigers on Saturday afternoon.
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Final score
Richmond Tigers 6.10.46
St Kilda Saints 7.13.55
The Richmond Tigers desperately need to restore some pride after last week’s capitulation, while the St Kilda Saints will be keen to get back on the winners list in the clash at the MCG today. Join The Roar from 2:10pm (AEST) for all the live scores and action!
While both these teams won’t play finals this season, it’s been a starkly different story for each.
Richmond have been one of the most disappointing teams of the year, widely tipped to play in a fourth straight finals series only to languish under the expectation and fall back down the ladder where they sat for so long.
On the other hand, St Kilda have had a positive year, arguably ahead of schedule, with players like Tim Membrey and Jade Gresham showing that they certainly are a team with a bright future ahead, with plenty of exciting football to come.
Richmond hold a seven-match winning streak against the Saints – the last time St Kilda took the points was in 2010, a year they made the grand final.
There’s no doubt the Tigers should have beaten Geelong last Sunday, and will need to make amends to erase that from their memory as quickly as possible. St Kilda would also probably like to forget their belting at the hands of the Swans, and what better way to do it than to win game No.11 for the year.
Four big omissions for the Tigers in the shape of Ty Vickery, Anthony Miles, Ben Lennon and Nathan Drummond, who will be replaced by Kane Lambert, Todd Elton, Cameron Menadue and Callum Moore in his debut.
Darren Minchington has been dropped by the Saints, who have also lost Sam Fisher and Tom Hickey to injuries. In comes American ruckman Jason Holmes, veteran Jarryn Geary and youngster Jack Lonie.
Dustin Martin has been the shining light of Richmond’s season, and against a beatable opponent there’s a real chance for him to add to what is surely an impressive tally of Brownlow votes. Oleg Markov has also been incredibly impressive in his first handful of games and is sure to be a mainstay of the Tigers team for years to come.
The Saints are going big up forward, playing all of Paddy McCartin, Josh Bruce, Tim Membrey and superstar captain Nick Riewoldt. If they find chemistry early, they will be very hard to stop. Jack Steven has had another sensational year and could also have a huge outing.
Respect was lost last week, and now it’s here to be won – who gets it back?
Prediction
Really tough gane. The Saints have impressed me this year so I’ll give them the edge.
St Kilda by 18.
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