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A match-winning performance from Jack Steven has helped St Kilda to survive a major scare from AFL upstarts Brisbane, downing the Lions by 25 points at Etihad Stadium.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
St Kilda Saints 14.11 (107)
Brisbane Lions 11.10 (82)
The St Kilda Saints host a potentially resurgent Brisbane Lions as both teams kick off their 2018 campaigns. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog from 3:35pm (AEDT).
St Kilda’s 2017 campaign was, as ever, middling to average. For a team rumoured these past few years to rocket back into finals, they’ve shown spicks and specks of talent, but unfortunately never enough. 2018 is a pivotal year for this team – not make finals, and they’ll be serious questions asked.
On the other side of the equation, Brisbane have languished in the dregs of the AFL ladder for a long while, but there finally seems to be optimism surrounding the Queenslanders. Finals are probably a pipe-dream, but there’ll be a fair few wins.
The Saints have named a majority of their choice 22, with the prominent exclusions including Mav Weller, Luke Dunstan and Sam Gilbert. Importantly, Paddy McCartin and Dave Armitage return, top draftee Hunter Clark debuts, and Billy Longer and Jack Steven make the team despite JLT Series injury concerns.
The Lions, too, have debutants and healthy players alike. Number 1 draftee Cam Rayner will be a debutant, while Charlie Cameron and Luke Hodge will play in Lions guerneseys for the first time. A trio who missed a fair chunk of 2017 – Allen Christensen, Tom Bell and Mitch Robinson – also return.
Prediction
This could easily be slapped with the dubious honour of being one of the least promising games of the round, but that could very well be unfair. Both teams played some great footy last year, and a quality game could eventuate.
There’s not much to separate these two, but I’m going with St Kilda by 18 points.
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 3:35pm (AEDT).
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