North Melbourne Kangaroos vs St Kilda Saints: Saints by 25

Match result:

The St Kilda Saints have defeated the North Melbourne Kangaroos by 25 points at Chirnside Park, Werribee in the first weekend of the JLT Community Series.

North Melbourne started well, exposed some lazy Saints’ defence in the first quarter and took an 11-point lead into the first break.

With the gauge reading 36 degrees before the first bounce, the heat policy was enforced and longer breaks allowed teams to head into the rooms to get some relief at each break.

In the second term St Kilda came out firing, piling on eight goals to North’s two, including a six-goal run to end the half.

Paddy McCartin got involved up forward with strong leads, and support from the midfielders as well as new recruit from South Fremantle, Matty Parker.

From there it was a fairly even match in terms of scoring, though that came more easily with the breeze for North in the third and then the Saints in the fourth.

Things were problematic for North coming off half-back, struggling to gel and overusing the handball.

The Saints forward pressure was good to see, as was the even contribution from their midfielders who rotated through the forward line.

Bailey Scott is an exciting prospect for the Roos – the draftee picked up 21 disposals – while 2019 could see the emergence of Luke Davies-Uniacke who had 27 disposals and 5 tackles today and impressed around the ground.

St Kilda lost their main ruckman, Lewis Pierce, in the first quarter to a concussion and were forced to be creative. Josh Bruce, Callum Wilkie and Nathan Brown all jumped up at different times to compete with the dominant Todd Goldstein and his second-in-command Tom Campbell.

The Saints midfielders did their job at ground level to get hands on the ball, despite this clear advantage for North Melbourne.

North had their own injury troubles with Aaron Hall hurting his knee in the first term, he played the second quarter before being put on ice for the second half.

Jack Ziebell also didn’t play the final quarter with a hip concern.

Shaun Higgins and Tarryn Thomas received treatment to cuts on their heads, Kayne Turner was cleared of concussion, and Nick Larkey finished the game on the bench after an elbow to the face.

Next weekend North Melbourne will face Port Adelaide at Alberton Oval, while St Kilda will take on the Western Bulldogs at MARS Stadium in Ballarat.

Final score
North Melbourne Kangaroos 11.11.77
St Kilda Saints 15.12.102

Match preview:

In the first weekend of the JLT Series, the North Melbourne Kangaroos play host to the St Kilda Saints at Chirnside Park on Saturday afternoon. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 1:10pm AEDT.

Another AFL season is almost before us, but first we must test out the squads in a community series that takes footy to the suburban grounds of Australia.

The Kangaroos became a surprise success story with their ninth placing in 2018, narrowly missing finals and many referred back to the swimming pool in Cairns and what could have been for North Melbourne.

It was the same old, same old for the sixteenth-finishing Saints though, who had a real shocker. Notching up just four wins, the young squad struggled for consistency and lacked experience when important players suffered long-term injuries.

A new season is a fresh start and the Saints could be one to take a real leap up the ladder this year, we’re not talking finals, but a 9-12th finish is not an unreasonable goal for this side.

North Melbourne will field several offseason recruits this weekend, seven new faces in total including two draftees and five established AFL players.

Ex-Port Adelaide pair Jared Polec and Jasper Pittard, Aaron Hall (Gold Coast), Dom Tyson (Melbourne) and ruckman Tom Campbell (Western Bulldogs) will all pull on their new jumpers.

Two of last year’s draftees Tarryn Thomas (pick 8) and Bailey Scott (pick 49) also have the opportunity to impress for a spot in the round one side.

Some of the notable absentees from this squad include Majak Daw, Robbie Tarrant and Ben Cuttington.

The Saints will have four new additions including Dean Kent (Melbourne) and mature-age recruits Matthew Parker, Nick Hind and Callum Wilkie.

Dan Hannebery and Billy Longer are still a fortnight away from re-joining the main training group, while Jake Carlisle, draftee Max King and Jack Bytel remain in the rehab group, working through and ticking the boxes.

Prediction
It’s difficult to know what each team will produce in their first official hit out for 2019. How have game styles changed? How well does the plan hold up against opposition?

North Melbourne are pressing to play finals this year and will want to kick things off right with a win on Saturday.

Kangaroos by 21 points.

Venue: Chirnside Park, Werribee
Time: 1:10pm AEDT
TV: Fox Sports
Betting: North Melbourne $1.42, St Kilda $2.90

North Melbourne
B: Marley Williams, Jamie Macmillan, Jasper Pittard
HB: Aaron Hall, Ben McKay, Luke McDonald
C: Jared Polec, Dom Tyson, Trent Dumont
HF: S Atley, Ben Brown, Shaun Higgins
F: Jy Simpkin, Mason Wood, Kayne Turner
Foll: Todd Goldstein, Jack Ziebell, Paul Ahern
I/C: Luke Davies-Uniacke, Nick Larkey, Tarryn Thomas, Bailey Scott, Ed Vickers-Willis, Tom Murphy, Tom Campbell, Cameron Zurhaar

St Kilda
B: Jarryn Geary, Nathan Brown, Shane Savage
HB: Josh Battle, Dylan Roberton, Jimmy Webster
C: Jack Billings, Hunter Clark, Jack Sinclair
HF: Jade Gresham, Josh Bruce, Dean Kent
F: Tim Membrey, Paddy McCartin, Jack Lonie
Foll: Lewis Pierce, Sebastian Ross, Jack Steele
I/C: Luke Dunstan, Jack Newnes, Ed Phillips, Ben Paton, Matthew Parker, Darragh Joyce, Nick Hind, Callum Wilkie