St Kilda Saints vs Gold Coast Suns: AFL live scores, blog

The in-form St Kilda and the resilient Gold Coast Suns do battle at Marvel Stadium. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 1:45pm (AEST).

After a disappointing loss in Round 1 to Collingwood, St Kilda has since gone on a tear and reeled off three straight wins to move into fourth on the AFL ladder.

Last week, it was the Hawks who suffered at their hands, and many fans are starting to believe that coach Brett Ratten may finally have unlocked the secret to the Saints’ consistency.

Sadly, the coach will be absent from the ground this week thanks to COVID protocols, yet the emphatic win in Round 4 has long-suffering Saints faithful beginning to think that finals football is a possibility.

However, the Saints will not have things all their own way against a Suns team that belted Carlton last week, after much of the football world had pencilled the Blues in for another win to keep their unbeaten run alive.

It was a brave and gritty performance where Gold Coast simply competed harder for longer; after defeating the West Coast in the opening round and pushing the premiers Melbourne a week later, there are clear signs that Stuart Dew has an improved Suns ready to challenge every opponent placed before them.

In team news, Paddy Ryder’s absence after his two-match suspension mid-week is somewhat offset by the returns of Jack Hayes and Jack Higgins for the Saints, whilst the Suns will be without Jack Lukosius in what now looks like a settled and confident line-up.

Prediction

St Kilda has the chance to confirm their competitiveness with a win this afternoon and the Suns also have an opportunity to make more and more people believe in their credentials. The Saints will run and gun at speed, with their attacking weapons and explosive midfield likely to be too much for the visitors.

Should the Suns be able to slow things down and control the men who ran Hawthorn ragged last week, a win is not behind the realms of possibility. However, the Saints look real in 2022 and cannot afford to slip up with so much to play for this season.

St Kilda by 31 points.

Game information

Opening bounce: 1:45pm (AEST)
Venue: Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
TV: Fox Footy
Live stream: Kayo Sports, Foxtel Now, Foxtel Go
Betting: Saints $1.33, Suns $3.35 (odds via PlayUp)

St Kilda

B: B. Paton, D. Howard, C. Wilkie

HB: J. Battle, J. Lienert, D. McKenzie

C: B. Hill, J. Sinclair, N. Wanganeen-Milera

HF: B. Crouch, T. Membrey, D. Butler

F: J. Gresham, M. King, B. Long

FOLL: R. Marshall, S. Ross, J. Steele (c)

I/C: M. Windhager, J. Higgins, M. Wood, J. Hayes

EMG: R. Byrnes, T. Highmore, L. Connolly, T. Campbell

IN: Hayes, Higgins

OUT: Webster, Ryder

Gold Coast

B: W. Powell, S. Collins, S. Lemmens

HB: L. Weller, C. Ballard, D. Swallow

C: O. Markov, T. Miller (c), B. Ellis

HF: I. Rankine, L. Casboult, B. Ainsworth

F: J. Corbett, M. Chol, N. Holman

FOLL: J. Witts (c), M. Rowell, N. Anderson

I/C: A. Davies, B. Fiorini, M. Rosas, J. Farrar

EMG: R. Atkins, C. Burgess, D. Macpherson, C. Graham

IN: Markov

OUT: Lukosius