Rowan Marshall

The Saints mauled Hawthorn earlier in the season at the MCG as their midfield and forwards dominated the Hawks. Now late in the season the two teams are not so distant on the ladder at Round 20 and both were outside the top eight prior to this match. Early in the third quarter today the Saints looked poised to repeat the dose, but a late fightback by the Hawks saw them trail by just two goals at the final siren, but still enough to carry the Saints into the top eight.

Played under the closed roof at Marvel, the two teams took a good period to feel each other out.  After seven and a half minutes the Saints put the first serious score on the board when Mason Wood outmarked Jiath in the forward pocket and converted the free kick into a goal.  But they failed to capitalize on good work of the midfield as King, Membrey and Lienart all missed set shots. 

The Fremantle Dockers defeated the St Kilda Saints in one of the most dramatic games of this remarkable season. The Dockers were without their four best defenders and were exposed early by the Saints' height in attack, but worked their way back in the game using their new possession-oriented kicking game plan./p>

The Dockers were in disarray in the first quarter, evidenced when one of their most experienced players, Michael Walters, started the drama by kicking in the wrong direction at a center bounce. The Saints then received a 50-meter penalty after Docker defender Nathan Wilson mistakenly thought his team had a free kick and played on. The penalty brought Tim Membrey to the goal square to boot his team's first goal; all of this within in the first minute of play. Sean Darcy was influential in the ruck early for the Dockers and moved forward to mark (catch) against opposing ruckman Rowan Marshall and open the Docker's account at the 7-minute mark.  From there it was all Saints, as they won the contested balls and booted long to Ben King, who looked set for a field day against the Dockers' undersized defense. The Docker defense did well to spoil marks, but when the ball hit the ground the Saints' small men: Jack Billings, Dean Kent, Dan Butler, Zak Jones, and Jack Lonie, all swooped in for goals. The Saints were running on adrenaline and at the end of the first quarter the only question was how big would be their final winning margin. 

The big movers on the AFANA AFL Power Poll this week were the Tigers and the Saints up four places each, while the Adelaide Crows fell four spots after a disastrous loss to the previously winless Kangaroos. Other notable happenings over another topsy-turvy round of footy were the Demons notching their first win for the season up in Sydney, while the previously unbeaten Cats were ambushed late by an impressive Giants outfit despite losing Callan Ward to a nasty knee injury in the first quarter.

On a midwinter’s night in what was effectively a dead rubber, the best that could be hoped for was a close match with some big highlights. Neither brief was filled. Having the roof closed was a small mercy at Etihad Stadium for the 33,780 fans. On form this match would almost certainly be a bankable win to the Saints.  In the end it was so, and no mercy was shown to the Blues on field. St Kilda won the toss and kicked to the Lockett end in what seems like a formality in the windless conditions. Carlton tonight were wearing their dirty grey clash strip with the curious fake pockets on their shorts.