SAINTS v RICHMOND
St Kilda 4.3 10.6 12.12 16.18 (114)
Richmond 5.0 7.2 8.6 10.9 (69)

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Goals: St Kilda: Gehrig 5, Riewoldt 4, Powell 2, Ball, Black, Hamill, Harvey, Thompson
Richmond: Bowden 2, Brown 2, Krakouer 2, Fiora, Hall, Morrison, Rodan
Best: St Kilda: Gehrig, Riewoldt, Harvey, Powell, Ball, Hayes, Maguire, Jones
Richmond: Brown, Bowden, Johnson, Krakouer
Injuries: St Kilda: Blake (back) Richmond: Richardson (hamstring), Hyde (hip)
Changes: St Kilda X.Clarke replaced in selected side by Schwarze.
Richmond: Nil
Reports: St Kilda: Hamill (for allegedly tripping Ty Zantuck), Baker (for allegedly striking Kane Johnson)
Umpires: Allen, Ryan, McInerney
Crowd: 43,468 at Telstra Dome
Round 3 photos - HeraldSun
Saints Gallery - Round 3 - saints.com.au
Saints on top of ladder - AAP - HeraldSun - 13Apr04

Blake to miss up to eight
St Kilda ruckman Jason Blake will miss up to eight weeks as a result of the back injury he suffered against Richmond at Telstra Dome on Monday. Blake suffered the injury after being crashed into after he fell by Richmond big man Greg Stafford. A statement released by the Saints on Tuesday indicated that he had fractured the transverse process lumbar number three and four vertebrae.
The Article - Sportal - saints.com.au - 13Apr04

Saints face $50,000 fine
St Kilda faces the possibility of a $50,000 fine for allowing tagger Steven Baker to continue playing in Monday's game against Richmond without his 'full faculties'. Baker was reported during the third quarter of the game for striking Richmond midfielder Kane Johnson and will appear before the AFL Tribunal tonight. Though the war of words between the opposing coaches continued virtually unabated yesterday, it was Saints coach Grant Thomas's claim after the game that Baker "didn't have his full faculties at the time of the clash" that emerged as an equally contentious issue.
The Article - Len Johnson, Caroline Wilson - TheAge - 14Apr04
Cheap shots and thickening plots - Greg Baum - TheAge - 14Apr04
Thomas defence has Saints dazed and confused - Patrick Smith - TheAustralian - 14Apr04

Saints stay perfect
Having won the Wizard Home Loans Cup and each of its three home and away fixtures, St Kilda continues to remain undefeated in 2004 after comfortably overcoming Richmond at Telstra Dome by 45 points on Easter Monday. The Saints 16.18 (114) defeated the Tigers 10.9 (69) and have not lost a game since 30 August last year, when St Kilda went down to Geelong in the final round of the 2003 home and away season. Led by its usual suspects, St Kilda had winners all over the ground, with Fraser Gehrig (five goals) and Nick Riewoldt (four goals) booting more than half of the team's goals. Midfielders Robert Harvey, Lenny Hayes, Stephen Powell and Luke Ball collected almost 100 touches between them, while youngster Matt Maguire was impressive down back.
The Article - Matt Burgan/Sportal - saints.com.au - 12Apr04
AFL Match Details - afl.com.au
Baker gone!! - Saintsational Fan Forum
Blakes kidney?? - Saintsational Fan Forum
Jason Blake - 4 weeks + - Saintsational Fan Forum

Thomas's true call
It was after Richmond's 26-point defeat of St Kilda on Easter Monday last year that Grant Thomas invoked the ire of the football world by claiming his beaten Saints were the better side. A year on, it's a lot easier to see where he was coming from. Inefficiency cost St Kilda as much as Richmond's accuracy that day, the Saints losing despite 26 scoring shots to 22. The Saints converted a bit better yesterday, but when you've racked up 34 scoring shots to just 19, you can afford a little more latitude. Since that round-four loss, it's been only onward and upward for St Kilda, with 13 wins to eight losses, the first three victories of 2004 as impressive as anything the Saints have produced since 1997. Their overflowing stocks of young talent continue to develop by the week. Nick Riewoldt, for instance, who was still an emerging star a year ago, these days is clearly one of the AFL's elite.
The Article - Rohan Connolly - TheAge - 13Apr04

'Thommo' and 'Spud' exchange barbs
A war of words has erupted between St Kilda coach Grant Thomas and Richmond coach Danny Frawley over the tactics of Saints' tagger Steven Baker during the Easter Monday clash at the Telstra Dome. Baker was reported for striking Richmond's Kane Johnson during an often spiteful clash, with video replays of the incident showing clear contact by the Saint tagger to the Tiger star's head well behind play. Johnson had blood pouring from his eye as a result of the incident and was forced to leave the field for treatment before later returning.
The Article - Paul Gough and Matt Burgan/Sportal - saints.com.au - 13Apr04
Fury at 'cheap shots' - Mark Robinson - TheAustralian - 13Apr04
Grant-standing fires Frawley - Trevor Grant - HeraldSun - 13Apr04
Frawley and Thomas trade verbal blows - Mark Robinson - HeraldSun - 13Apr04
Tigers, Saints in off-field war - Emma Quayle - TheAge - 13Apr04
Thomas: Don't rub Hird out - Mark Robinson - HeraldSun - 13Apr04

Sinning Saints sour trouncing of Tigers
St Kilda extended its winning start to the 2004 season with a 45-point win over Richmond at Telstra Dome today, but had two key players reported and another suffering a nasty injury. The Saints made it seven wins from eight premiership matches straddling this season and last with a 16.18 (114) to 10.9 (69) victory. However the Wizard Cup premiers will be sweating on tribunal appearances for Aaron Hamill and Steven Baker while Jason Blake went off very early in the first quarter with a back injury. Both teams struck serious injury trouble inside the opening five minutes, with Blake injuring his back in a collision with Richmond's Greg Stafford over the boundary line, while Tigers forward Matthew Richardson took himself off with a hamstring strain. Neither was to return to the fray, with Blake reportedly being taken to hospital.
The Article - AAP - HeraldSun - 12Apr04
Tigers tumble in wrestlemania - Melissa Ryan - TheAge - 13Apr04
Tigers crushed in midfield massacre - Bruce Matthews - HeraldSun - 13Apr04

Unbeaten Saints have high standards these days
Coach Grant Thomas said his team was unaccountably flat and if playing any side other than enfeebled Richmond might easily have been beaten. "It wasn't pretty, was it?" he asked rhetorically. "It wasn't what you'd call an energetic and inspiring performance. I don't think we had our normal spark. But it was good to win under the circumstances." The Saints' destiny is upon them. They are brilliant in the midfield, exciting in attack and honest enough in defence not to have yielded more than 10 goals in a match this premiership season. They have reinforcements; Xavier Clarke did not play yesterday. They do not yet have the sheer physical and psychological presence of Brisbane on the field, but they might be at the moment the second-best team in the competition.
The Article - Greg Baum - TheAge - 13Apr04

The Two of Us: Thomas and Butterss
Grant Thomas, 46, played 83 games of league football - including 72 for St Kilda - between 1978 and 1985. As a director of St Kilda he replaced Malcolm Blight as coach of the club going into round 16 of the 2001 season. His appointment was overseen by president Rod Butterss, 45, a close friend and former teammate. They spoke to Stephen Rielly.
The Article - Stephen Rielly - TheAge - 11Apr04

Family Hoodoo
There was a great feeling around the club after the game (Saints vs Geelong) but our thoughts were quickly directed towards Essendon. Coming off what I'm sure they would consider a disappointing loss, they will be keen to open their account. Their determination and proud tradition coupled with the return of some key leadership figures means they will be a strong outfit. But we are looking forward to the challenge. And, Dad, you're welcome to come along.
The Article - Nick Riewoldt - MX/saints.com.au - 05Apr04

Couch clan aren't Cat lovers
Maguire's father is Geraldine Couch's brother, and the young man known as 'Goose' grew up watching uncle Paul ply his trade in the centre for the Cats . . . "I did want to play for Geelong, but I didn't like the way they ended Paul's career," Maguire, 19, said yesterday . . . The Cats used their No. 8 pick on James Bartel and No. 17 on James Kelly, with picks 23 and 24 to come. But St Kilda swooped out of no where with pick 21 . . . "I was a bit worried because I didn't know too much about St Kilda then. But I knew Luke Ball and Nick Dal Santo from the under-16 carnival, so that made me feel better." He was surprised to play 12 games in his debut season of 2002 and another 17 last year. The 191cm Maguire was used as a relief ruckman last year, a hard call when facing Peter Everitt (203cm) and Beau McDonald (202cm). He vowed pre-season to try to make centre half-back his, a desire that has yielded successful results so far.
The Article - Jon Anderson - HeraldSun - 12Apr04

Saints coach a hit at old club
Paying homage to his football roots required slick time management by Thomas, fresh from a St Kilda players' debrief which lasted until noon. After agreeing to a request from new playing coach Jason Heatley to attend Warrnambool's jumper presentation, it took the assistance of a small plane to fulfil the engagement yesterday. Explaining what it meant to be back at the club where he savoured flag success in 1986, '87, '88 and '89, Thomas said it was the most important part of his life to that time and in some ways still was. "Whether I did everything right when I was here is out there for judgement by others but I know it was a great experience," he said. "I know most of the decisions I make now were all developed down here. The thing that was most obvious when I arrived here is that everyone expected success. History will show that Warrnambool is probably the most successful club in country Victoria and probably Australia." The Article - The Standard (Warranbool) - 05Apr03