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Round 4 Result and Post-Game Articles

Round 4 Pre-Game Articles Here

R4 Post Game, R4 Pre-Game
All 2004 Games - Archives Index

ADELAIDE: 6.2, 8.3, 12.6, 15.8 (98)
ST KILDA: 5.1, 10.2, 15.3, 18.5 (113)

Goals: Adelaide: Johncock 3, McGregor 2, Edwards 2, Ricciuto 2, McLeod, Jericho, Burton, Massie, Gallagher, Carey
St Kilda: Gehrig 6, Guerra 4, Ball 2, Riewoldt, Milne, Voss, Knobel, Koschitzke, Powell
Best: Adelaide: Ricciuto, Burton, McLeod, McGregor, Johncock, Clarke
St Kilda: Hayes, Gehrig, Harvey, Dal Santo, Guerra, Riewoldt, Knobel, Jones
Injuries: Adelaide: Reilly (thigh) replaced in selected side by Bode, Bassett (ankle)
St Kilda: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Vozzo, Woodcock, Margetts
Crowd: 42,219 at AAMI Stadium
Saints Stats R4 - This site
AFL Ladder Post R4 - This site
Images & Stats R4 - afl.com.au - 17Apr04
Images Saints/Crows R4 - saints.com.au - 19Apr04
Images all Games R4 - HeraldSun
Images Fans & Coaches R4 - HeraldSun

Saints too committed for Crows
St Kilda remains unbeaten and on top of the premiership ladder after defeating the Adelaide Crows 18.5 (113) to 15.8 (98) at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night. Adelaide - with its season teetering on the brink - fought hard to snatch its first win of the campaign but could not match the aerial superiority of the Saints and was outmarked 111 to 76. Fraser Gehrig kicked six goals as the Saints inflicted Adelaide's fourth loss of the season and captain Lenny Hayes led from the front with 31 disposals and 11 marks. Nick Riewoldt was well-held early by young Crow Trent Hentschel but finished strongly, taking 12 marks from centre half-forward.
The Article - Jason Phelan/Sportal - saints.com.au - 17Apr04

Saints scale a new mountain
St Kilda is becoming such a complete team it wins even when the obstacles are piled higher than AAMI Stadium. The unbeaten Saints last night ticked off another long-standing hoodoo, withstanding a continual barrage from a resurgent Adelaide before running out comfortable winners by 15 points. In past years, a white-hot Crows midfield brigade combined with a seemingly immobile Fraser Gehrig, no Aaron Hamill and a match played interstate would have been a hill too steep to climb for St Kilda. Last night the Saints showed there is seemingly nothing they cannot do, piling on 5.1 in each of the first three quarters and simply finding an answer to everything Adelaide threw at them
The Article - Jon Ralph - HeraldSun - 18Apr04
Saints on the march to top of ladder - Jon Ralph - HeraldSun - 18Apr04
We are travelling well but who have we beaten? - Saintsational Fan Forum Thread

Cornflakes' serial thrillers
Cornflakes Thomas was laughing in the coaching box minutes into the first quarter of St Kilda's match against Adelaide on Saturday night. His assistant Nathan Burke was laughing just minutes before the final siren. All night the St Kilda team had given their coaches unfettered reason to lick their lips. This was the Saints' most sophisticated and significant victory under Thomas. It was also perhaps the most critical loss for Gary Ayres at Adelaide.
The Article - Patrick Smith - The Article - 19Apr04

Losing Pies fans turn on Malthouse
. . . Star-studded St Kilda is the only unconquered team after West Coast proved Brisbane was beatable, at least in Perth, and Melbourne (now with three wins) shocked Port Adelaide. Adelaide - winless and increasingly hopeless - is the only non-Victorian team outside the eight. It is not hopeless for the Pies, but it doesn't get any easier with Sunday's Anzac Day blockbuster against the in-form Essendon followed by matches against Port Adelaide (away), Carlton and St Kilda . . . Simon Zydower was equally furious. "We're playing with no passion and just like all Malthouse sides, we're playing with no flair," he said. "We've made the grand final the last two years because we've had a great run with injuries, but now we're being found out - we've got no depth." . . . Mike Guerin stood out at Telstra Dome yesterday, proudly wearing a St Kilda scarf and beanie despite his side having played a day earlier and in another state. "I'm very happy about the way we're going, so why not show it," he said. Mr Guerin adopted St Kilda two years ago after moving from New Zealand. "Some of the people at work fell off their chairs laughing when I told them, but they're not laughing now."
The Article - Shaun Phillips - HeraldSun - 19Apr04

BETTING & ODDS
Saints big firmer to go all the way
The Saints have finally convinced punters and bookmakers they are the real deal. St Kilda is a clear second favourite for the flag at as low as $4.50, firming from the $17 on offer before Round 1. "All you can do is keep winning, which is what they do each week," Centrebet's Gerard Daffy said. "I can't see any reason why they couldn't go all the way." Sportingbet's Phil Hannah said: "Winning over there (Adelaide) proved they have what it takes and all over the ground they have the right structures." Sports bookmaker Norm Short described them as "the real McCoy". "That was a big win against Adelaide as the pressure was on the home side to chalk up a victory," Short said. The only dissenter is TAB Sportsbet's Graeme Reynolds, who said the Saints were yet to beat a decent side. TAB Sportsbet tightened St Kilda from $7 to $5 after Saturday's victory.
The Article - Michael Manley - HeraldSun - 19Apr04

Saints bury hoodoo
St Kilda's midfield again proved itself harder than the band led by Adelaide captain Mark Ricciuto. Captain Lenny Hayes set the trend with six telling tackles and six clearances. Dual Brownlow medallist Robert Harvey played with the vision and poise Adelaide coach Gary Ayres laments is not in his team. But the real torment for the Crows was their inability to win key positions, a point Thomas emphasised in the second half when he loaded his attack with three talls: Fraser Gehrig at full-forward, Nick Riewoldt at centre half-forward and Justin Koschitzke, who moved from defence to float between them.
The Article - Michelangelo Rucci - HeraldSun - 19Apr04

Gehrig leads way for Saints
St Kilda's flying start to the season continued last night when spearhead Fraser Gehrig booted six goals as the Saints downed Adelaide at AAMI Stadium for the first time in 13 seasons. St Kilda won a see-sawing match 18.5 (113) to 15.8 (98) to stretch its unbeaten run to four matches and keep the Crows winless. St Kilda coach Grant Thomas described the win as "a tremendous effort, a really courageous effort. Obviously it was a really hard, tough game. I thought Adelaide were terrific. They came to win. Coming off a short break and interstate and all the rest of it, I thought it was a really creditable performance from our players. A fair few of the guys were out on their feet for the last part of the game . . . it was a really courageous performance, one I'm sure they will remember for some time and one they will use as a reference point. They've got a great spirit among them and that's what you need when sides, especially of the calibre of Adelaide, pour on a couple of goals."
The Article - Alan Shiell - TheAge - 18Apr04
Saints rise to challenge - Alan Shiell - TheAge - 18Apr04
Saints exorcise another demon - Bruce Matthews - HeraldSun - 18Apr04

Thomas lauds his Saints
Mindful of the many challenges facing the unbeaten Saints, Thomas said: 'We can't take our foot off the pedal. It's four games, there's a lot of work still to be done, but it just goes to show if you persevere and really understand how important these games are, and put 100 per cent effort in from the whole team, you can do terrific things . . . "This was a game we needed to win for a whole host of reasons and I just thought it was a really courageous effort. There's a lot of belief there and we'll continue to build the belief because that's what happens when you're successful together. As I said, the guys have got a tremendous spirit and camaraderie among themselves, and, irrespective of the stage of the game, they really feel as though they can get back into it and take control of it. So that's a good sign for them. "Every game's tough. Each week we say this is the most important game we play, and I think that's the way it's going to be. You just can't get away from that, especially now that we've won four games. Sides want to bowl you over and they lift their urgency and their effort, so you've got to be able to combat that."
The Article - Alan Shiell/Sportal - saints.com.au - 18Apr04
Roasted Spud to 'stick fat' - Jackie Epstein - HeraldSun - 18Apr04

Everitt: Sex sledge OK by me
Everitt believes players should be able to verbally assault each other without restriction and then shake hands at the end of a match as friends. Everitt, embroiled in incidents with Aboriginal players Michael Long in 1997 and Scott Chisholm in 1999, said he was no longer racist. "I don't hold any grudges on the footy field and abuse everyone, but at the end of the game, shake everyone's hand and expect to have a beer with them," Everitt said . . . "Things like (sexual assault allegations), if it was somebody else on the field, would I sledge them? I reckon I probably would, but because it's Milney and I know the bloke he is, I wouldn't mention it to him. At the end of the day, they have put themselves into that situation."
The Article - Jon Ralph - HeraldSun - 18Apr04

Everitt says thank you, my Sheree
Peter "Spider" Everitt has never been the ideal candidate as a model of domestic bliss. Ruffian, troublemaker and laid-back AFL ruckman maybe, but never babysitter, willing nappy-changer and archetypal family man. Three years ago, Everitt was trapped in a loveless marriage, playing for a team in which he had lost passion and for a coach he did not respect . . . Two weeks short of his 200th AFL match and 30th birthday, Everitt reflected on the depths he had slumped to before meeting his new partner, Sheree Orchard, just more than two years ago. "I don't really know where I was at when you look back," he said this week. "When you have been (at St Kilda) eight or nine years and hadn't had team success, even though you train hard and push yourself through pre-seasons, you can still go through the motions."
The Article - Jon Ralph - HeraldSun - 18Apr04

The emergence of Hayes
At 19, James Begley had played just eight senior games when Tim Watson declared he would one day captain the Saints. He was surprised then, but even more amazed in February, when Lenny Hayes got the job. Drafted to Moorabbin with Hayes in 1998 (as well as Steven Baker and Troy Schwarze) Begley lived with him for four years and never thought St Kilda would see captaincy in him. Certainly, he never did. "The thing I thought about Lenny was how under-appreciated he was, with his dedication and his training ethos and his loyalty to St Kilda. I knew how hard he worked, but I never thought he would be captain," Begley said.
The Article - Emma Quayle - TheAge - 17Apr03