2005 First Preliminary Final
Pre-game Articles - Page1
Into the purple Hayes
Lenny Hayes has sheepishly tried a few Dal Santo blind turns at training this year but concedes he doesn't have the flair or ability to unleash one on match day. Similarly, the ability to recreate the aerial brilliance of Nick Riewoldt is way out of reach, with Robert Harvey the only teammate he believes he has covered in the vertical leap department . . . What he does have is an unstinting ability to win the contested ball and deliver it with poise week-in week-out, the type of skill that is likely to see him again eclipse his high-profile teammates in this year's best-and-fairest award.
The Article Jon Ralph/HeraldSun/11Sept05
Breaking new ground
The irony is not lost on Nick Riewoldt when he nominates a match against the Brisbane Lions as his season-defining moment. Not the round-22 game when he kicked six goals and took 14 marks in his best individual performance of the year, but the now infamous 2005 season opener, when the keenly anticipated debut of a young captain turned so dramatically into obvious distress. You'd think it might be a moment that Riewoldt would rather forget, for the night literally did end in tears. Yet it's to that match that the 22-year-old inevitably returns when discussing his season-long, obstacle-laden experience of being skipper. Just six months on from that muggy March night at the Gabba, Riewoldt describes the cracking of his collarbone as a 'blessing in disguise', even calling it a 'beneficial injury' - which seems remarkable, given it caused him to wonder whether the most hyped season of his young but already brilliant career was over when it was barely an hour old.
The Article Samantha Lane/TheAge/11Sept05
Harvey's a wanted man
Former St Kilda captain Lenny Hayes has implored evergreen onballer Robert Harvey to continue at the club. Harvey, one of several St Kilda players whose future remains uncertain, has stated that if the Saints win their first premiership in 39 years he is likely to hang up his boots. The veteran is seven games short of Nathan Burke's club record of 323 club games, a figure he would easily reach if he played on into his 19th season. Hayes has always looked up to Harvey as a role model and says he would love the dual Brownlow medallist to play next year. "I am sure he is (a role model) for just about every player on the list," Hayes said. "Just the way he goes about it and the way he keeps producing is just amazing."
The Article Jon Ralph/HeraldSun/11Sept05
Kosi doubt, Hamill is calf a chance
. . . Maguire, who missed the Saints' qualifying final win in Adelaide, trained away from the main group on Saturday. At least, Max Hudghton looks ready to return to a backline fractured by season-ending injuries to Sam Fisher (broken foot) and Clarke, with a question mark over Maguire. The Saints' coach described Hudghton, sidelined for five weeks with a hamstring injury, as looking 100 per cent following a solid workout in which he ran at full pace. Brendan Goddard, who can play in defence or the midfield, is also ready to play again after missing the win against the Crows. And Thomas was unconcerned about an ultra-light workout from Coleman medallist Fraser Gehrig, designed to protect his sore thumb and groin.
The Article Bruce Matthews/TheAustralian/12Sept05
Week two finals medical room Dr Peter Larkins/HeraldSun/12Sept05
Hamill in doubt with calf injury Lyall Johnson/TheAge/12Sept05
Hamill in doubt for prelim
Former St Kilda captain Aaron Hamill has conceded he is battling a calf problem and may miss Friday night's first preliminary final against the Sydney Swans at the MCG. Hamill intimated he may miss the cut-throat clash against the Swans, in the hope of being fit and ready for the following week, should the Saints make it through to the grand final . . . Hamill said teammate Justin Koschitzke was also still in doubt with a quadriceps injury. "He's probably touch-and-go at the moment," Hamill admitted. "He had a good running session yesterday (on Saturday) and I think he'll be assessed during the week".
The Article Matt Burgan/Sportal/saints.com.au/11Sept05
X-Man exits the finals
St Kilda has been dealt a major blow less than a week away from its preliminary final against Sydney, with speedy defender Xavier Clarke re-tearing the hamstring that has kept him sidelined since round 18 . . . It has been established that Clarke will be sidelined for the remainder of the finals . . . Other members of the injured list Justin Koschitzke, Matt Maguire, Aaron Hamill, and Luke Penny failed to take part in the match, and instead opted to stick to static drills for the majority of the session. Hamill left the track after about 40 minutes and failed to return from the rooms, while Nick Dal Santo, Luke Ball, and Robert Harvey pulled up shortly before the rest of the group, while Justin Peckett finished off his hit-out with some static training after taking part in the match. Meanwhile, Harvey trained strongly for a large part of the session, while Max Hudghton completed the entire training run and was seen to be moving freely and unhindered by the hamstring injury that has kept him out since round 20.
The Article Jennifer Witham/Sportal/saints.com.au/10Sept05
Hamstring setback for Saint Clarke Scot Palmer/HeraldSun/11Sept05
X against Clarke's name in finals Dan Oakes/TheAge/11Sept05
Hamill unlikey starter! saintsational.com
We don't fear Sainters, says Mathews
. . . "St Kilda is a super-talented side, so we have just got to get ourselves right, physically and mentally. We know we can match most teams away and we feel we can match St Kilda. If we stick to our game plan and our structures, we feel we are in with a show. We went over to the west and felt we really should have won that game and we didn't, so we moved on. We go to Melbourne next week against red-hot St Kilda, who will probably have a few players back. But we have beaten them before, we have shut their good players down and on the bigger ground we might get a bit more system going into our forward line".
The Article Jon Ralph/HeraldSun/11Sept05
Victoria's hopes ride on these broad shoulders
Nick Riewoldt's shoulders are broad, and it's just as well. With only two weeks of the AFL season to play, the hopes of Victorian football fans rest exclusively with St Kilda, and many of St Kilda's hopes ride on Riewoldt, the Saints' captain and superstar forward. After the Sydney Swans eliminated Geelong from the finals series with a thrilling last-minute win at the SCG on Friday night, the AFL was assured of its dream scenario for its national competition. The surviving teams of 2005 represent four of the five competing states - Victoria, NSW, South Australia and Western Australia. St Kilda, the premiership favourite, will play Sydney on Friday night in a preliminary final at the MCG. The match will bring sustenance to Victorians who this weekend endured only the state's second football-free finals weekend since 1923 - at least as far the land's pre-eminent competition is concerned
The Article Mark Fuller/TheAge/11Sept05
Saints switch houses
Captain and coach swapped houses as part of an unusual St Kilda strategy to start preliminary-final preparations, even before knowing the actual opponent. Grant Thomas took his wife and family around the corner to Nick Riewoldt's house last Friday night and threw open his own home for the entire senior list of players to enjoy a meal and the telecast of the Sydney-Geelong game. The Saints coach wanted to watch the semi-final alone, while vacating his home brought together the players as part of a concerted focus on his own men. Assistant coaches Matt Rendell, Nathan Burke, Terry Daniher and Jason Cripps flew to Sydney to analyse the opposition for Friday night's assignment at the MCG while the boss put his feet up at Riewoldt's place. "I sent four coaches up to watch the game, which was enough. They focused more heavily on opposition, and I just wanted to focus on getting the spirit right of the playing group," Thomas said.
The Article Bruce Matthews/HeraldSun/12Sept05
Captaincy can be the making of a footballer
Danny Frawley, St Kilda's longest serving captain, can remember his inception vividly. Frawley had been given the nod to lead by coach Darrel Baldock, whose club captaincy record he would later break. It was 1987 and Frawley was a potato farmer and raw defender from Bungaree, outside of Ballarat. He was 23, still living and working at the family farm, and used to share the driving down to training with teammate Tony Lockett. To Frawley, or 'Spud' to his mates, the captaincy brought a lift in intensity.
The Article Jesper Fjeldstad/HeraldSun/11Sept05
Davis deals Cats a painful lesson
One of the greatest solo performances from mercurial forward Nick Davis has sent Sydney into a preliminary final and banished Geelong to a summer of hell. Davis kicked the final four goals of last night's semi-final, including the matchwinner - a freakish left-foot snap from 10m out - with the last kick of the game. He snatched victory out of the grasp of the Cats, who had controlled the game. Geelong led from the six-minute mark of the first quarter to the 30-minute mark of the final term. But it somehow managed to lose the game 7.14 (56) to 7.11 (53), thanks to an incredible 20 minutes of football from Davis.
The Article Scott Gullan/HeraldSun/10Sept05
Swans find a way through Emma Quayle/TheAge/10Sept05
Davis the hero as Swans prevail ABCSport/09Sept05
Swans' swoop is cruel for Cats Scott Spits/AFL/saints.com.au/09Sept05
Saints stay close
St Kilda coach Grant Thomas will give his players the run of his house to watch tonight's Sydney-Geelong clash at the SCG. While Thomas heads to Sydney to do his homework, the players will gather at his home to find out who their preliminary final opponent will be. "He (Thomas) is off to Sydney to watch the game and the family's out for the night so the house will be free for the boys to get in there," Saints defender Aussie Jones said yesterday.
The Article Rebecca Williams/HeraldSun/09Sept05
Rumour: Fevola
. . . Fevola has been linked to St Kilda, if full-forward Fraser Gehrig retires at the end of the month. As reported exclusively in The Australian last week, Carlton has lost patience with Fevola and is prepared to trade the 24-year-old. He was re-signed several months ago for three years, but his form tapered off dramatically over the final two months of the season. In return, the Blues, who already have selections one and four in the national draft, want another pick under eight. Hawthorn has said it is not interested in giving up either of its first two picks, three and six, for Fevola. To secure Fevola, the Saints would have to buy into an early draft pick and on-trade it to Carlton. With the Saints' abundance of riches, Brendon Goddard, the overall No.1 pick in the 2002 draft, could be sacrificed.
Carlton has Grant on its shopping list Greg Denham/TheAustralian/10Sept05
Fevola . . . Please NO saintsational.com
Internal Restructure Announcement
Last weekend you may have seen the Club advertising for a General Manager - Commercial Operations. This is part of our planned restructure for the 2006 season. We are aiming for these changes to become effective from 1st November. To support our continuing commitment to increasing the value we are able to add to our corporate partners through their association with the club, we will be consolidating all revenue generating areas into a single focused commercial entity, led by the new GM Commercial Operations. Effectively this means that Sales & Events (led by Russell Morris); Communications (led by Georgie Fidge) and Membership, Fundraising, & Merchandising will report through the new GM.
Saintsational Post Joffa Burns/saintsational.com
Gehrig 50-50 on retirement as body rebels
With a premiership campaign to take care of first, St Kilda has no choice but to allow next year to wait. That said, it is becoming clearer by the day that the outcome of the next fortnight for the long-suffering Saints could profoundly shape their 2006. On Wednesday, Robert Harvey hinted at retirement in the event of a premiership by saying: "A lot of it depends on how we end up going, and that's what I'll have to wait and see." Yesterday, not 24 hours later, Fraser Gehrig said much the same thing. With the thumb on one hand in a cast, a finger on the other strapped, a groin injury hobbling his stride and a back injury fresh in the memory, the two-time Coleman medallist spoke before training with an understandable degree of ease about an end to his career.
The Article Stephen Rielly/TheAge/09Sept05
Gehrig may quit football Michael Horan/HeraldSun/09Sept05
Gehrig future on knife edge Peter Krupka/TheAustralian/09Sept05
Gehrig undecided about retirement ABCSport/08Sept05
Gehrig undecided on 2006
St Kilda veteran Robert Harvey has said that the Saints' fortunes in this finals series could be a deciding factor in whether he draws the curtain on his glittering career. The star midfielder, at 34 the oldest player in the AFL, played one of the games of his life on Saturday night to help the Saints get over the top of Adelaide in a hard-fought qualifying final at AAMI Stadium. Harvey had 31 touches and kicked three goals in a virtuoso display that suggested, in his 316th game, that his best is certainly not behind him. But the dual Brownlow medallist has missed seven games this year with recurring hamstring injuries, leading to speculation that if the Saints won their first flag since 1966, the midfield general might ride into the sunset.
The Article Matt Burgan/Sportal/saints.com.au/08Sept05
One of the Greatest
St Kilda's Qualifying Final victory last Saturday night was perhaps their greatest finals' moment since the 1966 premiership victory over Collingwood in that wobbly one point win. The game was just the Club's 39th VFL/AFL final in its history and it has now propelled the Saints into the second preliminary final in as many years. After spending the first ten years of the VFL in the doldrums, St Kilda's first final occurred in 1907 with a 56 humbling courtesy of eventual premier Carlton. The first finals victory happened in 1913, a year when they also reached their first Grand Final, losing narrowly to Fitzroy by 13 points in what was a great era back then for the Lions. It took St Kilda more than fifty years to reach the last Saturday in September again.
The Article Luca Giacobello/saints.com.au/07Sept05
Harvey's waiting game
St Kilda veteran Robert Harvey has said that the Saints' fortunes in this finals series could be a deciding factor in whether he draws the curtain on his glittering career. nThe star midfielder, at 34 the oldest player in the AFL, played one of the games of his life on Saturday night to help the Saints get over the top of Adelaide in a hard-fought qualifying final at AAMI Stadium. Harvey had 31 touches and kicked three goals in a virtuoso display that suggested, in his 316th game, that his best is certainly not behind him. But the dual Brownlow medallist has missed seven games this year with recurring hamstring injuries, leading to speculation that if the Saints won their first flag since 1966, the midfield general might ride into the sunset.
The Article Dan Oakes/TheAge/08Sept05
Sam out, but season not over
Even as unlucky defender Sam Fisher lay in a hospital bed last night, St Kilda had plans to involve him in the rest of its finals campaign. Fisher's season was ended by surgery to repair a broken bone in a foot, but he will now become a focus of coach Grant Thomas' one-in-all-in policy at Moorabbin. The backman, who needed a painkilling injection before Saturday night's qualifying final win in Adelaide, injured the foot again late in the game. "He hurt it during the game, so we had a scan done," Thomas said yesterday. "We feared the worst because he was pretty sore. The scan confirmed a stress fracture had turned into a full break. He has been an enormous player for us this year. He's one of the most improved players in the competition."
The Article Bruce Matthews/HeraldSun/07Sept05
Stress fractures end Saint Fisher's season ABCSport/06Sept05
Left out, but Gehrig unfazed
St Kilda full-forward Fraser Gehrig - this year's Coleman Medallist for the second successive season - believes his form did not warrant All-Australian selection in 2005. Despite topping the goalkicking table with 74 majors this year, Gehrig was not named at full-forward, with Sydney's Barry Hall, who booted 72 goals for the year, gaining the nod. "I reckon there were a couple of blokes (that were unlucky), not myself, because I certainly don't think I deserved to be in the side," Gehrig said before St Kilda's training session at the MCG on Thursday.
The Article Matt Burgan/Sportal/saints.com.au/08Sept05
McGuire signals cut in free to air matches
The Channel Nine commentator and president of the Collingwood Football Club, Eddie McGuire, has indicated the network's bid for the 2007 AFL rights could result in half of the home-and-away season games being shown exclusively on pay television. Currently five games are shown on free to air television each weekend, with three matches on cable TV. McGuire today dismissed reports that as many as five games a week could be broadcast on pay TV, but said four games a week was possible. He told Southern Cross radio the money generated by having one less match on free to air television might be in the game's interests.
The Article ABCSport/09Sept05
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