2005 - AFL Home and Away Season
Round 21 - Results and Post-game Articles
Kangaroos: 3.1, 6.2, 9.5, 13.7 (85)
St Kilda: 5.2, 11.6, 12.8, 16.12 (108)
Goals - Kangaroos: Rocca 4, Co.Jones 3, Wells, Petrie, Thompson, Harvey, Hale, Harding St Kilda: Gehrig 5, Montagna 2, Milne 2, Hamill, Thompson, Hayes, Ball, Powell, Guerra, Peckett
Best - Kangaroos: Firrito, Sinclair, Co.Jones, Baird, Rocca, Harvey St Kilda: Harvey, Jones, Ball, Gehrig, Riewoldt, Maguire
Injuries: None
Changes - Kang: Colbert (General Soreness) Replaced In Selected Side By Baird
Reports - Harvey (Kang) Reported For Tripping Peckett During The Fourth Quarter
Umpires - Stevic, Meredith, Goldspink
Crowd - 39,777 At Telstra Dome
Police probe bottle-throwing incident
Victoria Police have been investigating an incident in which St Kilda spearhead Fraser Gehrig had a half-full plastic Coke bottle thrown at him during the Saints' 23-point win over the Kangaroos on Saturday. The incident occurred during the last quarter, with Channel Nine reporting that Gehrig remonstrated with the Kangaroos cheer squad. However, the Kangaroos yesterday said preliminary investigations by the club indicated that the man was not a member of the cheer.
The Article Stathi Paxinos/The Age/15Aug05
Against game's heritage when winning is not sole priority
. . . Even in heritage week St Kilda is no longer a thing of the past. The old culture appears dead and buried and thus the club has been reborn under Grant Thomas and a clutch of priority draft picks. Despite West Coast's hammering of Fremantle on Friday night, the Saints are premiership favourites. St Kilda withstood a mild charge by the Kangaroos late in the game but victory was established early as Thomas had the right amount of men finding and collecting the ball and an appropriate number receiving and passing it on. It is this structured spread of fetching and distributing that breaks down opposition teams.
The Article Patrick Smith/The Australian/15Aug05
Umpires blow Roos and Saints' match
We sould be dissecting Fraser Gehrig's five goals, lauding Robert Harvey's vintage form or marvelling over the second-half duel between tough men Glenn Archer and Aaron Hamill. But to avoid another aspect of Saturday's stop-start contest at Telstra Dome would be a disservice to confused players, puzzled coaches and perplexed fans. Field umpires Matt Stevic, Simon Meredith and Darren Goldspink seemed to take the heritage occasion to heart and reverted to the bad old days of free-kick overload. It wasn't a matter of whether each of the 50 free kicks was merited. They probably were. But surely 10 goals coming from free kicks is an inordinate contribution by the umpires to what was a fierce, rather than scrappy, game.
The Article Bruce Matthews/HeraldSun/15Aug05
Old man Harvey flags his desire
Robert Harvey, who will celebrate his 34th birthday on Saturday, ran himself (and several opponents) into the turf as he gathered 28 disposals to virtually guarantee the Saints a top-four spot. In his 313th game, the dual Brownlow medallist gathered seven possessions in the opening term and another six in the second. But it was when the Kangaroos made a charge, coming from 34 points down at the major break, that Harvey summoned all his fitness and experience to stem the tide. He had nine disposals in the vital third term as the margin decreased to 21 points, and then another six in the final stanza. More, his deft touches were all fruitful and, on several occasions, his tap-on play, shepherds and ability to run an opponent out of the action did not rack up statistics.
The Article HeraldSun/14Aug05
Harvs' hamstring could go on and on Jake Niall/TheAge/14Aug05
Roos apply the heat but Saints get cooking
. . . After more than three quarters of selflessly using their bodies to absorb the heat the Kangaroos brought to every contest, the Saints had put themselves in peril - and the Roos just 10 points in arrears - through three acts of ill discipline. Such indiscretions may not be so readily forgiven next month. But yesterday, the chastened Saints found another gear when it was needed. Gehrig, who was mugged to good effect for most of the day by Leigh Brown, broke free to kick his fourth and fifth goals thereafter, and Justin Peckett put himself in space and goaled near the death after winning a free kick that also saw Kangaroo Brent Harvey reported for tripping. The Kangaroos had chased the Saints all day and never quite caught them, at least on the scoreboard. On the ground, though, the Roos did a mean job of eliminating time and space for St Kilda's big guns.
The Article Mark Fuller/TheAge/14Aug05
St Kilda coach unfazed
Thomas said the tight contest was simply testament to the quality opposition. "They're a relentless side that stay in the game the whole time and it was a good effort by the boys to persevere," he said. "I think they always come at you, it's just that I thought we had a chance to put a bigger gap in the first half and we weren't using the ball as well as we'd like. All of a sudden they got a couple of goals and the game was pretty tight for the last half. We were probably trying to orchestrate something that wasn't there, a bit too often. I thought Fraser (Gehrig) was in good form and we just weren't getting the ball to him enough."
The Article Jackie Epstein/HeraldSun/14Aug05
Silent Laidley in umpire fury Jackie Epstein/HeraldSun/14Aug05
G-Train leads Saints to seventh straight win
. . . Saints coach Grant Thomas hailed a satisfying win but said his side could have puit a big gap into the Kangaroos earlier on. "I thought our effort at the man and the ball was good . . . I just felt we could have really put a gap between us in the first half with some better use of the footy." The Saints led by 13 points at quarter-time and 34 at half-time but the Kangaroos had trimmed that lead to 15 at the final break. Goals to Stephen Powell and Gehrig gave the Saints the early lead and they remained ahead throughout a torrid and hard-fought first half.
The Article ABC Sport/13Aug05
Saints too steady
It was a case of third time unlucky for the Kangaroos on Saturday as they again conceded the opposition a start but this time failed to run down a St Kilda side fast closing in on a top four finish. The Roos again trailed throughout but this time there would be no fairytale comeback as the Saints won 16.12 (108) to 13.7 (85) to move a game clear of the fifth placed Kangaroos in the race for the all-important double chance in September. However the Roos again lost no admirers as they got to within 10 points in the final quarter, after having chased the game all day after conceding four of the first five goals of the game. In the past fortnight the Kangaroos had beaten Port Adelaide by four points after having trailed by 40 points at half-time and then last week beat Collingwood by a goal despite having trailed by three goals with only three and a half minutes to play
The Article Paul Gough/saints.com.au/13Aug05
Saints foil another Roos escape Scot Palmer/HeraldSun/14Aug05
Saints wins seventh straight game
. . . The Kangaroos outscored St Kilda by seven goals to five in the second half but must now win their last two home and away matches against Sydney and Carlton to have any chance of snaring the double chance. The ageless Robert Harvey was excellent all day for the Saints, who also got good returns from their other star onballers Luke Ball, Nick Dal Santo and Lenny Hayes. Coleman Medal favourite Fraser Gehrig kicked 5.4 in a entertaining battle with Leigh Brown. The Kangaroos' best forward target was Saverio Rocca with four goals, including two in the third quarter when his side was starting to mount its charge. Corey Jones was the Kangaroos other effective forward with three goals, while Michael Firrito, Brent Harvey and Daniel Wells were all good contributors. St Kilda dominated the opening two quarters and held a game-high 34-point lead at halftime after Hayes slotted a classy 45m goal on the run late in the term.
The Article AAP/HeraldSun/13Aug05
Satisfied Saints
St Kilda coach Grant Thomas was a satisfied man after the Saints notched their seventh consecutive win, this time against a team trying to snatch their spot in the top four. While Thomas believed the Saints could have put a bigger gap between themselves and the Kangaroos in the first half, he was relieved to emerge with the 16.12 (108) to 13.7 (85) victory after the Roos staged a characteristic second-half revival. "It was good to have a win against quality opposition. They're a pretty relentless side that stays in the game the whole time. It was a good effort by the boys to persevere," Thomas reflected after the 23-point win. "I thought we had a chance to put a bigger gap in the first half and we weren't using the ball as well as we'd like. It was pretty similar to last week in that regard. All of a sudden they got a couple of goals and the game was pretty tight for the last half." Thomas admitted after the win the Saints had a number of areas for improvement, namely the club's delivery to Fraser Gehrig, who booted 5.4.
The Article Scott Spits/saints.com.au/13Aug05
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