2005 - AFL Home and Away Season
Round 22 - Results and Post-game Articles
See below for Package to AAMI
St Kilda: 5.4 14.8 20.16 28.18 (186)
Brisbane Lions: 2.2 5.3 6.5 7.5 (47)
Goals - St Kilda: Milne 11, Riewoldt 6, Dal Santo 3, Ball 2, Hamill 2, Harvey 2, Jones, Peckett
Brisbane Lions: Bradshaw 2, Drummond 2, Brennan, Corrie, Mclaren
Best - St Kilda: Milne, Riewoldt, Ball, Dal Santo, Hayes, Baker, Powell, Harvey, Peckett
Brisbane Lions: Voss, Drummond, Power
Injuries - St Kilda: Nil
Brisbane Lions: Akermanis (Shoulder)
Changes - St Kilda: Gehrig (Groin) Replaced In Selected Side By Ferguson. Maguire (Hip Flexor) Replaced In Selected Side By Gwilt.
Umpires - Davis, James, Mclaren
Crowd - 46,105 At Telstra Dome
Grant Thomas: "We would go to Kathmandu to play a final," he said. "We don't really care. We want to play finals and we don't care where they are played, we don't care what time they are played, and who we play them against."
Bring on September: Thomas
St Kilda might have just achieved the largest home and away victory in its long history but Saints' boss Grant Thomas already had his sights set on the finals after Saturday night's staggering 139-point win over the Brisbane Lions at Telstra Dome. The Saints will start their finals campaign against minor premiers Adelaide at AAMI Stadium next Saturday night after ending the season in fourth place and Thomas immediately declared his side would be tougher nuts to crack in this year's finals series after the experience of last year when the club only just failed to reach the grand final in its first taste of the September action since 1998.
The Article Jon Ralph/HeraldSun/28Aug05
Record win has Riewoldt on target for finals
. . . "We've got nothing but enormous respect for them in the way they've gone about this year, the way they've taken on every challenge and come up trumps," Thomas said. "They'll be a formidable opponent and if we're on our game, look out - it will be a cracker." Leigh Montagna (corked thigh) and Brendon Goddard (leg) added to the queue at the door of St Kilda's medical room. But full-forward Fraser Gehrig, a late withdrawal on Saturday night along with key defender Matt Maguire, should return next weekend. Thomas said backmen Sam Fisher and Xavier Clarke could also play, while key defender Max Hudghton is an outside chance.
The Article AAP/TheAge/29Aug05
Medal betting on hold as Ricciuto cited
Mark Ricciuto's clean tribunal record may prove crucial this week, with his past good behaviour looming as his big hope at being eligible to play in the Grand Final. The Adelaide captain's finals campaign and chances of a second Brownlow Medal were placed at the mercy of the AFL match review panel after his citing for rough conduct against West Coast's Adam Selwood at Subiaco on Saturday. Eagles medicos say Selwood's jaw was fractured in the collision, but X-rays have not confirmed those thoughts, leaving the official diagnosis to rest on CAT scans taken today.
The Article Damian Barrett/HeraldSun/29Aug05
Ricciuto awaits panel's review Greg Denham/TheAustralian/29Aug05
Bring on September: Thomas
St Kilda might have just achieved the largest home and away victory in its long history but Saints' boss Grant Thomas already had his sights set on the finals after Saturday night's staggering 139-point win over the Brisbane Lions at Telstra Dome. The Saints will start their finals campaign against minor premiers Adelaide at AAMI Stadium next Saturday night after ending the season in fourth place and Thomas immediately declared his side would be tougher nuts to crack in this year's finals series after the experience of last year when the club only just failed to reach the grand final in its first taste of the September action since 1998.
The Article Jon Ralph/HeraldSun/28Aug05
Milne savours stunning haul
St Kilda goalsneak Stephen Milne is still coming to terms with his phenomenal performance against the Brisbane Lions on Saturday night after becoming the first Saint since the legendary Tony Lockett to kick 11 goals in an AFL game. Milne's devastating performance helped the Saints to their biggest win since first joining the competition in 1897 as they beat the hapless Lions by 139 points - 28.18 (186) to 7.5 (47) at Telstra Dome to end Brisbane's finals hopes. So dynamic was Milne's performance that he had equalled his previous best tally of goals in an AFL match - six - by half-time and his effort, along with six goals from skipper Nick Riewoldt, meant the Saints barely missed injured spearhead Fraser Gehrig.
The Article Paul Gough/Sportal/saints.com.au/28Aug05
Saints smash records
It was St Kilda's greatest winning margin of all time, eclipsing its 131-point win over Adelaide in 1991.
- It was St Kilda's highest score against the Brisbane Lions, which previously was 27.12 (174) in 1991.
- It is the first time since Leigh Matthews took over as coach of the Brisbane Lions in 1999 that they will not play in the finals.
More Records Matt Burgan/Sportal/saints.com.au/27Aug05
Saints could regain five for Adelaide final
St kilda, having annihilated the Brisbane Lions by 139 points to end the Lions' run of finals glory in humiliating fashion, could regain up to five of its injured stars for its opening finals showdown against minor premier Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night. Fraser Gehrig (adductor) and Matt Maguire (hip) were late withdrawals before last night's thrashing, but St Kilda tore the Lions apart - with livewire forward Stephen Milne kicking 11 straight goals, while skipper Nick Riewoldt booted six - and knock the triple premiers from the finals for the first time in the reign of coach Leigh Matthews. Saints coach Grant Thomas said Gehrig and Maguire were expected to come back in to bolster the team, while Sam Fisher (foot), Max Hudghton (hamstring) and Xavier Clarke (hamstring) will also push for inclusion. With a seven-day break before the final against the Crows, Thomas said the club would use it 'wisely'. Brendon Goddard had calf tightness, while Leigh Montagna received a corked thigh. Riewoldt was taken off the field nine minutes into the last quarter as the Saints set about planning for next week.
The Article Melissa Ryan/TheAge/28Aug05
Milne savours stunning haul
St Kilda goalsneak Stephen Milne is still coming to terms with his phenomenal performance against the Brisbane Lions on Saturday night after becoming the first Saint since the legendary Tony Lockett to kick 11 goals in an AFL game. Milne's devastating performance helped the Saints to their biggest win since first joining the competition in 1897 as they beat the hapless Lions by 139 points - 28.18 (186) to 7.5 (47) at Telstra Dome to end Brisbane's finals hopes. So dynamic was Milne's performance that he had equalled his previous best tally of goals in an AFL match - six - by half-time and his effort, along with six goals from skipper Nick Riewoldt, meant the Saints barely missed injured spearhead Fraser Gehrig.
The Article Paul Gough/Sportal/saints.com.au/28Aug05
Saints smash records
It was St Kilda's greatest winning margin of all time, eclipsing its 131-point win over Adelaide in 1991.
- It was St Kilda's highest score against the Brisbane Lions, which previously was 27.12 (174) in 1991.
- It is the first time since Leigh Matthews took over as coach of the Brisbane Lions in 1999 that they will not play in the finals.
More Records Matt Burgan/Sportal/saints.com.au/27Aug05
Lions bowed, beaten and humiliated
In the end the most dominant side in the modern era bowed out without a whimper, not even a hint of futile resistance. Leigh Matthews's triple-premiership Brisbane Lions deserved a better farewell than this, but last night they were treated with contempt by a St Kilda side eager to prove it is not the also-ran many have predicted. Short on personnel, short on motivation, short in stature in defence, the Saints nevertheless went in search of Grant Thomas's fabled utopia and had a fair crack at reaching it. The 139-point demolition of Brisbane ensured that the Lions would miss a finals campaign for the first time in Matthews's seven-year reign as coach.
The Article Jon Ralph/HeraldSun/28Aug05
Saints could regain five for Adelaide final
St kilda, having annihilated the Brisbane Lions by 139 points to end the Lions' run of finals glory in humiliating fashion, could regain up to five of its injured stars for its opening finals showdown against minor premier Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night. Fraser Gehrig (adductor) and Matt Maguire (hip) were late withdrawals before last night's thrashing, but St Kilda tore the Lions apart - with livewire forward Stephen Milne kicking 11 straight goals, while skipper Nick Riewoldt booted six - and knock the triple premiers from the finals for the first time in the reign of coach Leigh Matthews. Saints coach Grant Thomas said Gehrig and Maguire were expected to come back in to bolster the team, while Sam Fisher (foot), Max Hudghton (hamstring) and Xavier Clarke (hamstring) will also push for inclusion. With a seven-day break before the final against the Crows, Thomas said the club would use it 'wisely'. Brendon Goddard had calf tightness, while Leigh Montagna received a corked thigh. Riewoldt was taken off the field nine minutes into the last quarter as the Saints set about planning for next week.
The Article Melissa Ryan/TheAge/28Aug05
Reborn Saints flog fading Lions
. . . Thomas said he would let the club's training services rule on whether his injured key position stars were ready. "That is something we need to continue to analyse," he said. "I know Fraser and Matt were very close, so we would expect them to be available next week, and we would expect Sam Fisher to be possibly available next week. Brendon Goddard (rested with calf soreness) was just tightness and precautionary more than anything. And apart from that, it is a corkey to Leigh Montagna, which is about all."
The Article Jon Ralph/HeraldSun/28Aug05
Rampaging Saints end Brisbane era Rod Nicholson/HeraldSun/28Aug05
No G-Train? No worries as Milne beats Lions
With St Kilda's G-Train unavailable last night, the spotlight was on the caboose. And pocket-sized Stephen Milne delivered with the heartiest scoring contribution of any player this year, in a sensational 11-goal performance that propelled his side into September. Milne equalled his previous best goal tally of six before the half-time siren, and by night's end had scored four more majors than the entire Brisbane side. Some came from snaps, others from set shots. The slippery dynamo seemed to be on the end of every ball launched into St Kilda's attacking 50 and he did not miss once. Milne's 10th goal was the most impressive. Squeezed in a forward pocket, on the wrong side for a right footer, Milne approached confidently from 35 metres out and did not disappoint. It was the only one he feared he had missed.
The Article Samantha Lane/TheAge/28Aug05
Saints put Lions through the wringer
. . . So clinically - and, occasionally, stunningly - did Luke Ball, Lenny Hayes and Robert Harvey rule the centre of the ground that frostbite and boredom (neither of whom play for Brisbane) promptly became the greatest threats to the St Kilda back line. The effect was to allow nominal defenders such as Raphael Clarke and Aussie Jones to become lethal weapons of attack. If Jones was reliably potent running hard and kicking long into the forward 50 metres, Clarke was equally dangerous in his deployment of leg speed, vision and deft touches. The silky 19-year-old was one of a band of players on the fringe of selection who last night put forward impressive bids for involvement in an AFL finals series. James Gwilt, brought in as a replacement at the fall of Gehrig, did nothing wrong and, by dint of tidy hands and powerful left boot, did plenty right.
The Article Mark Fuller/TheAge/28Aug05
Scintillating Saints end Lions era
The Brisbane Lions' era of success has ended in humiliation as St Kilda made light of its injury crisis to ensure it will go into next week's finals series full of confidence after a night which belonged to goalsneak Stephen Milne. In the absence of injured spearhead Fraser Gehrig - a late withdrawal with groin soreness - Milne booted a staggering 11 goals as St Kilda beat Brisbane by an equally staggering 139 points - 28.18 (186) to 7.5 (47) even with nearly all of its first choice backline missing through injury. It was the Saints' greatest winning margin in their 108 years in the competition and was even more amazing considering their depleted team.
The Article Paul Gough/saints.com.au/27Aug05
Milne boots 11 goals to bury Lions
. . . Tonight was also the first time Brisbane had lost by more than 100 points since becoming the Lions in 1996 . . . St Kilda will now meet Adelaide in next Saturday night's first qualifying final at AAMI Stadium, after the Crows beat West Coast by eight points late this afternoon to take the minor premiership. The Eagles will host the Swans on Friday night in the other qualifying final. St Kilda went into the match with an undermanned defence and without several key players because of injury - Gehrig, Maguire, Justin Koschitzke, Luke Penny, Max Hudghton, Sam Fisher and Xavier Clarke.
The Article AAP/HeraldSun/27Aug05
Saints inflict record loss on Lions
The Brisbane Lions bowed out of season 2005 in embarassing fashion, suffering a 139-point loss to St Kilda at Docklands, the worst defeat in the joint-venture's history . . . Nothing was more symbolic of St Kilda's early dominance than Aaron Hamill's ferocious bump on Brisbane livewire Jason Akermanis that sent him from the field with what looked to be an injury to his shoulder . . . It is hard to believe this Brisbane Lions side, so outclassed tonight, has been grand finalists for the past four years and premiers three times. The loss was also the worst in Leigh Matthews' 396-game coaching career, and it is clear there is plenty of work to be done in the off-season if the Lions are to once again challenge for the flag in 2006.
The Article Joe O'Shea/ABCSport/27Aug05
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