Archives

SEE ARCHIVES FOR MORE LINKS & LEADERS

ST KILDA: 1.2 3.4 5.10 8.11 (59)
WEST COAST: 2.5 4.9 7.11 14.14 (98)
GOALS - St Kilda: Riewoldt 4, Fiora, Gehrig, Gram, Montagna,
West Coast: Judd 3, Kerr 2, Sampi 2, Armstrong, Fletcher, Hansen, Lynch, Staker, Stenglein, Wirrpanda
BEST - St Kilda: Gram, Riewoldt, Dal Santo, S.Fisher, L.Fisher, Harvey
West Coast: Kerr, Cousins, Judd, Waters, Stenglein, R.Jones, Selwood
INJURIES - St Kilda: Maguire (broken leg), Ball (shoulder), Gram (bruised foot)
West Coast: Nil
CHANGES - St Kilda: Nil
West Coast: Banfield replaced in selected side by B.Jones
REPORTS - Nil
UMPIRES - Rosebury, Allen, Ryan
CROWD - 40,177 at Telstra Dome
FREE KICK: For St Kilda 15, Against St Kilda 9
HITOUTS: St Kilda 23, Eagles 29
50m PENALTIES: St Kilda 1, Eagles 0
GOALS: St Kilda - Free 2; Play 2; Mark 4, Eagles - Free 1; Play 9; Mark 4
DISTANCE OF GOALS: St Kilda - 0-15m 1; 15-30m 1; 30-40m 2; 40+m 4, Eagles 0-15m 4; 15-30m 3; 30-40m 2; 40+m 5

Don't lock it away just yet
Declarations the final eight was set in stone only a week ago may be just a tad shaky. If results go Geelong's way next weekend, it will be just one win outside the eight with three rounds to come. It's quite feasible, too. The Cats need to beat St Kilda at Telstra Dome, while Adelaide has to overcome Fremantle at AAMI Stadium.
The Article Mike Sheahan/HeraldSun/07Aug06
Saints on the Matt Jackie Epstein/HeraldSun/06Aug06
Contenders' run home AAP/HeraldSun/07Aug06
Dockers set to claim home final Digby Beacham/FoxSports/07Aug06
September Bound Eagles Gather Steam Barry Kennedy/AFANA/06Aug06
Musical chairs after the AFL top two AAP/TheAge/06Aug06

Double blow for Saints
Maguire had been running with the flight of the ball and took the full weight of Stenglein's body on his lower leg. To make matters worse, skipper Luke Ball finished the match on the bench with a shoulder heavily strapped. The Saints had four set shots for goal in seven minutes in the third term but missed every one, with Nick Riewoldt erring twice, blowing a golden opportunity to steal the lead from the Eagles.
The Article Andrew Wu/saints.com.au/04Aug06

Finals flurry begins in earnest
. . . The lively Western Bulldogs continue to defy the injury gods, but once more St Kilda seems cursed in the September run-up. Its final-four hopes were rocked when defender Matt Maguire broke his leg in two places during the final minutes of the 39-point loss to West Coast. Maguire will need at least nine months to recover. In another setback for the club, Aaron Hamill is no closer to playing after developing soreness and swelling in the knee he first injured in round seven.
The Article Jenny McAsey and Greg Denham/TheAustralian/07Aug06

How the Saints performed in VFL
. . . After the disappointment of Friday night's defeat at the hands of West Coast, Saints fans will be encouraged and pleased by the performances of the St Kilda listed players who will be looking to replace some of the injuries, as well as be promoted on the good work displayed in this match. Mark McGough finished with 38 touches (24 kicks, 14 handballs, 10 marks, 3 tackles). Other Saints to impress were Andrew McQualter (24 possessions:- 16 kicks, 8 handballs, 7 marks, 4 tackles), Raphael Clarke with 23 possessions (14 kicks 9 handballs) and Michael Rix with 21 possessions (9 kicks, 12 handballs, 8 marks). Rix's ruck work continued to feed the midfielders and win clearances for the Scorpions. Dylan Pfitzner finished with 16 possessions (9 kicks, 7 handballs, 8 marks). Matthew Ferguson finished with 10 touches (7 kicks, 3 handballs, 4 tackles, 4 spoils) and toiled very hard in defence. Justin Sweeney had twelve touches and contributed 3 goals. Troy Schwarze had an early finish and came off in the first quarter and did not take any further part in the match.
Scorpions' season scratched by Cats! Gary Romeo/saints.com.au/07Aug06

Saints: Forward 50's third, goals twelfth
This report contains statistics to verify that the Saints are averaging third at getting the ball into forward 50's and twelfth at scoring goals when the ball is in the forward 50 - Statistics provided by Champion Data
Three out of 10 aint bad Paul Gough/AFL/saints.com.au/08Aug06
Side for Finals st.mart/saintsational

Saints, Eagles and Crows have similar age groups
The statsistics for players ages and the number of games they have played are similar in these three teams as observed by 'saintbrat'.
saintsbrat saintsational

Kosi and Sammy to be tested
. . . Koschitzke will have his latest battery of neurological tests to determine whether he is completely recovered from head injuries that began with a fractured skull in the round six game against the Western Bulldogs and continued with concussion and a broken nose when he collided with an umpire in a VFL reserves match several weeks ago. He had been considered a chance to return a fortnight ago, but neurological tests then showed there was still some bruising on the brain. Hamill has not played since injuring his knee in the first meeting between St Kilda and Geelong in round seven. He admitted in a pre-match radio interview on Friday night that the prospect of a third successive finals tilt ruined by injury was now looming. St Kilda training services manager Craig Starcevich said Hamill was on a "managed load" at training. "He has to demonstrate that he can handle sessions without the knee flaring up."
Shoulder injury has Thomas in doubt for finals Michael Gleeson and Len Johnson/TheAge/08Aug06
Losing clubs prefer to focus on next season Rohan Connolly/TheAge/08Aug06
All Clubs Injury Lists AAP/TheAustralian/08Aug06

Limiting Interchange will increase injuries!
. . . (Rodney Eade) warned limits on bench use in future seasons would increase injury. "I know the AFL is looking maybe down the track some time of limiting the number of interchanges. The pace of the game might stop the collision injuries, but I think the game will be diluted in the quality and we'll get more soft tissue injuries," he said. "If you have a look at Friday night's (St Kilda-West Coast) game which was probably the most highly intense game of the season, Luke Ball had four or five fantastic efforts and was fatigued. If he stays on because you've got limited interchanges, what does he do? Tear a hamstring? I think they should increase the number of interchanges for the welfare of the players because we're not going to slow the game down."
Relief unlikely for hot Dogs Bruce Matthews/FoxFooty/08Aug06

Saints lose running battle
. . . "Before the game we made a huge focus of the things that they were good at, and at the end of the day they still smashed us in those areas," Ball said. "That's the contested ball and that sort of gut running. We got a fair lesson in that in that last quarter on hard running from their midfield." Despite the loss, which will most likely cost the Saints their place in the top four, and the horrible season-ending injury to key defender Matt Maguire, Ball could still pick some positives out of the match. Despite being outplayed in the first half, St Kilda worked its way back into the game and had three chances to take the lead towards the end of the third quarter, but Fraser Gehrig, Robert Harvey and Nick Riewoldt all missed set shots.
The Article Samantha Lane/TheAge/06Aug06
Bodies undermine dreams of greats Ken Piesse/HeraldSun/06Aug06

Saints must stay upbeat despite injuries, says Ball
St Kilda captain Luke Ball holds hope that his side, although injury stricken, can still win the premiership this year. The Saints lost their centre half-back, Matt Maguire, to a season-ending injury in the late stages of Friday's 39-point loss to West Coast, on the same night that Aaron Hamill admitted he was preparing for a third consecutive finals series to be ruined by injury. Maguire had a rod and screws inserted into his lower left leg yesterday morning to mend his broken tibia and fibula bones. St Kilda released a statement saying he was expected to be ready to play in round one next year "assuming there are no unexpected complications" . . . Asked how much the most recent body blow would knock around St Kilda's premiership chances, Ball said: "Obviously it does. I'm not going to lie, it does."
The Article Samantha Lane/TheAge/06Aug06

Bad break, but Ball flags hope
St Kilda captain Luke Ball is refusing to give up on his premiership dream, despite losing another star player to serious injury . . . "I'm pretty close with Matt, he's obviously my age and drafted at the same time. That stage of the game, too, we were obviously going to lose, I thought, geez, it's just made a bad night even worse" . . . Hamill said before the game his knee was not recovering as well as hoped and would be out indefinitely. The news came as Triple M's Sam Newman again raised the sceptre of Hamill's career being in jeopardy.
The Article Jackie Epstein/HeraldSun/06Aug06

Saints Selections!
. . . West Coast's strength is their work at the clearances and their midfield run. Our weakness is a lack of midfield depth and leg speed. What do we do to combat that? We drop a tough, in-and-under midfielder in McQualter and replace him with a skinny, fish-out-of-water key defender in Gilbert. Why? McQualter would have been very handy with his work at the clearances and tackling in the contest. What role was Gilbert going to play anyhow? West Coast only have Lynch and Hansen as key forwards with Hudghton, Maguire and Fisher more than enough to match them. If you want to blood the young kid, play him against one of the lowly ranked teams, not against the Eagles in a must-win game. Gilbert may develop into a quality player one day, but at present he looks lost out there and nowhere near ready. You could make the case that we lost round 1 at the selection table and I'd have to say the selectors contributed to this loss as well.
The Thread statsman/saintsational
Saints after R18 - A summay Oh When the Saints/saintsational

Saints on the Matt
. . . As the West Coast song belted out, an ambulance was pulling up at the back of the St Kilda changerooms. It was a sorry sight that was even more depressing when you saw the downcast looks of other injury victims Justin Koschitzke, Xavier Clarke and Aaron Hamill. A spent Robert Harvey just stared into space with sadness etched on his face. It was a hard night at the office, compounded by Jason Gram emerging from the medical room on crutches.
The Article Jackie Epstein/HeraldSun/06Aug06
Goose's Injury youtube.com

Clubs talk tough over TV money
. . . St Kilda president Rod Butterss said he expected the commission "to tell us what they think is a reasonable figure" and "we will probably moan and debate it and then accept it". "However, the clubs can reject the offer if they believe it is not fair and reasonable," Butterss said. "And then there is the ultimate recourse, which is to use our voting power to remove commissioners whom the clubs believe are not treating us fairly and reasonably. We, the clubs, appoint the commission. If you p--- off enough clubs there could be a backlash. Say three quarters of the clubs think they are being harshly treated or unfairly treated, the ultimate recourse is to use our power at the voting table."
The Article Rod Nicholson/HeraldSun/06Aug06
Spida sued over debt HeraldSun/06Aug06

Despite injuries, coach confident come finals time
Defender Matt Maguire is the latest in a long list of injured Saints, but coach Grant Thomas is confident his side can beat West Coast if required come the finals next month. "Their midfield was just awesome," Thomas said. "I don't know how much more (improvement) they've got, but I'd like to think we've got a fair bit more." After hauling themselves out of a mid-season slump, the Saints had won their previous five games heading into last night's clash, which Thomas described as "hot footy" in the first half. "I thought both sides put enormous pressure on in the first half, but they had a lot more quality execution and decision-making than we did," he said. "You've got the Kerrs and Judds, Cousins and Fletchers and Brauns and these guys running onto the footy and they do it very, very well, they're a terrific side at it . . . and we were humbled tonight." He said the players and coaching staff "respect they're a great side", but remain confident the Eagles, and league-leader Adelaide, can be beaten.
The Article Martin Boulton/TheAge/05Aug06
Fiora's Mark Win TV/Trueman/saintsational - Video file

R1 2007 is Maguire's target
St Kilda defender Matt Maguire will miss the rest of the 2006 season after undergoing surgery on his fractured left tibia and fibula on Saturday morning, but the club is hopeful he'll be fit to return to action in round one next season. The surgery involved a rod being placed into his left tibia. Maguire sustained the season-ending injury, just minutes before St Kilda suffered a 39-point to West Coast at Telstra Dome on Friday night. The incident occurred at the 28-minute mark of the final term when Maguire took the weight of Tyson Stenglein's body on his lower leg after the Eagle rolled into the path of the oncoming Saint. Maguire's rehabilitation will take approximately six months and assuming there are no unexpected complications, he is expected to be available for St Kilda's opening round of the 2007 home-and-away season.
The Article Matt Burgan/Sportal/saints.com.au/05Aug06

Double blow for Saints
Maguire had been running with the flight of the ball and took the full weight of Stenglein's body on his lower leg. To make matters worse, skipper Luke Ball finished the match on the bench with a shoulder heavily strapped. The Saints had four set shots for goal in seven minutes in the third term but missed every one, with Nick Riewoldt erring twice, blowing a golden opportunity to steal the lead from the Eagles.
The Article Andrew Wu/saints.com.au/04Aug06

Stay upbeat, urges Thomas
. . . "In some ways we're getting used to it. We've had serious quality players injured each year and that's not crying over spilt milk - they're just the facts," Thomas said post-match. "We have a bit of a joke that we can't get a crab injured, but that's a flippant way to say we seem to get our really important, significant players injured and in the past, it may have been a (Max) Hudghton and the impact that he has down back or a Maguire or (Nick) Riewoldt last year for 10 weeks - (Justin) Koschitzke and (Aaron) Hamill and Lenny Hayes - they're really significant players and very important players. It's not just losing them - it's what that does to the dynamics of the rest of the team, which is a significant thing, but it's a really big task to keep the players focused and positive, because there is no way of getting around it. Players do get down when they see your best players out for the season - it can be quite deflating, but that's what we get paid for as a coaching team - to lift spirits and motivate people to take on challenges and we're squarely focused on that." On the defeat, Thomas was in no doubt that West Coast was the "superior side on the night". "Fundamentally our execution and our decision-making was in a space that we haven't been for probably a couple of months - eight weeks - and we just seemed a little bit lethargic, but I thought our pressure skills were really good," Thomas said.
The Article Matt Burgan/saints.com.au/04Aug06

Bad break for Maguire
St Kilda key defender Matt Maguire is set to miss the rest of the season and possibly a good part of next season after he fractured his left tibia and fibula just minutes before the finish of the Saints' 39-point loss to West Coast at Telstra Dome on Friday night. The incident occurred at the 28-minute mark of the final term when Maguire took the weight of Tyson Stenglein's body on his lower leg after the Eagle rolled into the path of the oncoming Saint. St Kilda coach Grant Thomas revealed after the match that he was just about to take Maguire from the ground when the injury happened.
The Article Matt Burgan/saints.com.au/04Aug06

Despite injuries, coach confident come finals time
Defender Matt Maguire is the latest in a long list of injured Saints, but coach Grant Thomas is confident his side can beat West Coast if required come the finals next month. "Their midfield was just awesome," Thomas said. "I don't know how much more (improvement) they've got, but I'd like to think we've got a fair bit more." After hauling themselves out of a mid-season slump, the Saints had won their previous five games heading into last night's clash, which Thomas described as "hot footy" in the first half. "I thought both sides put enormous pressure on in the first half, but they had a lot more quality execution and decision-making than we did," he said. "You've got the Kerrs and Judds, Cousins and Fletchers and Brauns and these guys running onto the footy and they do it very, very well, they're a terrific side at it . . . and we were humbled tonight." He said the players and coaching staff "respect they're a great side", but remain confident the Eagles, and league-leader Adelaide, can be beaten.
The Article Martin Boulton/TheAge/05Aug06
Fiora's Mark Win TV/Trueman/saintsational

Double blow for Saints
Maguire had been running with the flight of the ball and took the full weight of Stenglein's body on his lower leg. To make matters worse, skipper Luke Ball finished the match on the bench with a shoulder heavily strapped. The Saints had four set shots for goal in seven minutes in the third term but missed every one, with Nick Riewoldt erring twice, blowing a golden opportunity to steal the lead from the Eagles.
The Article Andrew Wu/saints.com.au/04Aug06

Stay upbeat, urges Thomas
. . . "In some ways we're getting used to it. We've had serious quality players injured each year and that's not crying over spilt milk - they're just the facts," Thomas said post-match. "We have a bit of a joke that we can't get a crab injured, but that's a flippant way to say we seem to get our really important, significant players injured and in the past, it may have been a (Max) Hudghton and the impact that he has down back or a Maguire or (Nick) Riewoldt last year for 10 weeks - (Justin) Koschitzke and (Aaron) Hamill and Lenny Hayes - they're really significant players and very important players. It's not just losing them - it's what that does to the dynamics of the rest of the team, which is a significant thing, but it's a really big task to keep the players focused and positive, because there is no way of getting around it. Players do get down when they see your best players out for the season - it can be quite deflating, but that's what we get paid for as a coaching team - to lift spirits and motivate people to take on challenges and we're squarely focused on that." On the defeat, Thomas was in no doubt that West Coast was the "superior side on the night". "Fundamentally our execution and our decision-making was in a space that we haven't been for probably a couple of months - eight weeks - and we just seemed a little bit lethargic, but I thought our pressure skills were really good," Thomas said.
The Article Matt Burgan/saints.com.au/04Aug06

Saints' cracks become craters
The Eagles kicked 2.5 in the first quarter and dominated the game. The Saints stuck fat in the second quarter, kicked themselves out of a possible lead in the third on the back of exciting and purposeful footy and, uncharacteristically, turned it up in the last. Again, St Kilda's depth was tested and came up short. At one stage, their starting centre-square group was Stephen Powell, Andrew Thompson and Robert Harvey. Good they are, but AFL can't be played with a late 90s retro look. The upside for the Saints is they can play better footy, but how much so? OK, Stephen Milne might get a kick, Brett Voss some consistency, Leigh Montagna as well, Cain Ackland and Jason Blake some urgency perhaps.
The Article Mark Robinson/HeraldSun/05Aug06
Saints in trouble Bruce Matthews/HeraldSun/05Aug06
Eagles enjoy high life Scott Gullan/HeraldSun/05Aug06
Eagles sound a warning Len Johnson/TheAge/05Aug06
Eagles power away from Saints Joel Zander/ABCSport/05Aug06

Saints lose Goose
A parochial and optimistic 40,000 turned out at Telstra Dome last night to see St Kilda on the big stage. They departed in pessimism after the Saints fluffed their lines against West Coast, losing by almost seven goals and watching another key player, centre half-back Matt Maguire, go down with a serious injury. "Goose" Maguire, St Kilda's crazy-brave defender, was thought to have broken the tibia and fibula bones in his left leg after one of those courageous runs back with the flight of the ball with only a minute of the game remaining. After colliding with West Coast's Tyson Stenglein and hyper-extending his leg, he was taken from the field on a stretcher and by ambulance to hospital. If the early diagnosis is confirmed, he most likely will miss not only the rest of this season but most of 2007 as well.
The Article Martin Blake/TheAge/05Aug06

G-Train goes from express to a stop
It came after the quarter-time siren, but the Saints' first goal last night was off the boot of big Fraser Gehrig, who picked up from where he finished last weekend with 10 goals against Richmond. But any hopes of a repeat performance against West Coast were short-lived, as that was his only goal for the match. The Saints worked the ball inside their attacking zone 13 times in the frantic opening term, but Gehrig managed just three touches from those attacking forays. Despite obvious frustration he bounced back with just a second left on the clock, after Darren Glass was penalised. Gehrig's free kick after the siren kept the Saints within reach of the Eagles. There was no doubt Glass had the better of his burly opponent for much of the match, but he received good support from other Eagles defenders.
The Article Martin Boulton/TheAge/05Aug06

Victorian Eagle fans suggest strange new world
There was something particularly significant about West Coast's commanding performance against St Kilda at Telstra Dome the other Friday night, far more about what was going on in the stands than on the playing field. As the Eagles swept the Saints aside with a seven-goal final quarter, you couldn't help but notice the level of noise that accompanied each successive nail in St Kilda's coffin, not to mention the amount of blue and gold waved in celebration. If there had been a sudden mass migration of West Australians to these parts, it had clearly slipped under the radar. But the more likely explanation was simply what some Victorians might once have found unpalatable. Here was a team that boasted some of the AFL's most sublime individual talents, which plays an at times breathtaking brand of football, and which appeals to an increasing number of fans even 3600 kilometres away from its home base.
The Article Rohan Connolly/TheAge/13Aug06

Koschitzke awaits chance to return
Injured St Kilda player Justin Koschitzke wants to resume his spot in the St Kilda team as soon as possible. Speaking at last night's president's dinner before the match against West Coast at Telstra Dome, Koschitzke, who has played two senior games this year, said he would be ready to play as soon as the chance arose. "It's been a bumpy road and the unknown is certainly the most frustrating part, knowing whether I can make an influence on the group this year or not," he said. After fracturing his skull in a sickening clash with Daniel Giansiracusa during the match against the Western Bulldogs, Koschitzke returned to football with the Casey Scorpions but was again injured when he collided with an umpire. The Saints have said he will not play again until given a complete clean bill of health by their medical team. Coach Grant Thomas said this week that three neurospecialists were not entirely satisfied that all of the bruising on Koschitzke's brain had gone.
The Article Martin Boulton/TheAge/05Aug06

Clubs set to compromise on share
Following this week's hefty pay increases for players over the next five years, clubs are convinced they will not receive their demands for additional funding of $160 million over the same period. With players taking an overall increase between 2007 and 2011 of more than $150m, clubs contacted by The Weekend Australian yesterday all expected significantly less than their individual demands of an extra $2m annually. And that's despite 15 of the 16 clubs vowing two months ago that they would not buckle to pressure and accept less. With the exception of Sydney, all club presidents and chairmen had previously stressed their combined demands of an additional $160m was not an ambit claim.
The Article Martin Boulton/TheAustralian/05Aug06

AFL caught in a state of distress
The AFL is investing nearly $8million in NSW this year but the big spend is unlikely to produce even one teenager talented enough to be recruited by a club in the November draft. Within the next four years, the AFL wants 10 per cent of boys drafted to have a NSW pedigree. But given the nation's most populous state did not win a match at either the recent under-16 or under-18 national championships, that seems a fantasy. While the Queensland AFL, through development manager Mark Browning, is luring a pool of talented kids from other sports such as rugby union, the AFL has made few inroads in its battle to entice the best athletes in NSW and particularly Sydney.
The Article Jenny McAsey/TheAustralian/05Aug06

GO BACK TO PREVIOUS PAGE