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ST KILDA: 4.4 6.7 8.11 10.14 (74)
KANGAROOS: 1.3 5.8 6.8 8.9 (57)
GOALS - St Kilda: Dal Santo 2, Gehrig 2, Riewoldt 2, Ball, Harvey, McGough, Schwarze
Kangaroos: Grant 2, Makepeace 2, Green, Co.Jones, McIntosh, Thompson
BEST - St Kilda: Ball, Harvey, Dal Santo, Goddard, L.Fisher, S.Fisher
Kangaroos: Archer, Pratt, Grant, Rawlings, Harris, Sinclair
INJURIES - St Kilda: Nil
Kangaroos: Nil
CHANGES - St Kilda: Nil
Kangaroos: Perry replaced in selected side by Makepeace
REPORTS - Gehrig (St Kilda) reported for striking McIntosh (Kang) by umpire Vozzo in the second quarter
UMPIRES - Vozzo, Stevic, Hendrie
CROWD - 30,904 at Telstra Dome
HITOUTS: St Kilda 23, Kangaroos 30
50m PENALTIES: St Kilda 0, Kangaroos 0
GOALS: St Kilda - Free 3; Play 1; Mark 6
Kangaroos - Free 0; Play 2; Mark 6
DISTANCE OF GOALS: St Kilda 0-15m 1; 15-30m 2; 30-40m 2; 40+m 5.
Kangaroos 0-15m 2; 15-30m 0; 30-40m 1; 40+m 5

Flag hopes on crutches
. . . Koschitzke has played two games, Clarke four, Hamill six, while Hayes finishes on nine. For the third year in a row Grant Thomas has been denied a reasonable crack at the premiership with a list seen to be capable of winning the flag. Hamill and Clarke will resume within six weeks, Koschitzke will be back when he feels up to it, probably the last 6-8 weeks, Hayes next year. The sad reality for the Saints is teams that win premierships do it only when they have all their good players on the field after largely uninterrupted seasons. Hayes is a super player. He is averaging 25 possessions, he leads St Kilda's hardball gets with 31, he should be leading the best-and-fairest.
The Article Mike Sheahan/HeraldSun/30May06

Kelty pledges AFL aid for ex-players
AFL commissioner Bill Kelty has made a multimillion-dollar pledge on behalf of the league that physically damaged ex-footballers of any age will be cared for. Kelty's undertaking was delivered two days ago at the home of his close friend and transport magnate Lindsay Fox, who called the meeting between the AFL commissioner and the executive of the past players' group, the X-Men. Concerned with the level of support offered by the AFL Players Association, the X-Men are believed to have requested that the league establish a $10 million fund to pay for medical assistance such as elective or non-elective surgery for those retired players who are struggling financially or unable to afford private health insurance. The Sunday morning meeting took place at the home of Fox, a former St Kilda footballer and president who is a member of the Saints' past players group. At the meeting, Kelty spoke to X-Men president Ron O'Dwyer and his directors Neil Roberts and Michael Perry.
The Article Caroline Wilson/The Age/30May06

Hayes: Season over, Knee reconstruction
Lenny Hayes plans to rejoin the St Kilda team by round one next year, after yesterday receiving the stunning news that his right knee must be reconstructed. Hayes, who will have surgery tomorrow, played out Sunday's game against the Kangaroos after a half-time check on his knee revealed no problems. The onballer cannot remember exactly how he hurt himself, but received a knock to the knee - as well as his head and left shin - while trying to tackle an opponent early in the match. After a painful night on Sunday, Hayes saw club doctors again yesterday, before surgeon Ian Henderson confirmed he had completely ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in an otherwise stable knee. St Kilda coach Grant Thomas said yesterday there was "zero question" on the medical staff that examined Hayes at half-time, and the midfielder said while he lost some "zip and power" in the second half, he did not worsen the injury by unknowingly playing on.
The Article Emma Quayle/The Age/30May06

Thomas: We can still win the flag
St Kilda coach Grant Thomas has vowed the Saints can still challenge for the premiership this season despite the crushing blow of losing star on-baller Lenny Hayes for the rest of 2006 with a serious knee injury. The Saints' premiership ambitions were thwarted by injury last year with Hayes now joining Justin Koschitzke (fractured skull), Aaron Hamill (knee sprain), Xavier Clarke (hip) and James Gwilt (leg) on the long-term injury list this season. With St Kilda only inside the top eight on percentage and Hayes and Koschitzke, their best midfielder and best big man respectively, both sidelined indefinitely - Thomas admits he can hardly believe his bad luck as the Saints' injury curse strikes again. However there was some good news on Monday with Fraser Gehrig's striking charge thrown out by the match review panel - leaving him free to play against Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday - while Hayes was offered a one game suspension for striking Roos' skipper Adam Simpson, which he will obviously accept given he will miss the rest of the season anyway.
The Article Paul Gough/saints.com.au/29May06
Raph should come straight in Saintsational Fan Forum
Dal must play more time in the pivot Saintsational Fan Forum

Season over as Hayes faces knee reconstruction
It was Black Monday on the AFL injury front yesterday. A season-ending knee injury to St Kilda's best midfielder, Lenny Hayes, headed one of the worst casualty lists for a non-match day. Apart from the Saints' shattering discovery that Hayes had ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee against the Kangaroos on Sunday, three other big names face lengthy spells on the sidelines.
The Article HeraldSun/30May06
Hayes injury blowThe Article Mark Robinson/HeraldSun/30May06

Hayes knee blow heads heavy toll
St Kilda star Lenny Hayes says he was shocked to learn on Monday he had suffered a season-ending knee injury just a day after playing out the entire game against the Kangaroos at Telstra Dome. While it's fair to say most players are shocked when told they have suffered football's most serious injury, Hayes was entitled to be more surprised than most given his ability to somehow play with the injury for three quarters after sustaining the knock to his right knee in the first quarter. Incredibly the rest of Hayes' right knee is totally sound with only the anterior cruciate ligament having been ruptured with the former skipper even contemplating playing on with the injury before deciding to undergo season-ending surgery, which will take place on Wednesday. But he has already set his sights on being fit for round one next season with his recovery expected to be quicker than the normal 12 month lay-off.
The Article Paul Gough/saints.com.au/29May06

Crucial stage for Saints
Despite having quietly moved into fifth place on the ladder, St Kilda will have a better indication of its standing in the competition after its next three matches according to forward Stephen Milne. The Saints have a testing short-term fixture ahead of them, with clashes against Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide, and Milne believes that winning two of the three matches could see St Kilda enter the top four. "We've got a really big three weeks coming up. I think we'll be able to look at ourselves after the break and say this is where we're at and we can go from there," Milne said on Monday morning.
The Article Andrew Wu/saints.com.au/29May06

Not Pretty - But 4 points iz 4 points
"It wasn't really pretty, obviously, but some days you've got to win like that and it was a very significant couple of hours we put to the guys that we needed to get a win and I thought we started very well . . . I just felt we could've closed the game a bit earlier with shots on goal as well, but that's bad footy, but happy to get the four points." Grant Thomas
Roos' flood dampens game Mark Robinson/HeraldSun/29May06
Attitude is best way to counter flooding - Thomas Emma Quayle/TheAge/29May06
Saints find way to beat flood and Archer Jake Niall/TheAge/29May06

Saints battle past Roos
St Kilda has turned in a workman-like performance to defeat the Kangaroos 10.14 (74) to 8.9 (57) at Telstra Dome on Sunday. It was a battle all day, but the Saints had the edge for three of the four quarters, with the Kangaroos throwing out a challenge in the second term only to see St Kilda regain the momentum in the second half to grind out the win. The result sees the Saints with a 3-1 record for the month of May and a 5-4 record overall, while the Kangaroos have now won just one match out of their last eight and find themselves mired in the bottom four. St Kilda received excellent service around the ball from skipper Luke Ball and record games holder Robert Harvey who finished with 28 and 27 touches respectively, while the backline was a strength once again with Mark McGough (20 possessions), Sam Fisher (21 disposals) and Leigh Fisher (25 touches) all among the best.
The Article Jason Phelan/saints.com.au/28May06

Saints to get better: Thomas
St Kilda coach Grant Thomas says he is pleased with his side's improvement in recent weeks - the Saints have now won their past two matches after an inconsistent start to the season - yet he is adamant that the return of several key players will further improve the Saints' fortunes. St Kilda has now won five of their opening nine matches, but after their 17-point win over the Kangaroos on Sunday at Telstra Dome, Thomas said the side's current momentum can be built on as the season continues. "In some aspects we are (happy with some improvements), but there are frustrations because you'd like it to happen more quickly, because we set high standards and we want the players to be great and the team to be great," Thomas said post-match. "But there is always another factor involved and that's an opponent and you can't always get away with doing what you want to do."
The Article Matt Burgan/saints.com.au/28May06

Saints too strong for struggling Kangaroos
. . . Despite the nature of the win, Grant Thomas will no doubt be happy with the four competition points, which sees St Kilda jump to fifth position on the ladder . . . They have now won just two of their opening nine games this season, and lie in 14th spot on the premiership ladder. St Kilda veteran Robert Harvey played a big part in his side's win with 27 touches and a goal, while Luke Ball controlled plenty of ball, racking up 28 touches and kicking a single major. The Saints shot out of the blocks in the opening term, kicking the first three goals of the game on their way to a four goals to one term which saw them lead by 19 points at the first change.
The Article ABC Sport/28May06

Saints ride heavy bumps to victory
In a game more memorable for its heavy hits than any displays of skill, the Saints showed better poise under the Dome roof to win 10.14 (74) to 8.9 (57). Nick Riewoldt took 11 marks in his 100th game and kicked two goals, while Nick Dal Santo and Robert Harvey were also prominent for the Saints. Kangaroos defenders Glenn Archer and Daniel Pratt were reliable and Shannon Grant had 26 disposals. The Kangaroos challenged in the second term and briefly in the last, but through the second half did not look capable of kicking a winning score. Leading by five points at halftime, St Kilda kicked 2.4 to a goal in the third term.
The Article AAP/HeraldSun/28May06


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