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McGough to tackle Kangas
Midfielder Mark McGough is back in favour at St Kilda after he was named for his first senior game since round 15 last season. The Saints left out youngster Sam Gilbert for Sunday's match against the Kangaroos at Telstra Dome and named McGough on the interchange bench with Justin Peckett, Brett Voss and Jason Blake. Gilbert, Aaron Fiora and Michael Rix are the three emergences for the Saints. The Kangaroos have made no changes to the team that lost to Fremantle in Perth last week, selecting Josh Gibson, Andrew Swallow, Leigh Harding and Hamish McIntosh on the bench. The Kangaroos left out Chad Jones, Troy Makepeace and Cameron Thurley, naming the trio as emergencies.
Article and Final List saints.com.au/25May06

Baker's delight
Even as the players swirled around the conferring umpires, screaming and arguing in the chaos, Steven Baker knew. As Chris Connolly charged ranting on to the ground and the interminable seconds ticked by - destined to be replayed forever - Baker realised there was one final, remarkable act to be played out. All about him were losing their heads, but Baker was determined he would keep his cool despite a fit of nerves and the ensuing confusion.
The Article HeraldSun/28May06

Saints are out to stay ahead of '05
Despite injury woes and question marks over recent form, St Kilda assistant coach Matt Rendell believes that if the Saints defeat the Kangaroos today, they will be better placed than at the corresponding time last year. Buoyed by the drubbing of Carlton last weekend, the Saints are back in the top eight but Rendell says today's clash is critical to their season's hopes. Premiership favourite before the season began, St Kilda is in the eight courtesy of a healthy percentage and with a 4-4 record. "It is a pretty important game for the context of the season, to tell you the truth," Rendell said yesterday before Saints training. "Every game is a danger game. Us and the Kangaroos have had really good contests over the last four or five years, fantastic contests, really. There has never been much between the games, whether we have won or lost. We split that last year and they have always been pretty tight. Even when we have kicked a bag like we did a couple of years ago, they still kicked 20-odd goals."
The Article Karen Lyon/TheAge/28May06

Riewoldt revolution
Grant Thomas takes a bit, doesn't he?
It's always disappointing because all the players really respect Thommo, they rate him so highly, and it's disappointing he continually comes under such scrutiny.
Amazed by it?
I am, to be honest. Thommo's in a very tough situation where if we perform well, it's because we've got such a perceived good list and if we don't it's because Thommo can't coach. It is very frustrating to hear that stuff.
You play your 100th game this weekend. How would you rate the overall package?
It's certainly been an eventful 100 games. I'm rapt, not just with the 100 games, but the five and a bit years I've been involved with the St Kilda Football Club. Just the experiences I've had. I've seen a coach sacked two days after my first game, we've been on the bottom of the ladder, we've been a kick away from the Grand Final, I had a turn captaining the club . . .
The Article HeraldSun/25May06

Hudghton back for 'Roos clash
The Saints have added four new players to their extended squad to tackle the Kangaroos at Telstra Dome on Sunday. Defender Max Hudghton is available after serving out his one-match suspension last week while Mark McGough, Aaron Fiora and Michael Rix have also been thrown in the mix. Rix, a ruck option selected by the Saints in the 2005 National AFL Draft, is a chance to make his senior debut after having been named as an emergency twice this year. Joining McGough, Fiora and Rix on the bench are Justin Peckett, Brett Voss, Sam Gilbert and Jason Blake. Stephen Powell has been dropped.
Teams and Article saints.com.au/25May06
All Round 9 Teams HeraldSun
Laidley backs himself KarenLyon/TheAge/26May06
Benefits from Green Shirt Matt Burgan/saints.com.au/25May06

Kos may play in 6 weeks
St Kilda yesterday remained positive that Justin Koschitzke, who had his skull fractured in round six, was on target to resume playing in about six weeks. A Saints source denied a report that he may not play again this season because he was having trouble hearing in his right ear.
Worsfold defers to mentor Courtney Walsh & Greg Denham/FoxSports/25May06

Beware tribunal bearing gifts
. . . "It is a bit like the sweet lolly syndrome. You offer them a discount and they take it because the immediacy of it is they don't serve a game. But the carry-over points hit them. The next time they do something they go back to the candy store and it isn't so sweet."
The Article Chip Le Grand/TheAustralian/27May06

Hamill heads for sun in recovery bid
St Kilda forward Aaron Hamill is poised to join teammate Justin Koschitzke in Queensland on an endorsed sabbatical that the Saints hope will help them through their extended recovery from injuries. St Kilda coach Grant Thomas confirmed last night that Hamill, who is likely to miss at least six more weeks with a posterior cruciate ligament injury in his right knee, was planning to fly north tomorrow to join Koschitzke, who is on a break in Queensland. A date for Koschitzke's return to the game is not known but it is expected late in the season is the best-case scenario. He is recovering from a fractured skull that has temporarily left him with only partial hearing in his right ear. With both players cruelled, often seriously, by injury, it is believed the Saints decided it would be healthy, mentally as much as physically, for both to enjoy a break from the game and the environment of the football club while they recuperate.
The Article Stephen Rielly & Caroline Wilson/TheAge/25May06

Hudghton back for 'Roos clash
The Saints have added four new players to their extended squad to tackle the Kangaroos at Telstra Dome on Sunday. Defender Max Hudghton is available after serving out his one-match suspension last week while Mark McGough, Aaron Fiora and Michael Rix have also been thrown in the mix. Rix, a ruck option selected by the Saints in the 2005 National AFL Draft, is a chance to make his senior debut after having been named as an emergency twice this year. Joining McGough, Fiora and Rix on the bench are Justin Peckett, Brett Voss, Sam Gilbert and Jason Blake. Stephen Powell has been dropped.
Teams and Article saints.com.au/25May06
All Round 9 Teams HeraldSun
Laidley backs himself KarenLyon/TheAge/26May06
Benefits from Green Shirt Matt Burgan/saints.com.au/25May06

Tasmania looks beyond Saints
St Kilda's chances of renewing its Tasmanian contract beyond 2007 are so low that AFL Live in Tasmania is already looking for a club to replace the Saints. AFL Live in Tasmania chairman Peter Hudson said he was preparing for the Saints to end their $300,000 a match, two games a year deal with the Tasmanian Government.
The Article HeraldSun/25May06
Subi masterplan unveiled Ashley Browne/saints.com.au/25May06

Collision leaves Kosi with hearing loss
Justin Koschitzke is still to regain the hearing in his right ear and may not play for St Kilda again this year. Eighteen days after fracturing his skull in a sickening on-field collision with Western Bulldog midfielder Daniel Giansiracusa, Koschitzke has only partial hearing in his right ear above which the fracture is located. It is believed that because the site of the fracture is so close to the ear, there has been no attempt to drain the blood and fluid that seeped into the ear canal for two days after the incident. While the star-crossed 23-year-old has been given permission to resume driving, which he was forbidden to do for two weeks after being taken off Telstra Dome on a stretcher, any prospect of a return to the training track in the near future is remote, with a return to the field even further away. It is believed that because of the severity of the injury, St Kilda has not considered when its potentially great ruckman/forward may return. Coach Grant Thomas would not comment last night, other than to confirm that Koschitzke is in the earliest weeks of a recovery that "is likely to take some time".
The Article Stephen Rielly/TheAge/23May06
Nick Dal Santo Audio footyvoice.com.au/Thanks Mocca

Saint risks joining assembly of footy's felled 'What-ifs?'
Essendon fans over 40 wonder what Neale Daniher might have accomplished, for himself and his club, had he won, rather than lost, his battles of wounded knees. The Demons' faithful have pondered how high David Schwarz might have soared had his congenitally weak knees not grounded him. The Ox pushed on, but injuries denied him a shot at Wayne Carey's crown. Justin Koschitzke is about the same vintage that Daniher and Schwarz were when their knees failed them, with 73 games of his immense promise to his name. It is to be hoped that Koschitzke does not become this era's answer to Daniher and Schwarz, a luckless player whose only breaks were fractured bones and torn ligaments, and that, like James Hird circa 2000, he is spared from further mishap.
The Article Jake Niall/TheAge/23May06

Hamill heads for sun in recovery bid
St Kilda forward Aaron Hamill is poised to join teammate Justin Koschitzke in Queensland on an endorsed sabbatical that the Saints hope will help them through their extended recovery from injuries. St Kilda coach Grant Thomas confirmed last night that Hamill, who is likely to miss at least six more weeks with a posterior cruciate ligament injury in his right knee, was planning to fly north tomorrow to join Koschitzke, who is on a break in Queensland. A date for Koschitzke's return to the game is not known but it is expected late in the season is the best-case scenario. He is recovering from a fractured skull that has temporarily left him with only partial hearing in his right ear. With both players cruelled, often seriously, by injury, it is believed the Saints decided it would be healthy, mentally as much as physically, for both to enjoy a break from the game and the environment of the football club while they recuperate.
The Article Stephen Rielly & Caroline Wilson/TheAge/25May06

Tasmania looks beyond Saints
St Kilda's chances of renewing its Tasmanian contract beyond 2007 are so low that AFL Live in Tasmania is already looking for a club to replace the Saints. AFL Live in Tasmania chairman Peter Hudson said he was preparing for the Saints to end their $300,000 a match, two games a year deal with the Tasmanian Government.
The Article HeraldSun/25May06
Subi masterplan unveiled Ashley Browne/saints.com.au/25May06

Collision leaves Kosi with hearing loss
Justin Koschitzke is still to regain the hearing in his right ear and may not play for St Kilda again this year. Eighteen days after fracturing his skull in a sickening on-field collision with Western Bulldog midfielder Daniel Giansiracusa, Koschitzke has only partial hearing in his right ear above which the fracture is located. It is believed that because the site of the fracture is so close to the ear, there has been no attempt to drain the blood and fluid that seeped into the ear canal for two days after the incident. While the star-crossed 23-year-old has been given permission to resume driving, which he was forbidden to do for two weeks after being taken off Telstra Dome on a stretcher, any prospect of a return to the training track in the near future is remote, with a return to the field even further away. It is believed that because of the severity of the injury, St Kilda has not considered when its potentially great ruckman/forward may return. Coach Grant Thomas would not comment last night, other than to confirm that Koschitzke is in the earliest weeks of a recovery that "is likely to take some time".
The Article Stephen Rielly/TheAge/23May06
Nick Dal Santo Audio footyvoice.com.au/Thanks Mocca

Saint risks joining assembly of footy's felled 'What-ifs?'
Essendon fans over 40 wonder what Neale Daniher might have accomplished, for himself and his club, had he won, rather than lost, his battles of wounded knees. The Demons' faithful have pondered how high David Schwarz might have soared had his congenitally weak knees not grounded him. The Ox pushed on, but injuries denied him a shot at Wayne Carey's crown. Justin Koschitzke is about the same vintage that Daniher and Schwarz were when their knees failed them, with 73 games of his immense promise to his name. It is to be hoped that Koschitzke does not become this era's answer to Daniher and Schwarz, a luckless player whose only breaks were fractured bones and torn ligaments, and that, like James Hird circa 2000, he is spared from further mishap.
The Article Jake Niall/TheAge/23May06



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