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2007 Round 13 Post-game Articles - St Kilda versus Richmond
A day after yet another hamstring injury to a key AFL player, St Kilda received a double dose of good news. Key forward Aaron Hamill played for the first time this year and Matt Maguire was in his first team since round one when they turned out for VFL affiliate Casey. They had about an hour apiece of game time and the Saints will assess their recovery on Monday before deciding on the next steps in their comebacks. "Both played good footy today, it was certainly a step in the right direction," said Saints football manager Ken Sheldon. Hamill has battled repeated knee problems, while Maguire is returning from a foot injury. On Satruday night, Max Hudghton's horror injury run continued when he hurt a hamstring in his only his fifth senior game this season. Saints ruck-forward Justin Koschitzke was also ruled out last week with a hamstring injury. St Kilda will confirm on Monday how long Hudghton will need for his latest setback. The Article AAP/TheAge/01Jul07 Saints enjoy flowing form The win was vital, but how St Kilda went about its 17-point success over Richmond on Saturday night was even more impressive. Six weeks ago, the Saints and Hawthorn produced probably the worst game of the season, which the Hawks won. It is no accident that St Kilda played with more precision and speed this time around at Telstra Dome. Determined to regain respect from the rest of the league after a run of four losses, the Saints worked hard on their game style. They put their season back on track with the Richmond win and the shock success over West Coast a week ago in Perth. "It's always a subjective opinion - I like free-flowing footy, but some teams don't let you play free-flowing footy," said Saints coach Ross Lyon. "Clearly, we've tinkered with our ball use." The Article Roger Vaughan/RealFooty/02Jul07
. . . Star Man - Montagna was worthy claims on this title after gathering 35 disposals, booting one goal and kicking the ball into the forward 50 seven times but veteran Saint Robert Harvey again showed his undoubted ability to influence a contest. The oldest man in the AFL, 35-year-old Harvey just never stops running, picking up nine possessions in the final quarter to set the Saints on their way to victory. Harvey racked up 28 touches and six marks overall in a dominant display in front of 38,689 fans. . . . What a Goal - Nick Riewoldt's unbelievable soccer goal early in the third quarter must surely rate as one of the top three goals of the season - if not the best. Out of mid-air, the blond-haired Saint co-captain stuck his boot out and somehow managed to snap the ball through the big sticks to give his team the lead and send the St Kilda faithful into raptures. Saints v Tigers snippets Sportal/01July07 Saints honour Harvey again with win AAP/SydneyMorningHerald/30Jun07 Saints hang on for Harvs St Kilda honoured Robert Harvey again last night, holding on in the last term to beat Richmond by 17 points in their AFL match at Telstra Dome. Harvey was best for the Saints as they first broke clear in the final quarter . . . The Saints legend played his 350th game in last week's outstanding upset win over West Coast in Subiaco. The club marked the milestone at tonight's home game, with children wearing his No.35 jumper forming a guard of honour for the team as it ran out onto the ground. Harvey had 28 disposals as St Kilda notched their fifth win for the season. But their ongoing injury curse continued, with key defender Max Hudghton suffering a hamstring injury during the first quarter. The Article AAP/HeraldSun/01Jul07 Harvey rolls back the years for a belated celebration Martin Blake/RealFooty/01Jul07 Saints v Tigers snippets . . . Star Man - Montagna was worthy claims on this title after gathering 35 disposals, booting one goal and kicking the ball into the forward 50 seven times but veteran Saint Robert Harvey again showed his undoubted ability to influence a contest. The oldest man in the AFL, 35-year-old Harvey just never stops running, picking up nine possessions in the final quarter to set the Saints on their way to victory. Harvey racked up 28 touches and six marks overall in a dominant display in front of 38,689 fans. . . . What a Goal - Nick Riewoldt's unbelievable soccer goal early in the third quarter must surely rate as one of the top three goals of the season - if not the best. Out of mid-air, the blond-haired Saint co-captain stuck his boot out and somehow managed to snap the ball through the big sticks to give his team the lead and send the St Kilda faithful into raptures. The Article Sportal/01July07 Saints honour Harvey again with win AAP/SydneyMorningHerald/30Jun07 Saints win in style, find extra gear AAP/WestAustralian/01Jul07 Gilbert: We were ready St Kilda utility Sam Gilbert says the team knew an in-form Richmond side would be tough opponents on Saturday night. "Richmond are a good team. We did expect it - all week we focused ourselves for it. We knew they were going to be as good as they were," Gilbert told saints.com.au after St Kilda's 17-point win against the Tigers at Telstra Dome. The 20-year-old played on the half-forward flank for most of the game, and kicked an important goal in the second quarter with his first kick of the match. He finished the night with 1.3, as well as 10 kicks, four handballs and eight marks, but the youngster has little experience as a forward. "I'd like to be a goalkicker. I never really played forward in juniors - just backline," he said. The Article Tom Nightingale/saints.com.au/01Jul07 Injury curse hits Saint Hudghton yet again St Kilda's soft-tissue injury curse has claimed veteran defender Max Hudghton for a second time this year after he tweaked a hamstring during the club's 17-point win over Richmond last night. Just a week after star forward Justin Koschitzke hurt his hamstring during a commanding performance against West Coast, another spirited Saints win was marred by an injury to a key player. Hudghton will undergo a scan early next week with coach Ross Lyon unsure after the game of the severity of his injury. Another hamstring problem will ensure further scrutiny of the club's medical and conditioning staff. The Article Dan Silkstone/RealFooty/01Jul07 Saints charge away St Kilda has unleashed a final-quarter burst before withstanding a late Richmond challenge to overpower the Tigers by 17 points at Telstra Dome on Saturday night, keeping its top-eight hopes alive along the way. Leading by just four points at the last change after tight and uncompromising football from both teams during the first three quarters, the Saints produced a six-goal-to-four final term to run out 17.15 (117) to 15.10 (100) winners. St Kilda did lead by as many as 28 points late in the match and looked set to run away with the game, before the Tigers - mainly through inspirational forward Nathan Brown and Matthew Richardson - struck back to close the gap. Fraser Gehrig capped a successful return from a broken hand with five goals - including three in the final quarter - to steer St Kilda home, while co-captain Nick Riewoldt was too big and mobile for Andrew Raines with four goals. The Article Brandon Cohen/Sportal/30Jun07 Home-and-away Harvey turns it on It was high-octane, low-accountability football from go to whoa with both teams throwing off the shackles and attacking at every opportunity. In their sixth win for the season, the free-running Saints were anything but the stodgy outfit we have witnessed at times this year. Bold running was the norm, stoppages were a rarity and slick passing into open forward lines meant there was rarely a dull moment. The game was up for grabs at the start of the last term as the scoring heat accelerated with the sides slamming on five goals in the first seven minutes of the quarter. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the Saints kicked four of them to kick clear and end what had been a tight game. While the midfields of both teams tired, it was Harvey and his protege Leigh Montagna who took control, while Fraser Gehrig made hay up forward. Harvey averages 21 possessions this year, 25 in his career, but numbers seldom tell the story with true champions. The Article Jon Pierik/HeraldSun/01Jul07 Saints back in the finals hunt St Kilda coach Ross Lyon last night declared the Saints had started to regain the respect of the football world after storming over Richmond by 17 points at Telstra Dome. A week after a season-turning victory over West Coast at Subiaco, the Saints improved their record to 6-7 by kicking five of the first six goals of the final term to turn a four-point lead into an impressive win over the improving Tigers. Just a fortnight after their finals hopes appeared dashed, the Saints are firmly back in contention for September action and face an enticing battle against Collingwood on Saturday. Lyon said his team was still a "long way" from thinking about finals, but felt an equally important objective had been realised. The Article Jon Pierik/HeraldSun/30Jun07 Saints win arm wrestle but Tigers earning their stripes On paper, last night's match probably should not have been much of a spectacle. The Tigers, notwithstanding a thumping first win in the previous round, were sitting at the bottom of the ladder. St Kilda, notwithstanding an on-the-road win over West Coast, had not often played the type of football many had wanted to watch this year. But on the night of Robert Harvey's 351st game, the two sides put on a fine show that would have had even many of the losing supporters going away satisfied. In the end, the Saints won by 17 points - seemingly a comfortable margin. Yet the game was as closely fought as any this year and either side was in contention at three-quarter-time, with four points the difference in favour of the Saints. It's not unfair to suggest the impression many had was that it was more likely going to be Richmond's game, with the question of whether the Saints could match the Tigers' run after their trip to Subiaco and with Max Hudghton leaving them a man down with a hamstring injury. The Article Lyall Johnson/RealFooty/30Jun07 10 weeks to save their careers The end-of-season broom is bearing down on the fringe dwellers at your AFL club. With less than half a season to go, can they avoid being swept out the door? . . . ST KILDA: Barry Brooks must be wondering how he has survived in the system for six years with only 10 moderate games to his credit. Of more interest is whether Andrew Thompson will go for another year. It seems unlikely - the loyal servant is averaging only 12 possessions from limited minutes and will be 35 in October. Key talls Fergus Watts and Matthew Ferguson must also be under scrutiny. All Clubs Jon Ralph/HeraldSun/01Jul07 Saints get up by 17 A five_goal burst at the start of the last quarter has powered St Kilda to a 17-point win over Richmond at the Telstra Dome. The five goals came in the first nine minutes of the final term after the Saints led by four points at three-quarter time. But goals to Steven Milne and Montagna just two minutes after the re-start suddenly pushed the margin out to 16. A Nathan Foley goal brought the margin back to 10 points, but goals to Riewoldt, Gehrig and Gehrig again appeared to finally break the back of the game Tigers. But Richmond rallied, kicking three of the next four goals to trail by only 17 points at the 23-minute mark. St Kilda was then able to control play, with no more scoring for the rest of the game, eventually prevailing 17.15 (117) to Richmond 15.10 (100). For the Saints, Fraser Gehrig booted five goals and Nick Riewoldt finished with four. The last quarter onslaught was at odds with the majority of the game, with neither team able to get any further than 12 points ahead. As an indication of how tight the game had been up until that decisive final term, the lead changed 12 times in the first three terms. The Article Tom Nightingale/saints.com.au/30Jun07 Saints snatch victory from Richmond St Kilda coach Ross Lyon says his team is hell-bent on earning the respect of the AFL world the side's sluggish start to the year. Speaking after their 17-point win over Richmond on Saturday night, Lyon said "it was the nature of a couple of our losses" that left players and coaches determined to improve. "We're not even talking about the [top] eight," he said. "We set ourselves to earn a little bit of respect back that had been hard-earned. We felt that it waned and that's been our primary focus - quarter by quarter, minute by minute, working to claw back some respect." In their seven losses so far this season, the closest margin has been 22 points to the Kangaroos in round 12. The average losing margin is 41 points. "It's pleasing to get a win. We see them [Richmond] as a young, exciting running team and I thought they delivered on that tonight. Their last month has been super," he said. He was also pleased that the Saints won in a high-scoring shootout, with 32 goals kicked for the match. The Article Tom Nightingale/saints.com.au/30Jun07 Don't fall for spin yarns as wool pulled over your eyes . . . Pert, in a most self-righteous mode, said at Alan Didak's ritual humiliation yesterday that the club had adopted a long-term policy and ignored the urgings of the community and the media for a knee-jerk reaction to suspend him. Thus Didak played in the crucial game against Hawthorn last Sunday after news broke that he had been pissed out of his mind two weeks earlier, staggering from strip club to strip club, before - dare we joke? - he rode shot-gun for accused murderer Christopher Wayne Hudson. Pert and Collingwood, supported by club president Eddie McGuire over the weekend but not by coach Mick Malthouse, who disappeared throughout this controversy, say to suspend Didak would have been short-sighted and the equivalent to abandoning their footballer. Playing him then drawing up a set of four "onerous" conditions was his only hope of redemption. The community does not believe that for a moment and sees it for the cynical hype it is. Didak's punishment was not a matter of either they do this or they do that. It was not a matter of suspending him or curtailing his nightlife. It is a concoction of the contemptuous to say the two are mutually exclusive. Collingwood, if it was really serious about appropriate sanctions for a player by whose own admission acted recklessly, would have both suspended him and applied the sanctions. When Collingwood tries to tell you it could not do both it belittles Magpies members and supporters, the AFL and the broader community. Collingwood wanted to ensure it had every chance to beat Hawthorn in a critical match last Sunday. The Article Patrick Smith/TheAustralian/04Jul07 Road Blues Nick Riewoldt's goal kicking woes extend well beyond the bad dose of the yips he's contracted during periods of recent seasons. Of all the big name forwards in the game, the St Kilda centre half forward has by far the worst goal kicking record away from home, kicking almost three times as many goals on home soil than he does when travelling interstate. From three road trips this season - he missed Round 2 vs Brisbane with injury - the 24-year-old co-captain averages less than a goal a game while averaging 2.1 goals a game from matches in Victoria. He went goalless against Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium and kicked just one goal against Fremantle and West Coast at Subiaco. It's no surprise the Saints lost two of those three matches. Since 2004 Riewoldt averages just 10.9 points per game interstate, the second worst average of any forward in the league behind West Coast's Quinten Lynch who, at an average of 9.8 points per game away, is the only key forward to average under 10 points when travelling . . . Riewoldt's partner in crime, full forward Fraser Gehrig, is faring even worse at home in 2007. Until last week, the burly Saint averaged just 0.3 goals a game on the road while averaging three per game at home. The Article Ben Casanelia/InsideFootball/04Jul03 AFL Indigenous academies launched The Federal Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon. Julie Bishop and AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou have launched two AFL Indigenous Academies in western Sydney. Funded under the Federal Government's Sporting Chance Programme, the academies at high schools in Blacktown and Campbelltown, will use sport as the vehicle to increase the level of engagement of young Indigenous people in school. AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou said the support of the Federal Government was instrumental in the establishment of the Indigenous Academies and built on the successful partnership and involvement of the Government and the AFL in other Indigenous programs. "We understand the strength and impact that our game and its heroes have in the minds and hearts of Indigenous Australians and - with the support of the Federal Government - we have been able to expand that impact," Mr Demetriou said. "The establishment of these school-based Sports Academies is about opportunity. Creating opportunities and promoting opportunities for the Indigenous youth in western Sydney. It is also an opportunity for the AFL to continue our long-standing commitment to initiatives in Indigenous Australia that has resulted in 87,000 Indigenous people involved in AFL programs such as the Qantas AFL Kickstart program." Mr Demetriou said he hoped that over time the Academies might produce the next Adam Goodes or Michael O'Loughlin who would go onto play AFL football. The Article AFL/saints.com.au/05Jul07 Battlers outshine the draft's leading lights . . . Neither Deledio nor Ball shone underneath the Dome's lights. No, the stars were a couple of battlers who have had to grind their way to the top. Nathan Foley hadn't been heard of two years ago. Now, the tenacious Tiger is forging a reputation as a hard goer with more than a touch of class. Best afield was Leigh Montagna. The Saint speedster has taken six years to come of age, but he was one of his team's best against West Coast and he won the Ian Stewart medal as well as a TV last Saturday night. Deledio has plenty of class but he must realise by now that he has to add to it. In his first two full seasons with Richmond he hasn't featured in the top 10 in the club champion count. Coach Terry Wallace has groomed the Kyabram kid well, with opportunities to play at both ends of the ground. But it's in the midfield that you want to excel and Deledio has yet to prove that he can cut it there. On Saturday night he was tagged by little known Saint Jayden Attard. Deledio accepted the tag and gave his team just one disposal in the first half. It was not good enough and proves that physically and mentally he has a long way to go. At St Kilda, Ball is highly regarded. He is an outstanding young man who has captained his club at a young age. He is courageous, clever and loyal to the cause.But he has to get better. He is never going to be quick, but he has to cover more ground, get to more contests and absolutely kick more goals. Just one this year from 13 games is not good enough. There's no doubt injuries have hampered his output, but unless he builds a bigger motor we will never see the best of him. The Article Robert Walls/RealFooty/03Jul03 Hamill, Maguire may return for St Kilda St Kilda key position players Aaron Hamill and Matt Maguire will both be considered to make comebacks from injury against Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday. Saints football manager Ken Sheldon said both players pulled up well after returning for VFL side Casey Scorpions on Sunday. Hamill, playing his first game for the year after a knee injury, kicked four goals, while Maguire, who had not played since round one with a foot injury, was solid at centre half-back. Sheldon said it would come down to a match committee decision later in the week as to whether either or both returned to play the Magpies, or whether they were given another VFL match. "They pulled up well, they're very pleased with how they pulled up," he said. Maguire could be a handy addition, given the hamstring injury sustained by key defender Max Hudghton against Richmond on Saturday night, which is expected to sideline him for two to three games. The Article AAP/AFL/saints.com.au/02Jul07
Aaron Hamill kicked four goals for Casey Scorpions in his first game of the year yesterday, and together with Matt Maguire, who also returned yesterday, the duo believe they are ready to rejoin St Kilda on Saturday against Collingwood. Hamill and Maguire both played big roles in Casey's 88-point demolition of the Northern Bullants at Cranbourne, with Hamill kicking three goals in the first quarter - one a 45-metre stunner from the boundary. Maguire resumed at his regular post of centre half-back, with both players sitting out the last quarter. In his first match after almost 10 months on the sidelines due to a degenerative knee injury, Hamill showed no signs of rust. The veteran forward said "I feel I'll be close" when asked about a senior return. Hamill said he would talk with Saints coach Ross Lyon this week and "just play it by ear". The Article Sean Cusick and Brad Beitzel/RealFooty/02Jul07 Hamill finds sting St Kilda veteran Aaron Hamill made a successful return from injury with four goals as Casey Scorpions defeated the Northern Bullants at Casey Fields yesterday. Hamill, playing his first game for the season after a severe right knee injury, was on for a fair slice of the first three quarters before being rested at the last change. He had about 12 touches and three marks and Scorpions coach Peter Banfield said he had pulled up OK. "He played full-forward for a while. He rotated a bit through centre half-forward, but the majority of the time played close to the goal," Banfield said. The Article Geoff Poulter/HeraldSun/02Jul07 • SCORPS RESULTS This site
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