Round 2 – St Kilda v Western Bulldogs: Hark that was no lark with Saints onto the mark as the Dogs lost their bark

 

St. Kilda v Western Bulldogs

6.05pm, Sunday June 14

Marvel Stadium

 

 

 

 

The footy is back and the Saints outclassed the Dogs in an entertaining and fast moving contest in the final game of Round 2. After a disappointing loss to the Kangaroos what seems a lifetime ago, the Saints look like a completely different team compared to recent years. The new recruits have slotted in well. The Saints wore black armbands to pay their respects to a young staff member Jonathon Summers and past players and officials Brian Muir, Geoffrey Kerr and Tom McNeil who had recently passed away. It is also worth noting that Tom McNeil had unsuccessfully sought to form a players’ association way back in 1955.

 

 

The game opened at a cracking pace. Both teams relished playing again and seemed to be champing at the bit. The Saints dominated the first minutes of the game with Max King crumbing the first goal of the game with a dribbler through the big sticks. Then the Dogs took over and dominated most of the rest of the first quarter with running football and handball out of the backline. They kicked two quick goals with the Saints being unable to lay a tackle. The Dogs were then let down by bad kicking in front of goal. The Saints steadied and kicked the last two goals of the quarter to lead by 3 points at the first break. The score flattered the Saints. The Dogs should have been ahead by at least a couple of goals. They had dominated the inside 50s 12 to 7.

 

 

The Saints then dominated the next two quarters. Paddy Ryder dominated the ruck and gave the midfield first use of the ball. The Saints brains trust also decided to go with a smaller forward line with the big guys moving more up the ground to provide a target, avenue out of defence. The Saints midfield took over and dominated proceedings with the smaller players kicking most of the goals. In the second and third quarters the Saints outscored the Dogs 9 goals to 3. In the third quarter there were two coast to coast goals scored within a minute of each other. Moreover many of the goals were scored from in the goal square or close to goal. Unbelievably the Saints kicked accurately!

 

 

The last quarter was evenly split between the teams with two goals each. The Dogs actually won it by a point. The most pleasing aspect of the win was the even performance of the team. There was only one goal from a Saints turnover. The Saints will get better as the players get to know each other and get back into the rhythm of playing together. The umpires also put in a good performance; they hardly seemed to be noticed during the game.

 

 

The Pies next week.

 

 

Go Saints!

 

 

 

ST KILDA                                 3.1   7.3   12.4   14.4 (88)
WESTERN BULLDOGS       2.4   3.4   5.6   7.7 (49)

 

 

GOALS

St Kilda: Billings 3, Butler 2, King 2, Lonie, Hind, Steele, Jones, Marshall, Hannebery, Membrey.

Western Bulldogs: Wallis, Macrae, Vandermeer, Richards, Williams, Naughton, Dunkley.

 

 

BEST

St Kilda: Billings, Jones, Ross, Steele, Clark.

Western Bulldogs: Dunkley, Smith, Bontempelli, Macrae, Jong.

 

 

Crowd: Uncountable

 

 

Our Votes: 3 Billings (St. Kilda), 2 Jones (St. Kilda), 1 Ross (St. Kilda)

 

 

 

 

Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

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Comments

  1. Hi Braham,

    It was a great game finding the right directions to deliver the ball and to score goals. Jones, Hill and Bulter bring their experiences and skills to the club and Billings blossom. Gresham did well in the midfield to half forward too. Clark, Wilkie and Carlisle played hard to turn over, stop the Bulldogs and put pressures on them. Geary being in the defensive forward worked well too. A lot of positives were seen on Sunday night.

    Let’s show attacking footy, overcome pressures from Collingwood’s defenders and beat them. I believe we can do!

    Go the Saints!

    Yoshi

  2. The Saints were very good. Big blokes were impressive. Little blokes weer everywhere. Big test against the Pies. But no doubt your hope-meter is running high.

  3. Good win by the Saints.
    I reckon the Dogs are gone for the season.

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