Round 1 – St Kilda v Fremantle: Saints drop anchor on the Dockers

 

St Kilda v Fremantle

4:40PM, Sunday March 19

Docklands

 

 

The footy is back and we die-hard supporters can get back to our usual state of anxiety and worry as we fail miserably in trying to balance hope against what happens on the scoreboard. The Saints had decided to resurrect the coaching career of Ross Lyon, who had almost achieved immortality in 2009 and 2010, with three grand final appearances. Following the Saints, he moved west (thinking he was still a young man) and coached the Dockers for eight years. He gave up the coaching caper during for three years and his first game back for the Saints was to be against that other team he had coached.

 

The Saints went into the game undermanned with fourteen players injured, including eight who would be ‘normal’ starters. There were four debutants – former Blue Liam Stocker, former Dog and potential novelist Zaine Cordy, and first gamers Anthony Caminiti and Mattaes Phillipou. All four contributed with Phillipou being the pick of the quartet. He looks like a special talent with already well developed football smarts.

 

It is always difficult to know what to expect from the opening round of the season. Teams have plans which they hope will work; but you are never sure how they will stand up when tested against an opponent. Given the Saints’ injury problems and a small forward line with inexperienced players, well, all one could do was watch were the dice fell. The two teams had different game plans. The Saints relied on team defence and quick bursts forward to break open the game. The Dockers decided to play ring-around-the-rosy in the back half of the ground hoping to find a space going forward.

 

Neither strategy seemed to work for most of the game. The Saints muffed chances going forward with poor foot and passing skills and bombing the ball forward to a small forward line who were invariably out marked and out positioned by the Dockers backs. The Dockers seemed to be in possession of the ball for most of the game, playing kick to kick across the back line. Their major problem was that they were unprepared to take risks going forward, and when they did the Saints were up to the task. Four of the Dockers’ goals were from free kicks, aided and abetted by two 50 metre penalties (even if the umps are wrong you don’t tell them/provide irrefutable evidence by directing their attention to replays on the big screen), two of which were very dubious. In the second half the Dockers won the inside 50s 40 to 28 for only two goals; the Saints kicked five.

 

The match was fiercely contested throughout with both sides struggling to put their game plans into operation. The Saints lead by a goal at the first break, the scores were equal at the main break, and the Dockers up by a goal at three quarter time. Things broke for the Saints in the last quarter. They seemed fitter than the Dockers and goals started to flow. Pressure on the Docker backs found the ball in the hands of Mason Wood who snapped a neat goal on the left. Crumbing goals soon followed to Jade Gresham and another one to Wood. Zaine Cordy was rewarded with a free kick after a tackle to kick another one for the Saints. In the end the Saints were more determined than the Dockers who were slowly worn down. Both teams will be better for the match.

 

The most pleasing part of the win for the Saints was the form of the recruits and the never-say-die attitude of the team. If they can improve their kicking skills, especially going forward, and with the steady return of injured players, 2023 may be a season where it is worthwhile to keep a close eye on the scoreboard. Hope springs eternal.

 

Dogs next week.

 

Go Saints!

 

 

ST KILDA      3.3   5.4   6.6   10.7 (67)

FREMANTLE   2.1   5.4   7.6   7.10 (52)

 

 

GOALS

St Kilda: Gresham, Owens, Wood 2, Higgins, Bytel, Phillipou, Cordy

Fremantle: Schultz 2, Frederick, Taberner, Aish, Switkowski, Treacy

 

BEST

St Kilda: Brynes, Sinclair, Wood, Steele, Marshall

Fremantle: Ryan, Cox, Brayshaw, Young, Darcy

 

Crowd: 23,429

 

Malarkey Votes: Wood 1 (StK), Sinclair 2 (StK), Byrnes 3 (StK)

 

 

 

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