Round 19 – West Coast v St. Kilda: Saints fly west and coast over the Eagles

 

 

West Coast v St. Kilda

2:40pm Sunday, July 24

Optus Stadium

 

 

What has had the makings of a good season for the Saints has gone pear shaped. After being eight and three at the bye, the Saints had only managed one win in the six games since. After falling apart against the Dockers in the second half, the Saints could not get started against the Dogs. The Saints flew west to take on the Eagles in a must win game to keep their chances of finishing in the finals alive. The Eagles, for their part are in an epic struggle with the Roos for the wooden spoon.

 

It was a nice sunny afternoon in Perth. One half of the ground was boggy, while the other half was firm underfoot. On numerous occasions players from both sides had trouble maintaining their footing and slipped over and lost control of the ball when they found themselves on the deck. The Saints lined up with Cooper Sharman playing as a tall in the back half and Jarrod Lienert on the wing, sharing ruck duties with Rowan Marshall, with Paddy Ryder out for the rest of the season with an injured calf. Well the ball is bounced and Jack Billings comes off the field straight away, heads to the dressing room and is subbed out due to a back injury. He is replaced by Ben Long who though he doesn’t get many kicks does his share of tackling and kicked a nice goal from the boundary line after gaining a free following one of his tackles. The Saints seem to play better when he is on the field, as was the case last week in the last quarter against the Dogs.

 

The first quarter was a scrappy affair. Both sides struggled to find any rhythm or fluency in their play; a problem exacerbated by players slipping and sliding on the boggy side of the ground. The Saints dominated most of the possessions, contested ball and inside 50s but struggled to kick goals. They got the first two of the game near the half way mark of the quarter. The Eagles fought their way back into the game and kicked three in the second half of the quarter. At the first break they were up by five points in what had to that point been a lackluster game. The worrying part for the Saints was that despite their dominance they were behind. It was too early in proceedings to think that another disaster was about to unfold.

 

The tempo of play lifted in the second quarter as both sides seemed to find their feet. The Saints dominated most of the quarter, but it was only in the last minute that they were able to convert this to a respectable 16 point lead at the main break. The Saints kicked two early goals. The first was a crumbing goal by of all persons the beanpole Max King and a mark to the Professor, Jack Higgins. The Eagles responded with a goal and then another following the awarding of a dubious free. Dan Butler then kicked one for the Saints on the end of sustained pressure. The Eagles came back with another. This was followed by the best goal of the afternoon. Max King took a strong mark on the wing to spread-eagle two Eagles, turned and played on with a neat handpass to the inside with the ball eventually being marked by the Professor in the pocket, who kicked truly for his second. This was followed by Ben Long’s goal from a free. The Saints were on top and then conceded a goal from a bad turnover. Then in the last minute Brad Crouch snapped a tidy goal following the ball being pushed forward from the resulting bounce in the center, which was topped off by a goal after the siren from Dan Butler after another free.

 

The third quarter belonged to the Eagles. They put the Saints under pressure and dominated the inside 50s 20-8. The Saints defence held them out; they conceded only two goals. Tim Membrey got one back with a snap following one of the Saints few forays forward (love that alliteration…). The last quarter started with the Saints up by nine points. The first half of the quarter was an arm wrestle, both sides struggled to score. It looked like the Saints would do enough to hang on. Then royalty and the elements intervened. Halfway through the quarter the ball was punted forward to just forward of the goal square where Max King competed with the Eagles’ Tom Barrass for the ball. The ball hit the deck, Barrass slipped and Big Max picked it up and sauntered into the goal square to kick a beautifully lazy goal. With five minutes to go, the boggy half of the ground becoming increasingly slippery and the players a bit tired and less agile, the Saints kicked three more goals. The ball is hoofed to Mason Wood in the forward pocket. He grabbed at it, fell over, which managed to fool his Eagle’s opponent in that Mason wasn’t where he should have been, stood up and then banged it through on his left. Lovely goal! On two other occasions, Eagles players lost their footing which resulted in easy goals for Dan Butler. He ended the game with five, a career best.

 

The Saints don’t often win in the west. The last time they beat the Eagles in Perth was 2010, an almost glory year for Sainters. They beat the Dockers in Round 2 earlier this year in what has the appearance of an increasingly meritorious win. This win over the Eagles was based on dogged determination and an all round team performance. The Saints only conceded three goals after half time. There is still light at the end of the tunnel. Lets hope that the Saints can outfly another bird, the Hawks, next week back in Melbourne. Hope springs eternal.

 

Go Saints!

 

 

 

WEST COAST   3.1   7.1   9.2   10.2 (62)

ST. KILDA   2.2   9.5   10.5   14.6 (90)

 

GOALS

West Coast: Kennedy, Rotham, Darling 2, Waterman, Ryan, Williams, Culley.

St. Kilda: Butler 5, Membrey, King, Higgins 2, Crouch, Long, Wood.

 

BEST

West Coast Eagles: Barrass, Redden, Duggan, Williams, Culley.

St. Kilda: Steele, Crouch, Marshall, Butler, Ross.

 

Crowd: 35,665 (and lots of Frequent Flyer Saints)

 

Malarkey Votes: Marshall 1 (St.K), Crouch 2 (St.K), Steele 3 (St.K)

 

 

 

 

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