by Braham Dabscheck
1.15 PM Saturday 16 May
Adelaide Oval
This was what can be best described as a sad game. Two Saints and one Crow had head clashes in the first quarter, were concussed and took no furter part in the game. A Crow did his knee early in the third quarter and will probably be sidelined for a year. Especially, after the concussions of the first quarter, the game seemed a misnomer, irrelevant to anything of meaning. It is not enjoyable to watch a game when so many players have suffered such sickening injuries. The contest and my desire to see the Saints do well became a second order issue after so much carnage on the field.
The Saints had just come off a great win against the Dogs. Both Jarryn Geary and Leigh Montagna were late minute withdrawals, replaced by Cameron Shenton and Eli Templeton, respectively. The Saints started well kicking the first three goals. Little man Jack Lonie tackled a bigger Crow and suffered the first concussion of the day, and was subsequently subbed out of the game. Then Nick Riewoldt and the Crow’s Brodie Smith accidentally clashed heads (don’t watch any replays-it is too dreadful to behold) that resulted in both players ending their participation in proceedings. Riewoldt looked as if he was unconscious before he even began to stagger downwards. It took six minutes before medical staff managed to tend to his needs and get him off the ground. He went straight to hospital and, according to the Saints website, has recovered well. He should be given a break from next week’s game to aid his recovery and ensure his long term health.
After these events the Saints fell apart. The Crows evened things up by the first break, and except for a few short periods, dominated the next two quarters, outscoring the Saints 12 goals to 4. The Saints were better in the last quarter, particularly the early phases, but were pegged back late in proceedings, losing by 46 points.
Things though are not as bad as the scoreboard suggests. First, there was the disruption to the team caused by the late withdrawals and two major injuries in the first quarter. Until the knee injury of the Crow’s Matthew Jaensch in the third quarter, the Saints were down one player in rotations. Second, the Crows scored many easy goals. This resulted from the Saints inability to handle pressure in the midfield and the Crows rebounding from Saints’ sorties into the forward 50 with long kicks over the back to players left alone playing tiddlywinks. This is a problem which can be presumably rectified. Third, and this is probably a more worrying problem, the Saints squandered so many opportunities from set shots. If the kicking for goal had have been more accurate, despite the injury problems, the Saints would have been well and truly in the game. In the end, this was a game that simply slipped away and should and will be quickly forgotten.
There were a few positives from the game. David Armitage and Jack Steven continued their good form. I don’t know if there is a harder worker than Jack Steven. He probably does more gut running than anyone else in the league. Maybe, there is data available to prove such a supposition. Josh Bruce took twelve marks and kicked 5 in a losing side. He also missed a couple he should have got. He has the look of a player who is only going to get better. Despite this loss, the Saints of 2015, look much better than the team of last year.
Adelaide: 3.3 9.3 15.6 18.11 (119)
St. Kilda: 3.3 5.8 7.12 10.13 (73)
Goals
Adelaide: Betts 6, Lynch 3, Cameron 3, Walker 3, Grigg 2, Dangerfield 2.
St. Kilda: Bruce 5, Newnes, Hickey, Steven, Shenton, Savage.
Best
Adelaide: Betts, Thompson, Jacobs, Dangerfield, Laird.
St. Kilda: Bruce, Armitage, Steven, Newnes, Fisher.
Umpires: Armstrong, Deboy, Parnell.
Crowd: 43,532
Our Votes: Betts 3 (Adl), Thompson 2 (Adl), Bruce 1 (St.K)
Yeah, a lot to dislike in that game Braham. Hopefully, concussions for Riewoldt and Smith not too serious. Jaensch is another blow for the Crows – poor lad was playing so well and that is almost certainly a 12 month ACL.
Bruce was really impressive. Shenton showed a bit off half-back. As you highlighted the Crows were able to repeatedly get out the back of the Saints’ defensive press and in those conditions Betts, Lynch and Cameron will cause most teams trouble.