AFL 2022 St Kilda vs North Melbourne: Result, news and analysis
Jack Sinclair – and his flying mullet – have bolted into All-Australian contention in a career-best season. But there is one goal he will find almost impossible to achieve.
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St Kilda star Jack Sinclair would like to fly “under the radar”.
But it’s hard to do that when you’re sporting one of the game’s more impressive mullets.
Even more so when you’re playing the sort of football Sinclair has been producing this year.
Coming off a career-best season last year when he finished second in the club best-and-fairest behind captain Jack Steele after a move to half-back, Sinclair has taken his game to another level in 2022.
As the Saints have confirmed their status as top-four contenders, 27-year-old Sinclair has thrust his name into the All-Australian conversation.
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Proving a weapon with his run off half-back, Sinclair is ranked among the elite in the league for disposals (27.7), uncontested possessions (16.7) and metres gained (549), while also rating above average for marks and intercept possessions.
His 2022 numbers across the board are career-high.
Sinclair’s contribution to the Saints’ surge has seen him claim a half-back position in many rolling All-Australian line-ups, but it’s not something that sits comfortably with him just yet.
“The team is not picked yet,” Sinclair said.
“It’s nice to get a bit of recognition, but I wouldn’t mind flying under the radar.
“You never know. You play well and that stuff takes care of itself, but I’m just happy the team is in some good form and we are getting some good wins on the board.”
Sinclair gave his All-Australian chances another huge boost with a standout performance in the Saints’ 53-point win over North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
He had 32 disposals, seven inside-50s and 10 marks, setting up the play from the back half as he and Brad Hill (33 disposals) played a pivotal role in helping the Saints break into the top four.
It is the influence of a rejuvenated Hill – and his other fellow defenders – which Sinclair said had been a major factor in his flourishing form this year.
“Obviously, having Hilly (Brad Hill) down there helps,” Sinclair said.
“He gets a little bit of attention and I have probably been freed up a bit as well.
“I think we work well together with the rest of our defenders. I think our back seven has been really consistent this year.
“Guys like Josh Battle, Callum Wilkie, Dougal Howard getting it done every week and Ben Paton taking the tougher role, so me and Hilly can get up the ground a bit.
“I think (backline coach) Corey Enright has been a real positive for us this year, his influence and I feel like our defence – not only the back seven, but our team defence has really improved this year.”
Sinclair said he now had confidence in his role after adjusting to playing in defence last season.
“Half-back was a bit new to me last year and I feel like I am getting pretty comfortable there,” Sinclair said.
“I just think an extended period building my confidence there (had helped).
“I feel like I am building the trust of my teammates as well, they trust to give me the ball and try to use it well. I think the defensive side of my game has improved as well, the way I can get across and support.
“I have probably been flying for too many marks, I don’t need to be doing that at my size.”
Which leads us to that flowing mane.
While not a superstitious player, Sinclair acknowledged it seemed to be working, so he had no plans to lop it off just yet.
“Long term, I’m not sure … it seems to be working all right,” Sinclair said.
“I’m just trying to roll with it and we will see, the feedback is very mixed but you’ve just got to back yourself.”
The Saints sit 8-3 ahead of the mid-season bye, but Sinclair said it was too early for the group to get carried away by the prospect of a potential top-four finish.
“It’s been good so far to bounce back after a disappointing year last year,” Sinclair said.
“We don’t want to look too far ahead, but certainly things are trending the right way.
“We have just got to keep playing week to week and get the wins on the board. If we do that then the stuff at the end of the year takes care of itself.”
But consecutive wins without their injured skipper and club champion Steele has highlighted the group’s growing depth and improvement.
“If you would have said last year that the skipper would be out for an extended break we would be in a bit of trouble,” Sinclair said.
“We’ve had some young guys come through, Marcus Windhager, Mitch Owens tonight and obviously having (Zak) Jonesy back, (Brad) Crouchy has stepped up and Seb (Ross) again.
“We’re spreading the load, we don’t need anyone to try and be Steeley, we just need guys to come in and play their role and I think that is what’s made us a good team this year.”
Defiant Roos coach has plan for quick fix
North Melbourne coach David Noble says a week of intense scrutiny galvanised his players and he remains confident the struggling club’s rebuild is on track despite slumping to another heavy defeat.
After a week of turmoil when the spotlight burned on Arden Street after the departure of three recruiting staff and claims of disharmony within the club, the Kangaroos suffered a 53-point loss to top-four contender St Kilda at Marvel Stadium.
As the team fell to its seventh loss of the season by 50 points or more, Noble said the club would look to the mid-season draft to find reinforcements for its rebuild in the hope of turning its fortunes around in the second half of the season.
Despite the Kangaroos’ 10th loss for the season, Noble felt the players’ response internally to a tumultuous week had been strong.
“I felt it galvanised us a little bit this week,” Noble said.
“We had a lot of support internally from the players, they were really looking forward to getting out and were disappointed with the way the game ended today.
“On Thursday we probably had our best training session for a long time, our guys were really engaged in our game plan and what we wanted to do today and I thought their activity before the game and their preparation was really sound.”
While the Roos’ win-loss tally does not make for happy reading, Noble remained steadfast in his belief that the club’s rebuild was still on track.
“It may not feel like it in regards to the cold win-loss and scores … but we think we are (on track),” Noble said.
“As I said during the week, rebuilds are difficult, growing high-performance environments is really tough, they are demanding, they are rigorous, but they have to be.
“You cannot get to the top unless they are.
“I think our training for the last six or seven weeks has been really good. We have been able to build our way through training, we have had more of how we want to play in games in the last few weeks.
“It probably didn’t feel like it today. We had small portions today, last week we had bigger chunks in the game.
“That’s the only area where we can continue to work away and get our defence under control is to keep going back to training.
“We feel like that’s been in really great shape and the players are really attentive, the environment is really sound and they are willing and happy to come to work and continue to get better and we will take a bunch of the positives out of today at the same time.”
Noble said the Kangaroos should welcome reinforcements for Saturday’s clash against the Gold Coast Suns in Darwin with key defender Ben McKay – sidelined since round 8 with a knee injury – set to return.
“I think a couple of guys coming back will help,” Noble said.
“Ben will come back hopefully next week, he will help. Hally (Aaron Hall) is not far away,
“We have got some other guys that are due to start like a Phoenix Spicer, who has had some long-term hamstring issues. Phoenix (Spicer) won’t come straight back in, but small forward, great pressure.
“I think if we get some selection pressure back that would really help from that side of things.”
Noble said the club was excited about the mid-season draft, where they would look at options for “all parts” of the ground.
“I’m not sure how many picks but we will certainly sit down with that early next week, but I think we would be certainly keen to look at something in there,” Noble said.
“Just not sure whether it’s one or two, not sure how that would be co-ordinated. But we’ll look at something.
“It will be a little bit of the talent that is available, we’ll have a look at the balance between the 19-20 and the mature ages. We’ll look at backs, forwards and mids.
“There is probably an argument for all areas of the ground to be fair.”
Noble said he was coping with the spotlight on his own position and had been leaning on friends and former colleagues, such as Brisbane coach Chris Fagan, for support.
“I have got really good support around me. I have been overwhelmed by the support from external friends, colleagues, enemies along the way that you come in contact with that have reached out and checked in,” Noble said.
“I have been overwhelmed but I am going pretty well..
“You check in with those guys from time to time and check yourself against where the plan is and making sure that we are on track.
“Those guys like ‘Fages’ as a sounding board are great to have.”
St Kilda coach Brett Ratten said his team was prepared for a strong response from the Kangaroos after a tumultuous week for them featuring speculation that a massive rift exists between the players and their coach David Noble, and that the club in general is fractured on the back of three recruiters abruptly quitting the club. It was also captain Jack Ziebell’s 250th game.
“We knew at the start it was going to be hard at it in the contest, and it was – it took a while to get the game going but then we got the game on our terms a bit,” he said.
Ratten said he was happy with the Saints’ progress after Carlton’s upset loss resulted in a top-four spot after round 11, but he wasn’t looking too far ahead.
“We know how hard the competition is as we saw yesterday (when Fremantle beat Melbourne),” Ratten said.
“You try and predict what’s going to happen and you get it wrong probably half the time, so we know we’ve got a lot of work to do, but really pleased with the growth, not just of the team but individuals as well.
“The players have worked and we know that this is only part of the journey, we’re only halfway (into the season), we wanted to try and do some really good work in the first half and we’ve improved as a footy team.”
North made a competitive start to the game and were level with the Saints at the 17-minute mark of the first quarter, but the Kangas’ resistance gradually evaporated as St Kilda kicked nine of the next 10 goals to open up a 51-point lead in the third quarter, putting the result beyond doubt.
The Saints dined out on their vastly inferior opponents, finishing with sizeable advantages in disposals (383-309), contested possessions (139-117) and inside-50s (58-34).
Jack Sinclair (32 disposals and 10 marks) and Callum Wilkie (18 and 11) were superb in defence for the Saints, Bradley Hill (33) and Seb Ross (29) continued their impressive seasons, combining for 62 touches, while Mitch Owens impressed in his second AFL game, laying 10 tackles, kicking two goals and gathering 14 possessions.
Jed Anderson was the standout for North with 28 possessions, 12 tackles, seven clearances and a goal, while veteran ruckman Todd Goldstein also impressed with 16 touches, 30 hitouts and two goals.
St Kilda’s 16.7 (103) to 7.8 (50) victory anchored the Kangaroos to the bottom two and North has now lost its past nine games by an average of 60 points.
The Saints are temporarily in the top four and they will stay there if Collingwood upsets Carlton at the MCG later today.
KANGAS UNDONE BY CLANGERS
Skill errors plagued North Melbourne throughout the game.
Early in the first quarter, Jy Simpkin had a host of free teammates to choose from inside 50, but kicked it straight to Dougal Howard. Moments later, St Kilda showed North how forward delivery should be done as Mason Wood drilled a bullet deep into attack where Max King took a spectacular contested one-handed, juggling grab, which actually bounced off his head as well, before converting the set shot from 25m out in front.
Shortly after halftime, star Saint Jade Gresham put his team up by 33 points after his snap set shot from 45m out near the boundary was allowed to bounce through on the goal line despite Kangaroos tall timber Goldstein and Josh Walker being in the vicinity.
And the coup de grace came seven minutes later when Kyron Hayden kicked across goal and turned it over to Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, who chipped it inside forward 50. The kick went straight to North’s Kayne Turner, who dropped an absolute sitter, allowing Owens to pounce, snap his first AFL goal from 40m out and increase the margin to 45 points.
CONTENDERS GALORE
There were no shortage of goal-of-the-week contenders in the first quarter.
St Kilda’s Dan McKenzie kicked things off when he won the loose ball, shrugged off a Curtis Taylor tackle, ran to 40m out and banged home a ripper from a tight angle.
North’s Cam Zurhaar responded almost immediately when he collected the loose ball deep in attack, evaded Sinclair and Wilkie before snapping truly from 10m out.
Ten minutes later, Goldstein kicked a magnificent banana set shot from the impossible angle up against the fence and shortly after, Ross crumbed the stoppage, took a bounce, broke a Jason Horne-Francis tackle, kicked it from 70m out and it bounced home after clearing the marking contest.
GOLDY GOES THE AERIAL ROUTE
Late in the third quarter, Goldstein gave the North faithful something to cheer about again when he flew high over former teammate Wood and took a spectacular mark five metres out from goal, before snapping truly from point-blank range.
SCOREBOARD
SAINTS 5.2, 6.5, 12.7, 16.7 (103)
KANGAROOS 2.2, 2.3, 4.4, 7.8 (50)
LERNER’S BEST
Saints: Sinclair, Hill, Wilkie, Ross, Gresham, Wood, Owens.
Kangaroos: Anderson, Goldstein, McDonald, Simpkin.
GOALS
Saints: King 3, Owens 2, Membrey 2, Gresham 2, McKenzie, Ross, Ryder, Sharman, Windhager, Hill, Marshall.
Kangaroos: Goldstein 2, Zurhaar, Ziebell, Anderson, Curtis, Simpkin.
Injuries: Nil
Umpires: Fisher, Williamson, McGinness
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
LERNER’S VOTES
3. J. Sinclair (StK)
2. B. Hill (StK)
1. J. Anderson (NM)
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Originally published as AFL 2022 St Kilda vs North Melbourne: Result, news and analysis
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