Lions coach Chris Fagan laments ‘savage blow’ in shock loss to St Kilda

Brisbane suffered its biggest loss of the season on Saturday night but the bad news didn’t end there for the premiership hopefuls.

Fagan’s Lions suffered their biggest loss of the season on Saturday night. (Photo by Chris Hyde/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

St Kilda coach Brett Ratten declared the 32-point thumping of Brisbane on Saturday night as the club’s best win of 2021 while Lions coach Chris Fagan says the suspected ACL injury to Eric Hipwood is a “savage blow” to both the club and the young gun forward.

Hipwood’s injury late in the first quarter was the flashpoint to the contest that was dominated by the Saints for extended periods and underlined them as legitimate contenders for the top eight after wins over Richmond, Collingwood and the Lions in the past three weeks.

The Saints are now 8-8, while the Lions slipped to 11-5 and are searching for a tall forward option after Hipwood landed awkwardly following a marking contest.

The 23-year-old had kicked 26 goals in 2021 and had played in 110 of Brisbane’s last 113 games. His combination with Joe Daniher had been a driving force behind Brisbane’s surge into the top four.

“The medical staff believe it’s an ACL injury. That’s unfortunate, it’s the worst. It didn’t seem like much of an incident but it’s our second ACL this year at this ground. Obviously Cam Rayner had one earlier in the year,’’ Fagan said post-match.

“That’s a pretty savage blow to Eric and the club at this point in the season, he’s a pretty important player for us.

“We’ll have to lick our wounds on that one and try and find another tall key position forward.

“It’s an opportunity for Connor Ballenden or Tommy Fullarton to step up. It’ll be challenging, but those two boys have been waiting in the wings for some time now, so they’ll look forward to that challenge and they’ll respond to it.

“I’m so disappointed for Eric because he puts a lot of time and effort into his football, but I’m also excited for those boys who have been working hard behind the scenes to get an opportunity.”

Ratten lauded the even team performance against one of the top flag fancies and said consistency was now the key for the Saints.

“We’ve won some games but it hasn’t gone for the four quarters that we’ve been after. Against a quality opposition that Brisbane are, I think it was our best performance so far this year,’’ he said.

“We’ve had a really chequered first half of the year. Even games that we’ve won, we’ve had lapses. We are just going to keep chipping away, that’s the reality for us.

“It was very pleasing to keep them to 42 inside 50s when they average 57. We knew we were going to be tested defensively but I thought we did a really good job to turn the ball over through the midfield.

“The other bit that was really good for us was our younger players. It was a bit of a snapshot of the future with King’s performance but Brynes, Highmore, Connolly, they just got more exposure and they’ve done really well.

“After the Adelaide loss (in Cairns in Round 13), it allows you to reset, take a breath, come back and really work out what we want to be as a football team. It was about us as a team and what we wanted to do.”

Fagan said there were no excuses for the loss and the Saints were just too good on the night.

“We got beaten in the contest I thought, and their pressure was better than ours. If you look at inside 50s, we only had 43, we didn’t get the usual supply we get, we usually average 55 or 56, so credit to Saints for the way they won the ball, for their pressure and they defended the field really well,’’ he said.

“It wouldn’t make any sense to overreact. The last three seasons, we’ve won more games of home and away footy than any other team and we’ve been very, very consistent.

“They’ve always been able to bounce back after disappointment and that’s what we’ll be looking forward to doing next week (against Richmond on Friday night).’’

Fagan said defender Brandon Starcevich will be monitored after sliding into the boundary fence headfirst and hurting his neck.

The Saints are giving their fans reason to dream. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

The St Kilda Saints crashed the 200-game milestone party for Brisbane captain Dayne Zorko and continued to breathe life into their 2021 campaign with a stunning 32-point victory at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night.

The Saints marched to their third-straight win to stay right in the hunt for the top eight, while the Lions suffered the double blow of losing young gun Eric Hipwood to a suspected ACL injury.

St Kilda has claimed the scalps of Richmond, Collingwood and the Lions since its bye, improving its record to 8-8, while the Lions’ grip on a top four spot loosened as they fell to an 11-5 record.

And Brisbane will struggle to fill the void left by Hipwood, who clutched at his left knee after landing awkwardly following a marking contest late in the first quarter and was rushed into the Lions’ rooms where the news was all bad for Brisbane.

Hipwood has been a vital cog in the Lions’ forward line with 26 goals to his name in 2021 and has played 110 of Brisbane’s last 113 games. His ‘twin towers’ combination with Joe Daniher has been one of the chief reasons for Brisbane’s surge into the top four.

His absence will test the side’s forward depth but it was the Lions’ backline that was under siege all night against the rampant Saints, who kicked away from Brisbane in the final term after dominating for much of the contest.

The Saints had heroes all over the ground, with the midfield of Luke Dunstan, Zak Jones and Jack Steele winning plenty of ball, forwards Max King and Tim Membrey hitting the scoreboard and defender Jimmy Webster shutting Charlie Cameron out of the game.

The lead changed hands a number of times in the third term after Brisbane came out with all guns blazing to start the second half, only for the Saints to respond emphatically as they owned the back-half of the term to enjoy a 13-point buffer at the last change.

St Kilda held a 10-point buffer at halftime but could have been further in front given its upper hand in field position and possession in the second term when King kicked three of the five goals for the visitors.

Brisbane extended its quarter-time advantage through Cal Ah Chee and Zorko, before the Saints went on their five-goal tear that was built on a glut of inside 50 entries and superiority in the clearances.

Brisbane led by two points at quarter-time despite St Kilda enjoying the better of the contest in the opening term. The Saints brought plenty of pressure and physicality early to limit the time and space for Brisbane, who struggled to hit targets.

St Kilda kicked the first goal of the match through Brad Crouch as a reward for the side’s highly contested effort, but Brisbane responded through Zorko just before quarter-time when Hipwood left the field.

Dayne’s world

Dayne Zorko has been incredibly consistent and resilient in his first 200 games. The Lions captain missed just seven games on his way to the double ton.

Cardboard face masks, stubby coolers, caps, t-shirts and other merchandise was available for fans to celebrate the milestone while his son Louis showed a nice turn of foot when he ran out onto the ground with his dad.

Zorko lifted in his milestone game with three first half goals but there was only so much that the captain could do.

The Lions couldn’t get a win for Dayne Zorko in his 200th game. (Photo by Chris Hyde/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

Two Kings

Brisbane fullback Harris Andrews has double trouble on his hands for the next decade with his match-up with the King brothers.

Andrews sees plenty of Ben King when the Lions take on the Suns but it was Max King who terrorised Brisbane with three of St Kilda’s five goals in the stunning second quarter surge. King was too big and too strong in the aerial contests for Andrews, who normally owns the skies and rarely gets beaten by a direct opponent.

King finished with the three goals but the Saints found other avenues to goal in the second half as they ran over the top of the Lions, who had no answer to the St Kilda onslaught.

All that glitters isn’t Gold Coast

Metricon Stadium has not been a field of dreams for Brisbane’s young guns in 2021. Cam Rayner did his knee in Brisbane’s pre-season clash with the Suns at Carrara in March, while Eric Hipwood suffered a suspected ACL injury on Saturday.

Hipwood crashed to the turf after landing awkwardly from a marking contest in the first term and immediately clutched at his knee.

He hobbled off the field with the assistance of Lions medical staff and was rushed straight into Brisbane’s rooms.

His likely absence will cause problems for Brisbane’s forward line structure for the rest of the 2021 campaign.

No more sinning for Saints

St Kilda’s reaction to their capitulation to the Crows in Cairns in Round 13 has been very real and very significant. The Saints bounced back after the bye with wins over Richmond and Collingwood and took the fight up to the Lions from the opening bounce.

Their pressure was first class and threw Brisbane out of its normal flow. Their own ball movement had the Lions backline under siege for extended periods and came after they were prepared to get down and dirty and win the contested ball.

The way the Saints responded to Brisbane’s blistering start to the third term was impressive as they absorbed the pressure then threw plenty of their own punches.

Score:

LIONS: 1.5 4.8 7.8 8.15 (63)

SAINTS: 1.3. 6.6 9.9 14.11 (95)

Goals:

LIONS: Zorko 3, Ah Chee, Bailey, Daniher, McStay, Birchall

SAINTS: King 3, Membrey 2, Steele 2, Byrnes 2, Crouch, Billings, Connolly, Long, McKenzie

Greg Davis’ best:

LIONS: Zorko, Neale, Rich, McCluggage, Adams

SAINTS: Dunstan, Steele, Webster, Jones, Billings, King

Injuries:

LIONS: Eric Hipwood (knee), Brandon Starcevich (neck)

SAINTS:

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Greg Davis’ votes:

3: Jack Steele

2: Luke Dunstan

1: Jimmy Webster

Crowd: 9075

Originally published as Lions coach Chris Fagan laments ‘savage blow’ in shock loss to St Kilda