Cats stunned by St Kilda’s ‘Harlem Globetrotters’; Houston’s heavy bump sparks tempers in Showdown

ST KILDA 16.11 (107) d GEELONG 14.5 (89)

Mitch Owens of the Saints attempts to mark the ball.Credit: Getty Images

KEY POINTS

CATS HAD IT ALL TO PLAY FOR
Geelong had plenty to play for against the Saints — even more so, after Collingwood edged the Brisbane Lions at the MCG. A win at Marvel would have sewn up yet another top four finish and given them an unlikely shot at the title in this most unlikely of years. At half-time, this game was firmly in their grasp. What the hell happened? That’s something coach Chris Scott and his crew will ponder during the week, but they can’t afford to dwell on it for long. They’ve got the Eagles next week at home, a game that on paper shouldn’t trouble them. And they’ll have to give credit to St Kilda for their incredible second half. But this game still showed up their vulnerabilities, particularly if you can quieten Jeremy Cameron, as Josh Battle did heroically, notwithstanding two late goals from the champion. Their defence was pulled apart in the second half, conceding 27 shots at goal.

Darcy Wilson.Credit: Getty Images

WILSON A STAR ON THE RISE
While a first-rounder, Darcy Wilson wasn’t a headline act at last year’s national draft. The Saints picked him up at No. 18. Well, they have got themselves a star. Wilson has played all 22 games this year, and his performance against Geelong was absolutely sublime. He ran, and he ran; he was elusive, he kicked 2.3 and should have had four, he can use the ball on both sides of his body, and he looks like he’d been playing forever. When St Kilda looked like submitting meekly after a half, it was Wilson who set them alight, and for a side that can be dour, his dare, inventiveness and class stood out. Indeed, it appeared to be contagious. St Kilda hasn’t played a better quarter all year than their third at Marvel. Their season is done, they still have a long way to go, but they have got something to work with, and Wilson is the kind of talent they can build around.

NOTHING IS CERTAIN
In a season of endless permutations, who’d be a tipster? This game was bonkers, characterised by a massive swing in momentum. But hasn’t that been the story of season 2024? Perhaps every coach in the competition will be thinking over the summer about how to stop sides when they throw caution to the wind and go for broke. And of all the bonkers wins this year, this had to be one of the most unexpected, given the Saints’ lacklustre performance to half-time. Apparently, they got a classic Ross Lyon bake at half-time — and they came out playing a scintillating brand of football that would likely have beaten anyone on the day. There will doubtless be some frustration from Saints fans: where has this been? But there’ll be frustration from Cats fans, too, that they didn’t put this game away. Will the real premiership favourite please stand up?

KEY STATS

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Brisbane coach Chris Fagan insists he will remain optimistic in the wake of the Lions blowing a golden opportunity to secure a top-four AFL finish by losing to Collingwood by a point.

The Lions led all game at the MCG on Saturday, until Beau McCreery snapped the match-winner at the 29-minute mark of the final quarter.

Lions coach Chris Fagan.Credit: Getty Images

Brisbane were their own worst enemies, missing a glut of gettable shots, particularly during the third quarter, to only lead by 14 points at the final change.

The Lions appeared home when Charlie Cameron’s clever snap put them 17 points up at the 20-minute mark of the final quarter.

Joe Daniher then had the opportunity to bury the Magpies, but he sprayed a set shot and his chance at his fifth goal of the match, before Collingwood kicked the final three majors to win 11.13 (79) to 11.12 (78).

“Our last 11 games, we’ve won nine of them and lost two. That’s pretty good form,” Fagan said.

“We lost a game by a point, didn’t lose by a lot (against GWS) last week, we had a lot more shots, so our form is pretty strong.

“We’ll take confidence from that and understand the season being like it is, you can turn things around pretty quickly.

“I’ll remain optimistic. Why shouldn’t I?”

The Lions will finish the weekend fifth, and their hopes of a crucial top-four finish are all but gone ahead of their final home-and-away game against Essendon at the Gabba next Saturday night.

It was the second straight week they were made to pay for their inaccuracy, after kicking 8.16 in last Saturday’s defeat to the Giants.

“You’ve got to move on pretty quickly,” Fagan said.

“We’ll take some learnings from the game.

“Obviously the main one will be take the opportunities in front of goal, which has been a thing I’ve had to talk about too often this year.

“But the players will know it.

“They’ll be disappointed, so I won’t be rubbing it in their noses.

“We’ll just get to work and try and do a better job.”

Forward Eric Hipwood returned after two weeks out with a groin injury, but had minimal impact on the game.

Fagan bristled at a question surrounding Hipwood’s fitness.

“He was fit to play so we played him,” he said.

“We don’t play injured players in games, that’d be a silly decision to make, so no, he was fit to play.”

Midfielder Jarrod Berry was subbed out with hamstring tightness in the second quarter and will undergo scans.

AAP

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon believes first-year midfielder Darcy Wilson had a “breakout game” with a starring role in tonight’s win over Geelong at Marvel Stadium.

Wilson finished with 25 disposals and two goals while playing a pivotal role in the club’s second-half smashing of the Cats.

“Robert Harvey works closely with him. He’s had a few good games but this is probably his first breakout game,” Lyon said.

“He’s part of what we’re doing with the young players, he’ll play every game this year as a first-round pick as Mattaes [Phillipou] did last year, he didn’t play tonight because he was sick.

“With what they throw at you tactically, Wilson was a part of that. He runs so well.”

Lyon added he and his players would take some belief on how well the team played in the final weeks of this season.

“Early we had nine entries in the first quarter and couldn’t score. It’s that composure. It’s learning to handle that heat,” Lyon said.

“They really stamped us down at Geelong early in round one. They were doing it a bit early [tonight]. We were in there but we just weren’t composed enough. But I thought we grew into that. Hopefully, we take some valuable lessons out of it for the future.”

Cats coach Chris Scott spoke to the media post game.

Chris, how do you assess that, especially that second half fade out, I guess?

Well, it’s obviously disappointing. We can sit here and sort of state the obvious. I wouldn’t describe it as a fade-out so much. It didn’t look like we were in the game and dropping out as the quarter...as the half went on. They just blew us out of the water early and had the momentum. It was really hard for us to stop it. They played some scintillating footy. It was kind of Harlem Globetrotters at one stage and it was unusual because the first half was clearly on our terms. We know they can do that. They are Marvel specialists, they play here a lot. This is our first game here. That’s not an excuse. Our first half is how we play and the second half looked completely different. It was some pretty good footy. We were throwing things around left, right and centre but we just kept getting beaten in contests, which is very hard to manage from off the field.

Jack Sinclair of the Saints tackles Tom Stewart of the Cats.Credit: Getty Images

Anything in terms of out of character or purely down to St Kilda getting you and that’s all?

I think we’ve seen it across the course of the season. Again, we were crystal clear what we were up against if they were allowed to play their best. So, again, I think when we were able to go forward in that third quarter in particular, they just kept marking it. So that bit’s a bit out of character for us and there were some other bits that were a bit out of character. But a lot of it was, you know, them being on fire and us not being able to quell it.

Do you feel it was a missed opportunity? You could have sewn up top four and potentially a top two spot. Was that a bit of a message to players there was that chance?

Oh, they’re not morons. The missed opportunity bit, I mean, clearly we’re disappointed. We knew what was at stake. So, the question now is, how much do you dwell on that missed opportunity and as opposed to how much you focus on the opportunity that’s in front of us. That’s very clear too now. So we know what we have to do. But, again, like every team that doesn’t make the finals and the Saints are probably a good example, will be thinking, “What if we had have played that way earlier in the year?” Everyone’s had their moments. In terms of missed opportunity, I don’t know of a team sort of in the comp that hasn’t been ruing certain sections of the season. So, again, as much as anything, the challenge seems to be not allowing that to snowball. So that’s what we’ll be focussing on.

Were there any indications to you before half-time that could happen or the Saints just flicked the switch after the break?

Yes, look, I think... Like even the margin 33 points at half-time, maybe that really encouraged them to play more the way they did. Then you get a bit of momentum, a few good goals and then things start happening from there. But, no, I mean we were really aware that there would be stages within the game that they could do that. It’s not the first time they’ve done that to us hear at Marvel. You’re sort of, aware the game’s played here even though we don’t play here. As I said, it was our first game for the season. But to answer your question specifically, didn’t really see the signs before half-time but saw them about 30 seconds into the third quarter.

Cats midfielder Tom Atkins spoke to Seven post game.

Tom, obviously a tough loss. A tale of two second halves. What was said at half-time?

Nothing in particular. I thought we started the game really well. It was more a conversation of scores reset and let’s go again. It’s disappointing we weren’t able to do that. We just chased bum, I guess, we chased bum for a quarter, quarter-and-a-half and then we didn’t have the legs to come back in the end. That’s what happens when you don’t make early enough defensive decisions at Marvel. The ball goes end to end pretty quick.

What was Chris’s message after the game?

He said we have to move forward, can’t dwell on this, we haven’t got the top four sewn up. That’s the focus. Take 12 hours to mull over the game but certainly Monday, come in ready to beat West Coast next week.

PORT ADELAIDE 11.14 (80) d ADELAIDE 8.10 (58)

Izak Rankine of the Crows is knocked out after a collision with Dan Houston of the Power.Credit: Getty Images

KEY POINTS

HOUSTON ROCKS RANKINE
Dan Houston may have played his last game in Port Adelaide colours after ending Izak Rankine’s night – and his season – with a massive bump which caused tempers in Saturday night’s ill-tempered Showdown to explode. Every Adelaide player made a beeline for Houston, who is contracted until at Alberton 2027 but strongly linked to a return to his home state Victoria, in the third quarter after his huge shirtfront forced Rankine to be stretchered off Adelaide Oval.

Matt Crouch took a swing at Travis Boak in the ensuing melee which involved all players from both teams in arguably the most acrimonious Showdown since the brutal 2008 derby, famous for Nathan Bassett being concussed by Matt Thomas, Luke Jericho getting cleaned up by Dean Brogan and Bernie Vince being bumped by Daniel Motlop.

The spice remained in the air when Darcy Fogarty bowled over Willie Rioli, retaliating after the Power goalsneak felled Crow Lachlan Sholl. Port handled the chaos better, turning a 12-point deficit midway through the term into a three-point lead with a quarter to play and ultimately a 22-point victory.

TOP TWO BECKONS
The equation for Port entering the last fortnight of the season was simple. Win the Showdown, then knock off Fremantle next week in Perth and second position is at their mercy, coming with it a home qualifying final and the coveted double-chance. Lose both and the Power could have finished as low as eighth.

Before a heaving, parochial crowd of 52,459, Port trailed at the first two breaks before finally backing up their stoppage ascendancy with territory and scoreboard nourishment. Vice-captain Zak Butters (42 disposals, 10 clearances) was unstoppable all over the ground and several of his Power mates, belatedly, followed his inspirational lead.

Forward Willie Rioli, well held for much of the evening by emerging Crows stopper Hugh Bond, started the fourth quarter with a clever snap before adding another from a set shot, which he followed by mimicking Steph Curry’s famous “night night” celebration. Ruckman Jordon Sweet shrugged off an elbow scare and a whack to the eye to ruck strongly, but backman Lachy Jones finished the match on the pine, passing a second-quarter concussion test before hurting his left Achilles in the third.

TOOTH TALK
Josh Rachele was public enemy No.1 as far as Power fans were concerned, earning himself a chorus of merciless boos every time he touched the footy following his midweek claim on Adelaide radio that “Port supporters don’t have many teeth”. Rachele backed up his talk and doubled down on his pre-Showdown jibe by slotting a beauty from 40m from a slick Lachlan Murphy handball in the second stanza, before bolting to the fence in the south-western pocket and pointing provocatively to his teeth while staring down opposition fans.

Moments later, Rachele snared a fine one-on-one mark against Logan Evans, which resulted in a goal to Riley Thilthorpe in the shadows of half-time. But the Power were the only ones smiling in the finish, Ollie Wines returning serve after the full-time siren by pointing to his teeth in front of a group of Crows supporters.

KEY STATS

ST KILDA 16.11 (107) d GEELONG 14.5 (89)

Mitch Owens of the Saints attempts to mark the ball.Credit: Getty Images

KEY POINTS

CATS HAD IT ALL TO PLAY FOR
Geelong had plenty to play for against the Saints — even more so, after Collingwood edged the Brisbane Lions at the MCG. A win at Marvel would have sewn up yet another top four finish and given them an unlikely shot at the title in this most unlikely of years. At half-time, this game was firmly in their grasp. What the hell happened? That’s something coach Chris Scott and his crew will ponder during the week, but they can’t afford to dwell on it for long. They’ve got the Eagles next week at home, a game that on paper shouldn’t trouble them. And they’ll have to give credit to St Kilda for their incredible second half. But this game still showed up their vulnerabilities, particularly if you can quieten Jeremy Cameron, as Josh Battle did heroically, notwithstanding two late goals from the champion. Their defence was pulled apart in the second half, conceding 27 shots at goal.

Darcy Wilson.Credit: Getty Images

WILSON A STAR ON THE RISE
While a first-rounder, Darcy Wilson wasn’t a headline act at last year’s national draft. The Saints picked him up at No. 18. Well, they have got themselves a star. Wilson has played all 22 games this year, and his performance against Geelong was absolutely sublime. He ran, and he ran; he was elusive, he kicked 2.3 and should have had four, he can use the ball on both sides of his body, and he looks like he’d been playing forever. When St Kilda looked like submitting meekly after a half, it was Wilson who set them alight, and for a side that can be dour, his dare, inventiveness and class stood out. Indeed, it appeared to be contagious. St Kilda hasn’t played a better quarter all year than their third at Marvel. Their season is done, they still have a long way to go, but they have got something to work with, and Wilson is the kind of talent they can build around.

NOTHING IS CERTAIN
In a season of endless permutations, who’d be a tipster? This game was bonkers, characterised by a massive swing in momentum. But hasn’t that been the story of season 2024? Perhaps every coach in the competition will be thinking over the summer about how to stop sides when they throw caution to the wind and go for broke. And of all the bonkers wins this year, this had to be one of the most unexpected, given the Saints’ lacklustre performance to half-time. Apparently, they got a classic Ross Lyon bake at half-time — and they came out playing a scintillating brand of football that would likely have beaten anyone on the day. There will doubtless be some frustration from Saints fans: where has this been? But there’ll be frustration from Cats fans, too, that they didn’t put this game away. Will the real premiership favourite please stand up?

KEY STATS

A beaming Craig McRae made a point of praising a parochial Collingwood crowd for dragging his Magpies over the line in a stunning comeback win at the MCG – a one-point victory that remarkably keeps their finals hope alive.

The Magpies kicked the last three goals of the game to overhaul a 17-point deficit at the 20-minute mark of the last quarter and snatch an unlikely win over last year’s grand final opponent Brisbane.

Jack Crisp (R) hugs Magpies Jeremy Howe, Brayden Maynard and Will Hoskin-Elliott on the final siren.Credit: Getty Images

They did so on the back of the classy Nick Daicos and a rampant Magpie Army screaming for the black and white. What a difference a week can make – a home ground advantage, a come-from-behind win, and the team’s finals hopes alive.

Collingwood are now sitting in 10th, play a stuttering Melbourne at the MCG on Friday night and will be sweating on the teams above them to drop their guard.

“That was us sort of showing that we never give up,” an upbeat McRae said after the game.

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St Kilda have shown their ability and given their fans something to enjoy before the season ends while Geelong won’t know how damaging this loss is until the end of the final round.

If they are hosting an elimination final or travelling interstate for a qualifying final, they will only have themselves to blame.

Jack Steele of the Saints competes with Gryan Miers of the Cats.Credit: Getty Images

Two late goals to Jeremy Cameron doesn’t help all that much. The Cats let this game go when they let the Saints fight back in the third term.