AFL in Cairns: Saints make most of ‘beauty’ of a trip to tropics
St Kilda’s coach Brett Ratten will take the wait and see approach to the centre bounce controversy, while his team uses their Cairns trip as a chance to grow.
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A trip to the tropics might be just what the doctor ordered for St Kilda, with the visit to Cairns strengthening the bonds of the top-four hopeful.
Saints coach Brett Ratten said since arriving in Cairns, his playing group had grown closer due to their extended time together.
“I think the beauty of getting away is that you start to have some conversations where you didn’t because you’re together all the time,” he said.
“It’s not just about training – then footy – then going home. It’s sitting on the bus, being at the hotel rooms, going for walks.
“The players get to have a greater knowledge of their teammates which is really important.”
As well as practice ahead of their Saturday night match against Port Adelaide, St Kilda has visited Far North schools, and checked out the AFL Cape York House and its work in bringing footy to isolated northern communities.
Saints midfielder Jack Steele said the trip to Cairns had been awesome.
“The boys have really enjoyed the opportunity coming up here amongst the community and seeing a part of Australia they’ve never seen before,” he said.
About 10,000 punters are expected to roll into Cazalys for the spectacle – Steele said he hoped the game would hold the AFL Cairns – St Kilda partnership in good stead for years to come.
“I think it’s a great place to come up, play footy and build some new connections,” the 26-year-old said.
“I know the players enjoy it and I’m sure the club loves it as well.”
At the team’s last training before the game, Ratten said he was not in any rush to see a change to the centre bounce format that has struck down two rucks with PCL injuries in a week.
The Saints head honcho said he’d wait for the season to end before making any long-term decisions on changes.
“I think sometimes injuries come in waves, you’ll get a type of injury that comes a week or two in a row,” Ratten said.
“We haven’t seen PCLs (injuries) for a while. We’ll just let the game tell us what it needs by the end of the year, and the league can adjust accordingly.”
The conversation for change was re-sparked after Collingwood and Carlton lost rucks Brodie Grundy and Marc Pittonet respectively for several months after suffering PCL injuries from knee-on-knee collisions.
St Kilda have been managing their own midfield injuries, but enter Saturday’s clash with Port Adelaide in Cairns with optimism.
Tall veterans Paddy Ryder and Tom Campbell will bolster the Saints’ centre, with Ratten likening the latter to a fine wine.
“Ruckmen get better with age and for him (at) just 30 years of age – there’s a fair bit of footy left in him,” he said.
“He’s ready to go, he’s been playing good VFL footy so we’ll play him and he’ll help Paddy and get the job done there.”
Fellow midfielders Jack Billings and Zak Jones remained with the Saints’ VFL side in Melbourne.
Ratten said he would ease Jones back into playing after missing extended time both isolating with his partner before catching the virus himself last week.
In more good news for the Saints’ depth, Ratten said Hunter Clarke (concussion) should be cleared to play VFL next week and Jarryn Geary (shoulder) would be taken off restricted minutes.
“That’s pretty pleasing for our list starting to get fairly healthy touch wood,” Ratten said.
St Kilda has spent most of the week in Cairns in preparation to face the Power at Cazalys Stadium.
Mid Jack Steele said it took a few drills for the boys to get used to the Cairns humidity, but have come off all the better for it to face the Power, who arrived in t
he city on Friday night.
“It (humidity) certainly hits you in the face,” the 26-year-old said.
“The other night at Cazalys for the first couple of drills – it took a while for us to get going but once we did we got used to it.
“I feel like getting that advantage in doing our main session up here, finishing up before Port arrive.”
Steele anticipated Saturday’s game to be a trap the Saints ought to be wary of, with a downtrodden Power side looking to clamber out of the bottom five.
“They’ve played in a few close losses, so we need to be ready for a real slog of a game,” he said.
First bounce at Cazalys will be at 7.25pm.
A Long awaited family reunion between AFL talents in Cairns
ST Kilda half-back Ben Long will use the AFL club’s second consecutive year with a trip to Cairns reconnect with community footy, and is a rare chance to catch up with family.
Up to 10,000 fans are expected to turn up to Cazalys Stadium when Saints face Port Adelaide on Saturday night in what shapes as an opportunity for St Kilda to press its claim as a top four team and genuine premiership contender.
The Saints squad touched down in Far North Queensland earlier this week ahead of the AFL premiership match against Port Adelaide, and have spent the past few days connecting with the community via school visits and a well-attended open training session.
Long, 24, said the humid 30 degree days make for stark contrast to the team’s last outing - a brisk night win in Canberra over GWS.
“I love the weather up here,” he said after training at Cazalys Stadium on Wednesday night.
“It’s a bit of a different change, Canberra was pretty cool that night, but it was good to get the win.”
As well as the weather, Long received a warm welcome from his cousin Jake Long, who has starred for defending AFL Cairns premiers Cairns City Lions.
The Long family has produced its fair share of AFL talents, with Jake formerly at Essendon and his father Michael a fellow former Bomber and Norm Smith medallist.
Ben caught up with Jake while training, and said he hoped to see more of his cousin while the team is in Cairns.
Darwin-born Long added that he recognised plenty of familiar NTFL faces among the AFL Cairns competition, including recent Lions full forward addition and Chaney medallist Jackson Calder.
“I’ve seen a couple of them since getting here, I haven’t seen them in a long time so it’s great to see my family but obviously the community as well,” Long said.
The Saints half-back will be one of many venturing down to Watsons Oval on Friday evening to see the Cairns v Townsville Clontarf Academy game and the inaugural women’s Cairns All-Stars versus Indigenous - South Pacific All Stars clash.
“Us Indigenous boys will get down, watch those games and get among the community for the kids,” Long said.
The all star format has been used for the men’s competition for some time, but was introduced to the women’s competition this year, where it has been warmly accepted, particularly in Indigenous and Torres Strait communities.
“Footy is a massive sport and it’s definitely grown in different areas,” Long - a known Indigenous AFL advocate - said.
“I know Cairns and Queensland there’s a rugby background but it’s definitely great for the community to see people picking up footy.
“Seeing more women’s teams and Indigenous teams going on - it’s really important and good to be a part of.”
Ryder returns to Saints for Cairns game after two-week ban
The Saints remain “devastated” after losing their rising star in Canberra, but vice-captain Dougal Howard said the return of veteran Paddy Ryder has the side upbeat for their tilt in the tropics.
St Kilda touched down in Cairns on Wednesday for its round seven game at Cazalys stadium against Port Adelaide on Saturday night.
Territorian Ryder will make his return this weekend after serving his two-game ban from his controversial hit on Hawthorn’s Rowan Marshall.
“It’s great to have him back … he’s a massive inclusion for us, he’s a part of the core group and we get a lot of energy from him,” Howard said.
“We know Paddy’s gonna come on Saturday night and put his best foot forward.”
As well as Ryder, Howard said ruck Tom Campbell will be ready after missing a week due to Covid, with emergency Max Heath padding out the side’s centre.
“We’ve got that depth now, so we’ll put it to good use,” he said.
The inclusions come as a relief for the fifth-placed Saints, fresh off losing rookie up and comer Jack Hayes to an ACL injury against GWS.
“It’s quite disappointing with what Haysey had done coming in, playing his role for our group,” Howard said.
“We ask that of all our young boys. The character Haysey is – we know he’ll come back from this injury but (I’m) devastated for him.”
This will be the second year in a row the Saints have played in Cairns, as part of a planned partnership to see more games come to Far North Queensland.
A Covid crowd of nearly 6000 punters attended a 2021 heartbreaker of a loss for the Saints to the Crows – Howard hoped this trip would yield different results for Cairns fans.
“We’re certainly trying to build that St Kilda fanbase up here,” he said.
“We’re certainly trying to get it (a win) this year and to get a few Cairns locals on board at our trainings.”
Howard – Power draftee of 2014 – expected a typically tough game from his former team, who are looking to dig out of a disastrous 1-5 start to the season.
“I reckon they’ll be up and about, they finished strong against Carlton the week before,” Howard said.
“They’ve still got some very quality players and they’ve proven over the last couple of years they can match it with anyone.”
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