St Kilda record stunning come-from-behind win over injury-hit Hawthorn
St Kilda and coach Alan Richardson entered season 2019 under enormous pressure but with three wins on the board already, the year is looking anything but bleak for the Saints. Meanwhile, Hawthorn has a number of injury issues after their loss.
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Belief is building at Moorabbin.
What we thought had the potential to be a train wreck of a season for St Kilda has actually started quite nicely after hanging on to their third win of the season against Hawthorn.
Yes, the Hawks were again hit hard by injury and totally ran out of legs for the second time in three weeks. James Frawley has joined the casualty list after doing his hamstring early.
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But the Saints kicked the last three goals of the game and Callum Wilkie came up with a huge spoil on Jack Gunston in the gripping final term to triumph by five points.
Seb Ross played his best game of the season and Jack Lonie poked through a clutch set shot in the final minutes, after butchering some early chances, to seal the win.
Coach Alan Richardson was under enormous heat coming into the season and things looked bleak when they lost new recruit Dan Hannebery (hamstring), Paddy McCartin (concussion), and Jake Carlisle (back) to serious injuries as well as Dylan Roberton (heart) for the year.
But they have embraced change over summer, the Saints, and have now eclipsed Essendon, Gold Coast and the injury-hit Hawks, and could yet make something of this season.
In particular, the midfield we thought could be a bit bland has fired up.
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Ruckman Rowan Marshall, Ross, Jack Billings, Jack Steele, Jack Sinclair and Jade Gresham made sure the Saints outpointed the depleted Hawks in the clearance battle in the engine room.
Clearly, they are more patient and composed with the ball in the back half, after conceding too many easy scores last year with reckless turnovers.
Brett Ratten surely has his fingerprints all over the ball use transformation.
For the Hawks, Tom Scully and Jack Scrimshaw played their best games for the club, James Sicily read the ball beautifully in defence and James Worpel battled manfully in the centre.
TOP BILLINGS
Billings is known for his flashy goal kicking and midfield polish.
But he showed some old-fashioned courage putting his body on the line in an important marking contest midway through the fourth term.
Hemmed in tight on the boundary line, Billings took the mark, knowing he was going to be hammered from behind by David Mirra.
With less than one goal in it at the time, it was the kind of gutsy effort that will have earned high praise from his coach.
Billings had another big day on Sunday as part of an excellent start to the year.
SPARKLING ‘ROUGH’
This was vintage Jarryd Roughead.
The former Hawthorn captain wound back the clock in the third term when he took a brilliant grab deep forward, flying in from the side of the marking contest.
He took another pearler running back with the flight in the second term and was busy early with eight, very clean touches in the first quarter.
While he might be in the final year of his decorated career, Roughead showed he can still play a key role for the Hawks this season, pushing up the ground.
MEDICAL WARD
There was carnage for the Hawks on the injury front in the second term.
Already missing some of their biggest names including Shaun Burgoyne and Liam Shiels, the Hawks lost another one when Frawley limped off with a game-ending hamstring problem.
Forward Connor Nash (corked buttock), youngster James Cousins (ankle) and star wingman Isaac Smith (hand) were also hampered and came to the bench for medical treatment.
Captain Ben Stratton copped a knock to the head late in the third term and was done for the day with concussion.
The injury blows should have handed St Kilda a significant advantage in the fitness stakes in the second half.
But remarkably, it was Hawthorn which had all the run and jumped out of the blocks in the third term, shooting out to a 24-point lead.
The Saints kicked three of the last four goals of the term to cut the margin to 11 points at the last change.
HARSH CALL
The Hawks have copped some tough decisions from the whistleblowers this season and they were up in arms again midway through the first term.
Luke Breust juggled a nice mark on the back flank and was contentiously called to play on after taking a half-step off the line.
Saints hard-nut Matt Parker was lurking and smashed into Breust with a tackle from behind.
It spilt the ball for Ben Paton to set up an easy goal for a wide-open Blake Acres.
LATE CHANGES
St Kilda made a very late change when skipper Jarryn Geary pulled out 20 minutes before the bounce with a virus. He was replaced by Ben Paton.
Jaeger O’Meara was also a late withdrawal with a sore hip. O’Meara played through the pain last weekend and failed to train at all throughout the week.
Daniel Howe replaced him in the Hawks’ depleted midfield.
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