AFL 2022 Carlton v St Kilda: All the latest news, reaction from the round 16 contest
St Kilda produced an against-the-odds victory over the Blues, but it’s come at a heavy cost, with a pair of key Saints facing time on the sidelines.
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Luckless Saint Hunter Clark faces a stint on the sidelines after undergoing facial surgery on Saturday morning to repair a nasal fracture suffered in a sickening collision with teammate Dan Butler.
St Kilda is counting the cost of a torrid 15-point victory over Carlton on Friday night with key defender Dougal Howard also booked in to see a specialist on Monday to deal with a meniscus tear that could keep him out for at least a month.
While Butler was cleared of any issue other than a cut head that required stitches, Clark spent Friday night in hospital, but has since been released after undergoing the operation.
The Saints are unsure when Clark or Howard will be free to play again.
Skipper Jack Steele speculated Clark would miss at least two matches, which are huge games against Fremantle and Western Bulldogs.
“This is really disappointing for Hunter,” Head of Football David Rath said. “He’s had a very unlucky run with injuries over the past 18 months.
“However, the good thing about Hunter is that he brings such a great attitude to his rehabilitation, something I have no doubt we’ll see again this time around.”
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Steele said Hunter had shown great courage on Friday night and on a number of other occasions.
“We’re definitely feeling for Hunts because he has had a few incidents like this – he had his broken jaw last year and he had his AC joint at the start of this season,” Steele said on SEN.
“I’m not sure what it looks like (in terms of his unavailability) but I think it will be a couple of weeks, at least.”
Howard will also miss some football as he deals with an ongoing knee issue that caused him to be subbed out of Friday night’s game just moments after halftime.
“Dougal will consult a specialist following a knee scan earlier today and undergo an arthroscopy on Tuesday to assess a medial meniscal tear,” Rath said.
“At this stage we’re uncertain as to the exact management for this injury, so we’re unable to provide clarity on how long Dougal will miss, however we’ll look to share a further update when that information comes to hand.”
Have Saints unlocked the blueprint to dismantle Carlton?
-Ronny Lerner
A battered and bruised St Kilda may have unlocked part of a blueprint to Carlton’s vulnerability while bravely resurrecting its own finals aspirations after a classic encounter before a packed house at Marvel Stadium.
The Saints lost a key defender Dougal Howard to a knee injury just after halftime, lost access to big man Rowan Marshall for 15 minutes of the last quarter as he underwent a concussion test and lost Hunter Clark in a sickening head clash with Dan Butler with seven minutes left on the clock.
But importantly, the Saints’ refused to lose this match — in a statement that their 2022 season is far from dead and buried.
This was one of St Kilda’ most courageous wins under coach Brett Ratten, who stormed down to coach from the boundary line midway through the final term, as the heat in the game was at its most intense.
Ratten has been under intense pressure in recent weeks, amid calls from some for the Saints to repeal the two-year contract offer that was close to being announced.
Given how hard his team fought for their coach — and for themselves — on Friday night, this week might be a good week to announce the new deal that is close to being inked.
In one of the games of the season, the Saints exposed a few chinks in the Blues’ armour, as Collingwood and Richmond have done recently, and the loss could hurt Carlton’s top four aspirations.
The Saints orchestrated the win off the back of intense pressure — the very thing missing from their game since the mid-season bye — and the capacity to create turnovers on an unusually tentative Carlton.
Michael Voss gave his much-vaunted midfield a roast after the Tigers’ loss, and while they responded last week, it might be time for the Blues coach to have another chat this week.
The Saints, armed with key ruckmen in Paddy Ryder and Marshall, controlled the midfield breaks, which proved crucial.
They were +5 in clearances and +5 in centre clearances, and it is an area the Blues need to look at clearing up in the rundown to the finals.
In-form Saint Jack Sinclair was tagged out of the game against the Swans last week; but on Friday night he dominated from almost the first contest.
Given his first half dominance, perhaps the Blues should have put a tight tag on him, but nothing they tried seemed to work.
Sinclair finished with a career-best 37 disposals, more than 580 metres gained and his right foot was precision-like in its radar kicking from halfback that set up many forward moves.
Tim Membrey was outstanding with four goals, including two in the last term, and the Saints forwards made the Blues’ defender look vulnerable in the air and on the ground.
Jacob Weitering returns next week for Carlton and it cannot come quickly enough.
The Saints’ forward pressure was outstanding, but so much credit must go to the club’s defence who stood tall against the Blues’ power forwards who have been so hard to stop.
Callum Wilkie got the better of Charlie Curnow, while Howard had some teammates step up after he left the ground to try and halt Harry McKay’s influence.
As sore as they were at the end of the game, the Saints have to make that performance a template for the future, while the Blues need to put their blue overalls on again and work harder and smarter.
Defiant Saints overcome sickening blow to keep season alive
St Kilda coach Brett Ratten hopes the resilience his wounded playing group showed against Carlton — after three successive losses — has set a template for the rest of the 2022 season.
The Saints were down on manpower at stages of Friday night’s clash with the Blues, but dug deep to hold on for a 15-point win to keep their finals aspirations alive.
But a sickening facial injury to Hunter Clark, which sent the Saint to hospital on Friday night, and some uncertainty around knee cartilage soreness to Dougal Howard has the Saints sweating on scans.
A relieved Ratten said Rowan Marshall and Dan Butler will be fine to take on Fremantle next week after both players spent time being assessed before returning to play in the frantic last term.
“Hunter has got a broken nose, it looks like a compound fracture,” Ratten explained.
“It is pretty ugly. He has had a bad run. He has put his head in some wrong spots and has been cleaned up. He is brave and tough.
“He will have some X-rays and we will work out what’s next for him.”
Ratten, who had been under fire in recent weeks as the club edges closer to a new two-year deal for him, came down to the boundary line midway through the last term as the game was in the balance.
He had an animated conversation with skipper Jack Steele, telling him to ensure Blues captain Patrick Cripps was not able to get a free hand as he threatened to steal the game.
“I was really pleased for the players,” Ratten said.
“I think we are starting to get back to where we want to see our performance each week and yeah it (Friday night) will be a bit of a benchmark.
“We wanted to pressure the Blues.
“They (the players) have done a lot of hard work this year, so I am pleased for them to be able to get back on the winners’ list, but to play the way we want to play.”
He said he wasn’t worried about speculation about his contract, saying it would play out in due course, insisting he was more interested in planning for Fremantle than anything else.
Saints’ form reversal built on courage at the furnace
A gutsy St Kilda outfit have snapped a worrying three-match losing streak to keep their season alive in spectacular fashion on Friday night with an upset 15-point victory over an inaccurate Carlton at Marvel Stadium.
The Saints had to overcome a host of injuries to key players to secure one of their best wins under coach Brett Ratten.
Dougal Howard hurt his knee just before halftime, and had to be subbed off early in the third quarter, after doing a great job on Harry McKay in the first half, keeping him goalless.
Then the carnage really occurred in the final quarter as Rowan Marshall underwent concussion testing, which ruled him out for 20 minutes, and with just over seven minutes of playing time remaining, Dan Butler and Hunter Clark were involved in a sickening clash of heads.
Butler passed his concussion test like Marshall did, but Clark was stretchered off in a neck brace.
But despite the Saints’ medical staff working overtime, they bravely hung on. The 14.9 (93) to 10.18 (78) result breathed new life into their finals hopes — they find themselves back inside the top eight heading into the weekend — and by the same token served as a setback to the Blues’ top-four aspirations.
Carlton had the chance to take a firm grip on the contest in the third quarter, but could only manage 1.6 and after briefly retaking the lead, gave it back to the Saints when Jack Higgins snapped truly for his second goal.
Missed set shots from Charlie Curnow, George Hewett and Tom De Koning, in particular, conspired against the Blues, and three goals in a row to St Kilda saw them take a 12-point buffer at the last break, on the back of their effective turnover game.
Carlton got their noses back in front when they kicked the first two goals of the final term, but their wastefulness in front of goal continued, and St Kilda made them pay as Tim Membrey (four goals) finished up as the most dominant forward on the ground.
The Blues, normally so good in clearances, lost that stat 36-31, and centre clearances 15-10, despite convincingly winning the contested possessions 157-130.
After being nullified successfully last week by Sydney’s Ryan Clarke, Jack Sinclair was magnificent for St Kilda off halfback without the restraint of a tag, and finished with a career-high 37 disposals. Key inclusions Brad Hill (27) and Paddy Ryder, who had 31 hit-outs, 11 touches and two goals, were also pivotal.
After starting the year 8-3, St Kilda looked like they were in free fall with disappointing defeats against Brisbane, Essendon and Sydney, but their win over the Blues has crucially made their task of qualifying for the finals slightly easier as they’ll now probably need to win at least three of their last seven matches.
But with top-four aspirants Fremantle, Geelong, Brisbane and Sydney, as well as the Bulldogs, still in the Saints’ run home, it certainly isn’t an easy road to the top eight.
ST KILDA HAD THE EARLY YIPS
The Saints started with a bang, hitting the Blues hard early with intense pressure and dominating territory. But they let the Blues off the hook with poor goalkicking – in particular missed set shots from Rowan Marshall, Jack Higgins, Butler and Ryder – which meant they would only lead by eight points at quarter time, rather than the four-to-five-goal margin they should’ve built.
And Carlton made them pay. After conceding the first three goals, they cranked up their ball movement to boot the next five, turning a 20-point deficit into an 11-point lead early in the second period. But the Saints rediscovered their intensity — at one stage they were leading forward-half tackles 18-4 — and they responded with four consecutive majors to wrest back the momentum heading into halftime.
SAINTS BENEFIT FROM TURNOVERS
The majority of St Kilda’s goals came off turnover. The best examples saw ruckman Paddy Ryder intercept Adam Cerra’s chip kick to Nic Newman deep in Carlton’s defence before dribbling it through from 15m out late in the second term, and Tim Membrey finish off the Saints’ good work in the goalsquare late in the first quarter when he accepted the pass from Dan Butler after Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera chopped off Lewis Young’s centring kick in the middle of the ground
MOTLOP MAGIC
Carlton goalsneak Jesse Motlop kicked the goal of the night into time-on in the second stanza when he won the contested ball against Josh Battle, quickly regained his balance after being tripped up, broke the Hunter Clark tackle, and slotted a banana from 20m out. He kicked another impressive banana goal late in the first term, which was Carlton’s first of the game.
SCOREBOARD
BLUES 2.4, 6.7, 7.13, 10.18 (78)
SAINTS 3.6, 7.6, 10.7, 14.9 (93)
LERNER’S BEST
Blues: Walsh, Saad, Cripps, Kennedy, Motlop, Fisher.
Saints: Sinclair, Hill, Membrey, Ryder, Wilkie, Gresham, Steele.
GOALS
Blues: Motlop 3, Kennedy 2, McKay 2, C.Curnow, Cottrell, Fisher.
Saints: Membrey 4, King 3, Ryder 2, Higgins 2, Butler 2, Steele.
INJURIES
Blues: Nil. Saints: Howard (knee), Marshall (head), Butler (head), Clark (head).
UMPIRES
Foot, Hosking, Meredith
VENUE
Marvel Stadium
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
LERNER’S VOTES
3 Jack Sinclair (StK)
2 Bradley Hill (StK)
1 Tim Membrey (StK)
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