AFL Round 8 St Kilda v North Melbourne: All the news and fallout as the Saints relegate Roos to 0-8
North Melbourne didn’t really get close on the scoreboard in their Saturday afternoon clash with St Kilda, going down by 38 points, but coach Alastair Clarkson saw some positive signs for the 0-8 Roos.
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North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson says a win is “not far away” if his young side play with the endeavour it did in its 38-point loss to St Kilda on Saturday.
The Roos powered to a two-goal lead in the opening term before copping six-straight goals to trail by 34 at the main break at Marvel Stadium.
But the Roos just about matched the Saints in the second half, scoring 6.3 to 7.7, giving Clarkson some positives to take into a trip to the Northern Territory to face Gold Coast next week.
“The stats would suggest St Kilda won comfortably… but there were some good signs for our footy club today,” he said post-game.
“The spirit with which we played, didn’t give up despite the scoreboard going against us at different stages.”
Clarkson praised defender Aidan Corr for keeping Max King to one goal from 63 St Kilda inside 50s and was pleased with Tristan Xerri’s led role in the hit-out dominance (50-25).
He also singled out the performances of Luke McDonald (seven tackles in defence), Charlie Comben (five marks) and Colby McKercher (30 touches).
“There were some pleasing signs with the side today,” he said after mentioning his standout individuals.
“If we continue to play with that type of endeavour, then we feel like a win is not too far away for us but we just got to do it more consistently.
“We were better over the four quarters this week than what we have been, but still it wasn’t enough to get the scoreboard close.
“We thought we were in the contest; we just didn’t give up the fight for the whole day.”
There was a big collision in the fourth quarter involving Roos midfielder George Wardlaw who had a “fierce contest” with Darcy Wilson.
Both continued to play the remainder of the game as Clarkson said it was not the sort of collision you want to take that out of the game.
“If you see the time when they collided, the footy was sitting next to right next to their heads so a great contest by two kids that are just finding their way in the game.”
Match report: Tensions boil over as Saints inflict more pain on Roos
North Melbourne’s tough season continues at the hands of St Kilda who lifted after a poor start to pull through for a 38-point win in Jimmy Webster’s return game.
Back from a seven-week suspension for a high bump on North skipper Jy Simpkin, the Roos put Webster and the Saints under pressure early at Marvel Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
But after an errant Webster kick, and a proceeding Tom Powell goal to put North two goals up, the Saints turned it on, piling on six-straight to push out to a 26-point advantage midway through the second term.
Ross Lyon’s side extended its lead to 34 points at three-quarter time before holding strong in the final term to score its biggest win of the season.
Jack Sinclair (game-high 33 disposals, two goals) and Darcy Wilson (three goals, 21 disposals) were exceptional as the Roos were smashed in inside 50s (63-38) and marks (128-69) to suffer a 28th loss from their last 29 games.
The Saints get their season back on track at 3-5 after they had lost four of their last five games heading into the encounter.
Worthy to note, a narrow one-point loss to GWS in that run of defeats and an eight-point loss to Geelong in round 1 leaves starving Saints fans with optimism heading into Hawthorn and Fremantle in the next fortnight.
Roos young gun George Wardlaw was involved in a heavy challenge in the last quarter as he collided with Wilson but the Saints young gun didn’t come off the field despite being staying down for an extended period.
Saints key forward Jack Hayes was impressive with two first-half goals in his return game.
It is tough going for North with the 0-8 side facing Gold Coast (TIO), Essendon (Marvel), Port Adelaide (Blundstone), bye and West Coast in its next five matches.
NORTH LET DOWN
If it wasn’t for three poor giveaway goals in the first half, it could have been a 10-point half-time deficit for North instead of 28.
It began with defender Aidan Corr pulling down Max King off the ball when his side were leading by a team-high 12 points (20-8).
King then kicked the goal in his return game from injury.
Tim Membrey and Brad Hill, respectively, kicked goals on the stroke of the quarter-time and half-time sirens when they should have been marked.
It was a disappointment for the Roos, who had competed strongly before these moments.
Even in the second quarter, when the Roos gave away two quick goals out of quarter time, they fought back and made the game look close.
It was inspirational at times, particularly when Roos father-son prospect Jackson Archer laid a big fist on the last line of defence, denying a dashing Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera who ran from half back to fire at goal.
It kept the Roos in it at 48-26 before they gave away a late goal, where an unmarked Hill was allowed to get a handball receive, get within range at 45 metre and run through for a running goal.
BOUNDARY CONTROVERSY
North should have gone into quarter time with the scores level but a boundary umpire’s “howler decision” led to a Tim Membrey goal with less than a minute left.
Luke Davies-Uniacke was penalised for kicking the ball out on the full at half back when replays clearly showed the ball was touched over the line.
It comes after multiple close calls on the boundary early this season.
“It’s interesting, we brought technology into the game to stop the howler decision didn’t we,” Jason Dunstall asked in commentary after the decision.
“This is a howler, there is no boot anywhere near it but unfortunately, you have just got to live with it.”
North instead went into the first break down 26-20 after leading by two goals earlier.
Scoreboard
St Kilda 4.2 8.6 12.8 15.13 (103)
North Melbourne 3.2 4.2 7.4 10.5 (65)
HATZOGLOU’S BEST: Saints – Sinclair, Hill, Windhager, Wilson, Hayes, Howard, Wanganeen-Milera. Roos – McKercher, Xerri, Fisher, Zurhaar, Wardlaw, Sheezel.
GOALS: Saints – Wilson 3, Hayes 2, Hill 2, Sinclair 2, Hastie, King, Marshall, Membrey, Ross, Wood. Roos – Zurhaar 3, Curtis 2, Wardlaw, Powell, Larkey, Simpkin.
INJURIES: Saints – Nil. Roos – Nil.
UMPIRES: O’Gorman, Bryce, Rebeschini, Fry
CROWD: ****** at MARVEL STADIUM
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Max Hatzoglou’s votes
3. Sinclair (Saints)
2. Wilson (Saints)
1. Hill (Saints)
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