St Kilda’s ‘big concerns’ in latest belting against the Brisbane Lions

Concerns over Ross Lyon’s St Kilda side are growing after the Saints suffered another heavy loss against the reigning premiers.

Brisbane are back on the winners’ list thanks to a forward half clinic on Saturday afternoon, defeating a sluggish St Kilda by 45 points.

The home side was never in the contest, with the reigning premiers never rescinding their lead once to finish with a 17.16 (118) to 11.7 (73) thrashing.

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The Lions’ win means they have now claimed 11 of their last 13 games under the roof, in a victory led by forward Eric Hipwood (four goals), Zac Bailey (three) and dual Brownlow Medallist winner Lachie Neale (three).

The latter two also combined for 55 disposals to have the game on their terms all afternoon.

One Lions forward who was unable to find the middle of the big sticks during the clash was Charlie Cameron, who frustratingly kicked four of Brisbane’s 16 behinds. It also doubled as Cameron’s third straight game without a goal.

Lachie Neale celebrates a goal in the big win. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

At the other end for St Kilda, Jack Higgins kicked three goals to shoot up to the top of the Coleman Medal race, alongside Fremantle key forward Josh Treacy and Brisbane’s Hipwood.

It’s the fifth time in seven games this season Higgins has kicked three or more goals in a match, as he again pushes himself for All-Australian honours.

Bizarrely, Hugo Garcia was subbed out tactically before the halfway mark of the second term — making way for veteran Zak Jones.

And in more sour news for coach Ross Lyon, Mason Wood sat out the last quarter and a bit with concussion, placing him in protocols for at least the next 12 days.

Premiership hero Kai Lohmann returned from a foot injury for Brisbane, but was subbed out with a shoulder/sternum concern in the third term.

The win was probably Chris Fagan’s side’s best for 2025, kicking four goals in each of the first three quarters, before finishing with five in the final term. It’s the first time this year that they have kicked at least three goals in every quarter, let alone four.

St Kilda’s Hugo Garcia (left) and Mason Wood look on after being subbed out. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The Lions entered Round 7 seventh for scoring from turnover and fourth-best for scoring from their forward half of the ground, with those strengths again coming to the fore at Marvel Stadium.

Jonathan Brown praised his former side’s response to last week’s belting at the hands of Collingwood when its tackling pressure was lacking.

“I thought Brisbane’s application on the defensive side of the game was much better,” he said.

“Only 27 tackles last week against Collingwood, they’ve already had 31 in the first half — so that’s been a big turnaround. I think Chris Fagan would be really happy with that part of the game.”

The Lions were plus-24 for pressure factor at halftime.

“They’ve obviously come with a clear focus (on pressure), and they’ve been able to execute that, no doubt about it,” added Brown.

Ross Lyon’s side brought up an unwanted milestone in the loss. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

If the Lions’ territory dominance wasn’t glaring enough in the early going, an early tactical sub proved Lyon was thoroughly displeased with his side’s first-half output.

The veteran mentor pulled the trigger tactically just halfway through the second quarter with St Kilda down five goals, removing midfielder Garcia after four disposals and one tackle in 36 per cent game time in an eyebrow-raising call.

With Cal Wilkie playing as the spare defender early, Anthony Caminiti was switched from defence to attack as Lyon sought answers.

The very few times St Kilda went inside 50 in the first quarter, they weren’t able to find the final connecting piece, with the home side struggling to repel Brisbane’s repeat entries up the other end.

The Saints came alive in the third quarter, kicking the first three goals of the stanza to get them to within 17 points.

But the Lions swiftly steadied their ship, booting four of the next five majors to jump back out to a 38-point advantage at the final change.

Eric Hipwood’s strong goalkicking form continued. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“They (the Saints) kicked the first three (of the quarter) … they had some momentum and energy,” Montagna said on Fox Footy at three-quarter-time.

“Ross Lyon asked for a response from some of his leaders, Jack Steele has been one of those — 23 disposals, 16 contested possessions along with eight clearances — he’s tried his hardest, but it was all to no avail in that term because Lachie Neale and the Brisbane Lions were the ones who were able to get the job done.”

St Kilda lost the clearance battle 34-52 at the full time siren and were beaten particularly convincingly at stoppages around the ground.

“You can’t compete against good teams if you don’t get territory,” Brown summed up in the final quarter as the Saints dropped away.

Ben Dixon said there were “big alarm bells for St Kilda and Ross Lyon” after another fade out.

“This is the third week in a row that in the second half they just dropped away and opposition teams have helped themselves to goals,” Dixon said. “Big concerns there.”

The Saints fell by 71 points to the Bulldogs last week after a 28-point loss to GWS at Gather Round.

It became the first time since Lyon returned to St Kilda that the Saints had conceded over 100 points for three weeks in a row.

Originally published as St Kilda’s ‘big concerns’ in latest belting against the Brisbane Lions