AFL round 9: Chris Cavanagh analyses Carlton’s victory over St Kilda

St Kilda has an offer which could amount to $12m on the table for Tom De Koning. Yet at the Blues ruckman and his midfield comrades showed, the Saints have bigger issues to solve with their salary cap bounty.

It was billed as the ‘Tom De Koning Cup’, but the towering ruckman with all the eyes on him at the MCG on Friday night wasn’t too fazed.

“I naturally don’t overthink things too much,” De Koning told Fox Footy after Carlton’s 15-point win over St Kilda.

“I’m pretty laid back and just let my footy do the talking. So I didn’t get too worked up through the week. I was just confident in helping our boys.”

Help the Blues, De Koning did.

It wasn’t his best game of the season, but the 25-year-old still had 21 disposals, 36 hit-outs, seven clearances and six score involvements to help sink the Saints.

But if he is to swap jumpers next season, how much difference will it make?

St Kilda has a long-term deal on the table for the free agent worth about $1.7 million a season, but the Saints again showed they have more than one hole on their list.

And if they lose Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera – who is himself out of contract – the impact of the recruitment of De Koning might be minimal on the results next year.

Wanganeen-Milera was again one of St Kilda’s best players with a game-high 30 disposals and possesses creativity that is otherwise lacking in a young side.

His night also included a game-high 679m along with eight marks and six rebound 50s, continuining a 2025 campaign which has seen him elevate himself into one of the competion’s elite halfbacks.

A departure of Wanganeen-Milera’s would greatly hurt Ross Lyon’s side, in a position so important to the way modern football is played.

And the Saints showed on Friday night that they still have other holes to fill through the midfield as well

Carlton went +10 in clearances and +16 in contested possessions, physically monstering the Saints at times.

Patrick Cripps logged eight clearances, De Koning had seven, George Hewett racked up six and Adam Cerra posted five.

No St Kilda played recorded more than four clearances.

The hope is that Mattaes Phillipou — who kicked two goals as a forward in first game of the season — will develop into a midfielder, while there have been positive signs from young first and second year players like Hugh Boxshall and Hugo Garcia.

But the Saints could do with a mature-aged A-Grader — something that has been missing for some time.

Another quality key defender wouldn’t go astray, either, after Callum Wilkie and Dougal Howard battled to contain Carlton twin towers Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay.

Josh Battle - who left Moorabbin for Hawthorn at the end of last year - would have been handy to have.

As has often been the case this year, it was largely effort rather than class which kept St Kilda in the contest.

The Saints worked hard to saturate the stoppages and consequently Carlton struggled to put its clearance dominance on the scoreboard.

The Blues registered only 2.5 (17) from stoppages - it’s lowest return from that score source this year.
However, the Blues were able to punish too many St Kilda skill errors, booting 9.6 (60) from turnovers.

Most of the scoring was done in the first half, though.

Carlton broke out to a 24-point lead at the 12-minute mark of the second quarter but only added four goals from that point on as its opponent took the pressure up a notch.

The Saints hung around like a bad odour and a Phillipou goal from a holding the ball decision inside 50 at the 15-minute-mark of the final quarter got the Saints back within three points.

But McKay – who had fluffed a set shot from directly in front in the third quarter – slotted the one that mattered to seal the game with 77 seconds left on the clock, after starting substitute Cooper Lord earlier nailed a nice goal of his own.

Six majors between McKay and Curnow was enough to get the job done in a dour, low-scoring affair.

It was brave by the Blues, who have been whacked for their second-half fade-outs this year and copped a raft of first-half injuries.

Mitch McGovern was taken to hospital with a sternum injury after a heavy collision with St Kilda’s Liam O’Connell in the first quarter which left him struggling to breath.

Lachlan Cowan (hamstring) was also out of the game before halftime, while Blake Acres played on clearly hampered by a sore shoulder and Nick Haynes returned to the field after copping an accidental boot to the back of his neck late in the second quarter.

Lewis Young was swung back into defence in the second half to cover for McGovern, with Cerra moving to half-back to replace Cowan.

Cooper Lord nails long goal

While McGovern could be sidelined for multiple weeks, Jack Silvagni’s return from a broken hand was welcomed as he continues to thrive in his new role in defence.

In Spud’s Game – remembering the late great St Kilda defender Danny Frawley – Silvagni logged 11 marks and a game-high 10 intercept possessions in a performance that would have made his father Stephen proud.

Haynes was the top-ranked player on the ground before his injury and recorded nine intercept possessions himself, continuing an impressive turnaround after a very shaky start to his first season in Navy Blue.

Alongside Jacob Weitering, it is clear that some cohesion is beginning to grow at the defensive end of the ground for the Blues.

While they aren’t humming just yet, Michael Voss’ side has now won four of its past five matches to get back to a 4-5 record after nine games.

If Carlton can beat Sydney (SCG) and Greater Western Sydney (Marvel Stadium) over the next fortnight, it will be ahead of the ledger at 6-5 going into the bye and will be well placed to tackle the second half of the year.
Who knows what can happen from there.

Originally published as AFL round 9: Chris Cavanagh analyses Carlton’s victory over St Kilda