Saints embrace their ‘Viking King’; Mitchell praises star Hawks ‘just couldn’t stop’

St Kilda turned up for a fight without a vital tool to stage a war – kicking boots.

They served the pressure up to Hawthorn and sent the ball inside the 50-metre arc on 11 more occasions, but poor delivery saw them lose the night by 20 points at Marvel Stadium.

Massimo D’Ambrosio kicked a vital last-quarter goal for Hawthorn.Credit: Getty Images

The damning statistic was kicking efficiency inside 50. Hawthorn went at 61.9 per cent, while the Saints went at 50.9. That was the major difference on a night that both sides had the same scoring shots.

Hawthorn were more efficient and cleaner with the ball going forward, setting up their attacking thrusts from across half-back. They were also more clinical with their finishing. Jack Gunston kicked three, while Nick Watson and Mabior Chol both kicked two.

“There’s a couple of ways you can look at the game,” Hawks coach Sam Mitchell said. “You can look at it from a positive lens and say, you know, we kicked a reasonable score for the amount of inside 50s we had.

“The other way look at it is, ‘Why are we only going inside-50 40 or 42 times?’ So, yeah, there are some things to unpack from the game.

“From a system point of view, we’ve got a bit of work to do. We don’t want to be losing inside 50s by double digits.”

The Silk-Miller medal winner for St Kilda was Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera who had 43 disposals, while the Hawthorn medal winner was lion-heart ruckman Lloyd Meek.

“Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera … I am going to have nightmares about him,” Mitchell said.

“We just couldn’t stop him. He’s just too good. Just wherever he is. Even when he was on the bench, I was worried about him.

“Watching him before tonight, I knew he was a really good player. But we tagged him with three or four different players in three or four different positions, and he was just too good.”

St Kilda had their chances and the end result will have frustrated Ross Lyon because his charges did a lot right.

But two vital misses in the last term from Cooper Sharman and Jack Higgins cost them any chance of snatching a late victory. They butchered the ball and let Hawthorn off the hook.

Full-time: Hawks 14.10 (94) beat Saints 10.14 (74)

That’s all we have for you tonight after another massive Saturday of footy.

Check back in on our websites across the day on Sunday for more round 17 action.

Bye for now.

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has sung the praises of the club’s three-game excitement machine Alixzander Tauru, who has been dubbed “the Flying Viking” because of his blond hair and Nordic ancestry.

Tauru showed glimpses of his aerial prowess in the Saints’ 20-point loss to Hawthorn at Marvel Stadium when he soared for a spectacular mark in the second quarter, a leap reminiscent of club greats Nick Riewoldt and Trevor Barker.

Ross Lyon was left lamenting St Kilda’s forward connection.Credit: Getty Images

Lyon joked that he had tried to buy one of the viking hats being sold to Saints fans on the way to the game, but they were sold out.

“I don’t think we have to cultivate the hype – the hype’s there,” Lyon said.

“He was outstanding the week before, but Fremantle are a lot slower with their ball movement, so it was a bit easier to get to spoils in.”

Tauru had 14 spoils as a defender against the Dockers.

“It was more challenging tonight [against Hawthorn]. I thought he got caught out of position a bit, but he’s a ripping kid. He’s tough and very talented.

“It’s really good to have excitement around the place. That’s what we want. We want to embrace it. We embrace the hype and there’s more to come.”

Lyon was less impressed with St Kilda’s ball use in their loss against Hawthorn. They had 11 more inside-50 entries and the same amount of scoring shots by their opponents but could not land the killer blows.

“We had 25 entries [in the] first half for one forward-50 mark. It was really disappointing,” Lyon said.

“It turned around a fair bit in the second half. But, yeah, we were inefficient, and they just scored a bit easily, which has been a bit of a trend.”

Lyon said the Saints would not get caught up in the roller coaster of wins and losses and continue to work towards a bigger picture.

“It’s not the recession we had to have, right, like Paul Keating said, but we certainly know that where we want to get to and what we’ve got to do,” Lyon said.

“Our connection, our spirit, the environment is really level and supportive, but demanding, and it’s really clear with the spirit and the effort where we need to improve. It was really obvious to most of the stadium tonight.”

A dejected Ken Hinkley is coming to terms with having coached Sam Powell-Pepper for the final time after the Port Adelaide midfielder ruptured his ACL in their 28-point loss to Brisbane on Saturday night.

It is the second time Powell-Pepper will need a knee reconstruction in two years. This time on the other leg.

Sam Powell-Pepper is helped from the field.Credit: AFL Photos

“Sam’s [injury] obviously looks like an ACL,” Hinkley said. “We clearly will get the scan back over the next couple of days, but that’s really, really sad.

“When I think about that, it gets a bit sadder for me because it’s my last game of coaching Sam, and he’s been such a great player for me.

“It’s really difficult when you have someone that you really care about, you see that happen to him now for the second time, on the other leg.”

Hinkley said Powell-Pepper had been on a high in the lead up to the Gabba game because he and his partner, Brya, had a baby girl, Remi Rose, during the week. Now he is facing another lengthy stint on the sidelines.

“For all those people who think they get paid too much, or they don’t work hard enough … look at that boy tonight and have a look at how he feels,” Hinkley said.

“But in typical ‘Pep’ fashion, he’ll deal with it. He’ll have a couple of days where it’ll be pretty tough, but he’ll be back. I look forward to watching his first game back.”

Hinkley will hand over the Port Adelaide coaching role to understudy Josh Carr at the end of this season.

Lloyd Meek is looking forward to flying west next Saturday to take on his old Fremantle outfit in a clash that will help determine the final eight.

Ruckman Meek was named Hawthorn’s best in their 20-point win over St Kilda at Marvel Stadium, and was awarded the Silk-Miller Medal.

Lloyd Meek took the honours over Rowan Marshall against the Saints.Credit: AFL Photos

The Hawks sit temporarily in fourth with 11 wins, while the ninth-placed Fremantle play Sydney at the SCG tomorrow in a bid to chalk up their 11th win of the season.

“I think it was pretty similar time last year we had them [Fremantle] down in Launceston, and it was a really hard-fought battle,” Meek told Fox Footy.

“It came down to being pretty close. I remember we kicked a couple late [to win by 13 points], so I’m expecting nothing less.

“We know Freo in Freo is a tough challenge, and I’m excited for the opportunity. It’s always good to run into some old mates and turn them into enemies for three hours, and then I’m sure I’ll catch up with a few of them after the game.”

Hawthorn defender Josh Battle has emerged on top in his first clash against his old teammates.

He found himself in a scrap in the second quarter after dumping Darcy Wilson in a strong tackle and then being set upon by a group of Saints. But Battle had the last laugh as the Hawks ran out 20-point winners.

Josh Battle and former teammate Bradley Hill hug it out after the final siren.Credit: Getty Images

“It was always going to be tough [playing against St Kilda],” Battle told Fox Footy after the game.

“I’ve got some close mates there, so it was weird playing them for the first time. But I really enjoyed it.”

Battle said it was great to see Mabior Chol hit the scoreboard with two goals in his 100th game.

“Marbs is massive – the boys just absolutely love him. I’ve loved training with him, and I love playing with him,” Battle said.

“He’s a freak, so, yeah, he’s just getting reward for effort at the moment.”

There was a sense of inevitability about the result from the start, but Port gained plenty of respect for how they went about it at the Gabba tonight, given their horrific run with injury throughout the game.

The Lions won by 28 points and had enough quality across the ground when it mattered most, but ominously they’re still not playing to the level they were at in last year’s finals series.

Could they be the ones to really push the Magpies?

Full-time: Brisbane Lions win 18.12 (120) to Port Adelaide 14.8 (92)

St Kilda turned up for a fight without a vital tool to stage a war – kicking boots.

They served the pressure up to Hawthorn and sent the ball inside the 50-metre arc on 11 more occasions, but poor delivery saw them lose the night by 20 points at Marvel Stadium.

Massimo D’Ambrosio kicked a vital last-quarter goal for Hawthorn.Credit: Getty Images

The damning statistic was kicking efficiency inside 50. Hawthorn went at 61.9 per cent, while the Saints went at 50.9. That was the major difference on a night that both sides had the same scoring shots.

Hawthorn were more efficient and cleaner with the ball going forward, setting up their attacking thrusts from across half-back. They were also more clinical with their finishing. Jack Gunston kicked three, while Nick Watson and Mabior Chol both kicked two.

“There’s a couple of ways you can look at the game,” Hawks coach Sam Mitchell said. “You can look at it from a positive lens and say, you know, we kicked a reasonable score for the amount of inside 50s we had.

“The other way look at it is, ‘Why are we only going inside-50 40 or 42 times?’ So, yeah, there are some things to unpack from the game.

“From a system point of view, we’ve got a bit of work to do. We don’t want to be losing inside 50s by double digits.”

The Silk-Miller medal winner for St Kilda was Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera who had 43 disposals, while the Hawthorn medal winner was lion-heart ruckman Lloyd Meek.

“Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera … I am going to have nightmares about him,” Mitchell said.

“We just couldn’t stop him. He’s just too good. Just wherever he is. Even when he was on the bench, I was worried about him.

“Watching him before tonight, I knew he was a really good player. But we tagged him with three or four different players in three or four different positions, and he was just too good.”

St Kilda had their chances and the end result will have frustrated Ross Lyon because his charges did a lot right.

But two vital misses in the last term from Cooper Sharman and Jack Higgins cost them any chance of snatching a late victory. They butchered the ball and let Hawthorn off the hook.

Full-time: Hawks 14.10 (94) beat Saints 10.14 (74)

Jack Gunston has pounced on a poor St Kilda kick and booted his third goal of the night. The Hawks lead by 27 points.

Max Hall has nailed his third goal of the night, but it is too late for the Saints.

They trail Hawthorn by 21 points as the game enters the final five minutes.

Hawks 13.10 (88) lead Saints 9.13 (67) with four minutes remaining.

That might be the nail in the coffin. Massimo D’Ambrosio has landed a long-range left-foot from 55m to give Hawthorn a 27-point lead.

It is hard to see St Kilda winning from here.

Hawks 13.7 (85) lead Saints 8.11 (59), 10 minutes remaining.