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Australia vs Éire

New Post has been published on http://www.sportsbanter.com.au/tigers-pounce-on-hapless-saints/

Tigers Pounce on Hapless Saints

St Kilda 11.7 (73) defeated by v Richmond 18.9 (117)

The Tigers have pounced up to 12th position with their season-defining win over the Saints yesterday – defining as in they’ll avoid the unwanted wooden spoon.

Although the players decked out in Black and Yellow forced a healthy lead to push through a 44-point victory, their opponents in the Saints helped them cross the line with their ineffective kicking.

Early in the match, it seemed impossible for the Saints to a hit a target in their forward fifty to create a real presence on the scoreboard. The Tigers wittingly capitalised on the Saints mistakes to nurture their control with 6 majors of their own as opposed to their opposition’s single in the first quarter.

Desperation for a Tiger’s win was so present it was almost tangible as players in Trent Cotchin and Brett Deledio would run into defensive fifty to block any Saints effort to make an impact on their lead.

To the Saints credit, Rhys Stanley and Terry Milera managed to sneak 2 of the first 3 goals in the second term – just to remind the Tigers that they were very much in this match. As the game progressed though, it seemed obvious that the Saints were present through their goals, but they didn’t have the competence to overtake the Tigers.

Memorable feats like Dylan Grimes’ first goal after 36 games just built momentum into the Richmond camp, whereas St Kilda seemed deflated for much of the match.

Despite their ability to stick with the Tigers with an average gap of 30 points for the majority of the match, their inability to come closer than that defined their day.

The Saints looked promising early in the third term, booting the first three majors. But Chris Newman seemed to have a knack for kicking goals when the Tigers needed him to – on the half time siren – and after St Kilda began to look formidable in the third quarter.

But it was after the final changeover when the disparity in class of both teams began to be clear through the gameplay.

For St Kilda, it was an unpleasant sight as players started to crowd around the ball and disposals were largely inefficient across the field. Contrastingly for the Tigers, Brandon Ellis and Jack Riewoldt were playing exceptional with impressive awareness and smart decision-making.

When Australian Football League coach Ross Lyon crossed from St Kilda to Fremantle last year, a friend asked me if my team was imploding. After all, Lyon's departure was on the back of the pre-season from hell and a season that suggested a slide from the grand final years of 2009-10. 

My friend is a Carlton fan (yes, I'm very open minded), so his question was motivated in part by curiosity and part by a desire to push my buttons.

The first point about Ross Lyon is that he was the Saints' third longest-serving coach in their 100-plus year history. So his "best before" date was probably not going to be too far away.   

The second point is that coaches come and go. Who knew?

I didn't see any implosion. 

But here's what I did see at the end of the 2011 season.

I saw a team that made the final eight, despite:

that controversial pre-season (it was a pre-season in which no St Kilda player did anything worse than take a childish, and private, photo. Andrew Lovett, who was charged with rape during the pre-season, and later found not guilty, was constantly referred to in the media as a "St Kilda player”, despite having never played for the club);    

playing without its most important player (Lenny Hayes), its No. 1 ruckman and its brand new star recruit (Lovett) - and with its best player (Nick Riewoldt) on one leg; and

winning just one game from its first eight of the season.

How many teams could weather that, and still finish in the eight? Some other teams would have imploded. I also saw a team that had six players have their best season at the club: Sean Dempster, David Armitage, Jack Steven, James Gwilt, Ben McEvoy and Brett Peake. That doesn’t happen in an imploding club.  I also saw Nick Dal Santo have his most consistent season ever, leading the team in (among other categories) contested possessions (not normally his strongest suit). I also saw that Milne, Fisher, Jones and Schneider were awfully close to their best.  To get themselves into the finals, and indeed to sixth spot, was a good achievement. By my rudimentary calculations, there were 11 other clubs that would have loved to have imploded like that! What do I see ahead? More than a few commentators and columnists said last year that the "jaded" Saints needed refreshing. Well, they have got what they wished for. The Saints went into  this season with a new coach. New players have been blooded this season. With Terry Milera, Ahmed Saad and Rhys Stanley showing some welcome zip and speed up forward, while Tom Simpkin has impressed in defence. Hayes is back and so is a fitter Riewoldt (courtesy of knee maintenance). Justin Koschitzke is also showing signs of long-awaited form recovery. Steven and  Armitage have followed their breakout seasons without missing a beat.