Please note – keeping this one open for free as it is a bit shorter and not as detailed as usual – apologies, I was pressed for time this afternoon/evening. If you like, please share.
This wasn’t supposed to happen, was it?
By this time of the season, the Saints were supposed to have fallen in a hole and their season was supposed to be over. Just the same way as the start of their season was supposed to be a disaster – remember that? Remember Nathan Buckley saying they were a bottom-four list?
Pepperidge Farm remembers…
Yet, here we are with two rounds remaining in the 2023 season and the Saints are a legitimate chance of marching into September. They’ve had their share of injuries throughout the year, but unlike some who we were told would be contending this year, St Kilda continues to find ways to win.
At the other end of the spectrum, we had the Tigers, who loaded up in the off-season for one last crack at glory with their premiership stars. Earlier in the year, I wrote about the moves to secure Taranto and Jacob Hopper as being “all or nothing” moves. Of course, I was shouted down, but I stand by it. They went all-in and it hasn’t worked.
Amazingly, after earlier results, a win would have put the Tigers just half a game outside the top eight – it is like the season that just wouldn’t die.
But the Saints pulled the plug on it in this game, with a combination of stellar defence and runs through the centre of the ground, that carved the Tigers’ defence up.
Let’s jump into The Mongrel’s Big Questions stemming from the 12th St Kilda win of the season.
HOW ARE WE LOOKING AT THE RECRUITMENT OF ZAINE CORDY NOW?
Earlier this year, I wrote about how the addition of Zaine Cordy could be a big one for the Saints. I can distinctly remember the derision that statement received. After this game, I am feeling a fair bit better about it.
Due to an incredibly poor run with injuries to start the season, Cordy was forced to play forward to give the Saints a mature body in the midst of players like Mattaes Phillipou, Anthony Caminiti, and Mitch Owens – someone who could stand under the long ball and provide a contest. Removed from his regular role in defence, Cordy was not the type of player that was gonna take over games, but he played his role and permitted those around him to shine. It was selfless and deserves praise.
And here’s his opportunity to get it.
With Dougal Howard out of the side, Cordy was given the role of playing as the deepest defender, and he ate up anything that was even remotely poorly delivered inside 50. With ten intercepts and nine one-percenters, Cordy played his best defensive game for the Saints, closing down Jack Riewoldt in body-to-body clashes, and chipping in to cut off Richmond’s inside 50 deliveries at the knees.
He finished with 14 touches and seven marks in a fantastic display and if you missed his work, given the workmanlike nature of his play, I don’t blame you. However, I would recommend taking note if you rewatch it – the bloke more than justified his recruitment and possibly gave a sign that this St Kilda defence is not to be trifled with as long as he is on the last line.
WHERE WAS THE TRANSITION DEFENCE IN THIS ONE?
I can tell you where it wasn’t – at Marvel Stadium.
Richmond’s transition defence seemed to consist of jogging through the middle of the ground in formation, hoping for a miskick. The Saints just picked them apart like a juicy chicken wing as they cut through the Rchmond zone, reversing the footy out to the opposite side, or cutting in n the 45 while the Tigers were protecting the down-the-line kick.
It was a well-drilled and disciplined approach from the Saint, who actively exploited some pretty lazy defensive running from the Richmond mids.
Dusty has never been known for his defensive running, but with Taranto and Prestia in the middle, the Tigers lacked legspeed, and this was sorely missed when they were required to plug holes in their defensive web.
Short kicks, well-placed chips, and some sizzling stab passes left the Tigers looking flat-footed through three quarters, as the Saints made a mockery of the defensive setup of the Tigers.
Really, it was bloody impressive from the Saints up until the last quarter when both teams basically threw their hands up and were so tired they could barely even take the footy cleanly, let alone retain structure.
CAN WE CHANGE HIS NAME TO JAACK SINCLAAIR?
See what I did there?
2 x AA after this season, right?
When I watch the Saints, I cannot believe that teams neglect to sit a player on Jack Sinclair? With all the fanfare over the way Nick Daicos was tearing it up off half-back earlier in the year, Sinclair’s efforts kind of flew under the radar. As a matter of fact, the only time I have seen a team genuinely put time into keeping Sinclair quiet was when Sydney dropped Ryan Clarke onto him last season.
Other than that, however, he has largely been allowed to run his own race. And he continues to win the race time after time.
He was integral for the Saints once again in this clash, collecting 33 touches, running for over 600 metres, and generally providing a thorn in the paw of the Tigers all game. With him and Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera having 60 touches between them, the Richmond forwards seemed content to roll back into their own defensive fifty to allow the Saints to do as they please with the footy.
And they did plenty with it.
Sinclair started a little shaky with his disposals, but a piercing bullet halfway through the first quarter almost put a hole in Brad Hill’s chest. He then passed to Phillipou for a goal, and the Saints were up and about.
Looking at the other contenders for that All-Australian position, Sinclair will likely have Dan Houston, James Sicily, Tom Stewart, Luke Ryan, and Charlie Ballard as non-key defenders, but from where I sit, he is about as secure as he can get, particularly with Daicos only having half a season in defence for experts to salivate over.
WAS NOAH BALTA THE RIGHT MATCHUP FOR MAX KING?
Six goals through the first three quarters, before Balta was moved off King would answer this question with a resounding NO!
But why wasn’t he the correct matchup? What was he doing wrong?
Well, it wasn’t so much what Balta was doing wrong, but what King was doing right, and just how much Balta was being Balta. Richmond fans may take offence at that last section but it is not at all meant as an insult – he is bloody good at being himself! His entire style revolves around playing off his direct opponent and using his amazing athleticism to make up ground and compete in the air. In body-to-body clashes, Balta is rarely beaten.
But he doesn’t often play on a unicorn (or as much of a unicorn as you can be when you’re a twin) known as Max King. The St Kilda forward does not seek early contact in marking contests. He likes a bit of distance between him and his opponent, so with Balta opting to play a little off him, King must have been licking his lips. He knew what was coming.
Balta didn’t, and that is both an indictment on Balta and Andrew McQualter.
It was no coincidence that King went goalless from the point Tylar Young moved onto him. Young doesn’t have the notches in his belt that Balta has in terms of what he can do, but he focuses on defence first – spoiling and bodying up – and that is exactly the type of defence that unsettles King.
So yes, almost three quarters it took for the Tigers to make an adjustment, and by then, it was way too late. Great win for King, who kicked beautifully in this game, and a big loss for McQualter if he is indeed auditioning for the role of head coach of the Tigers. If a bozo like me can see the issue in the matchup and the style of both players and he can’t… that’s an issue.
PRESSURE FROM BRAD HILL
Wait on… let me go over that title again.
I see the word “pressure”… I see the name of Brad Hill… and I don’t see anything relating to the act of pressure lacking.
What the hell is going on???
When Ross Lyon was announced as the new/old coach of the Saints, there were two players I wondered about in terms of how their games would either have to change, or they’d find themselves on the outer. They were the Saints’ wingmen, Brad Hill and Jack Billings.
Over the past couple of years, both these blokes had displayed an aversion to physical contact. Whilst it is the nature of the wingman to play outside, it is also incumbent on them to win their own footy here and there, and these two flat-out sucked at it.
Whilst we haven’t had much of a chance to see what Billings can do under Lyon, we had some history to tell us what Hill could. He’d played his best footy under Lyon as part of the Dockers, and if he could replicate that type of commitment to the cause at Moorabbin, St Kilda fans might start getting what they paid for with him.
Consider this game a repayment.
Early in the game, Hill’s attack on the contest helped the Saints set an aggressive tone. He had three contested possessions in the first term and did not hesitate to throw himself into the contest at any stage. It was bloody refreshing to see after becoming used to seeing Hill easily beaten by opponents during his time in red, white, and black.
He did some great little things in this game, refusing to have his tackles broken (he was credited with two, but it felt like so many more) and used his hard run to open up avenues for the Saints to hit the scoreboard. He finished with two direct goal assists and was one of the architects of the St Kilda win.
Hill… pressure… what the hell is going on? That was another thing that was not supposed to happen in 2023, right? These Saints are full of surprises.
SHOULD JACK RIEWOLDT FOLLOW TRENT COTCHIN INTO RETIREMENT?
With six touches and one goal to his name, I am sure there will be some who think Jack is well and truly cooked. Hell, I have teetered on the edge of this answer, as well.
As the number one forward, Riewoldt’s time has come and gone, but a fit Tom Lynch back in this Richmond side changes so much that it would make Jack a better option in 2024 as the second banana than he is this year as the first.
He will still take a very good defender, knows how to find space when the defence is occupied with someone else, and his finishing is still excellent. The bigger question is whether Lynch can get his body to cooperate for a whole year. With him in this Richmond side, they are likely a finals team this year. Next year… well, that remains to be seen, but a combination of Lynch and Riewoldt over the course of the year has legs. Riewoldt by himself does not.
I suppose it all comes down to how confident Richmond are that Lynch can stand up. If they think he can, and they’re being honest about it, JR could play again.
If not, he might as well link arms with his former captain and call it a day.
OTHER BITS
Did you hear the commentators agreeing with each other about the Saints had “worked over” Toby Nankervis by running him end-to-end?
Of course, they missed that it was largely one bloke “working him over”, right? It was the Tigers with two rucks in this game, yet the Saints were working Nank over? I guess Rowan Marshall should get a hell of a lot of credit in this one then, huh?
Really enjoyed the game of Josh Battle in this one. This bloke is so adaptable and works his arse off for the Saints. If he plays forward, he provides a contest. If he is in defence, he throws his body in without thinking twice.
Is the plan to play Mattaes Phillipou as a permanent onballer, eventually? Ross the Boss seems t like throwing him into the middle, but I reckon he is going to have a huge impact as a half-forward over the next few years and will be in the conversation as to who the best player is in the 2022 draft when all is said and done.
We were probably a couple of straight kicks away from a big Dustin Martin game in this one. He hit a couple of lovely bullet-like passes late in the game, but he was wayward both with his ball use and kicks at goal for most of the game.
I love Liam Baker, and he continues to do everything in his power to lift the Tigers. There re a few that could learn from his example.
Seven goals down in the last quarter, Nathan Broad kicks a goal and both he and Jack Riewoldt celebrate with a “rocking the baby” action, given Broad became a dad during the week. No one will say much about it, but I remember people blasting Xavier Duursma at one point for pulling out the ‘bow and arrow’ with his team down by around the same margin.
Congrats to Broady, by the way.
Haven’t really seen Shai Bolton tear a game to bits this season, have we? I think many were expecting to see him take another step in 2023, but he is roughly the same player we saw last season. Not saying he is a disappointment by any stretch, but he needs to be The Man for the Tigers to take a step in 2024. Maybe this is as good as he gets?
And on that, I might call it a night.
The Saints have a massive fortnight to end the season, but their fate is in their own hands, and damn it, I am pulling for them! They get the Cats are Marvel next week, which could end Geelong’s season… or start the ball rolling to their own falling apart. Then they take on the Lions at the Gabba.
The Tigers… well, they are now playing out time. They have North at the MCG and then Port at the Adelaide Oval. Sadly, anything they do from here is too little, too late.
As always, massive thanks to those who have joined as members. Without you, there is no us.
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