Saints stars stuff the stat sheet, overpower helpless North
St. Kilda breathed a little life into their 2024 campaign, as their mixture of their current and future stars powered them to a victory over an almost down-and-out North Melbourne side at Marvel Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Darcy Wilson was perhaps the main headline given his 21 disposals and three goals in the 15.13 (103) to 10.5 (65) victory. The young star ran riot, showcasing his dash, composure, and an aerial capacity that should have Saints fans salivating over the first round draftee.
But he wasn’t the only Saint to feature heavily on the stat sheet, as Jack Sinclair (33 disposals, two goals), Rowan Marshall (19 disposals, 20 hit outs, a goal) and Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (29 disposals, six score involvements) also shone in a win that coach Ross Lyon will hope can be a turning point for his previously-floundering men.
There’s less joy to be had for North Melbourne, who continue their run as the AFL’s worst football team, remaining winless on the year.
A positive start in what was viewed as winnable game would have given fans some hope, but it wasn’t to be as the North Melbourne midfield was thoroughly beaten, despite George Wardlaw producing the best game of his young career.
Sadly, not many others came along for the ride, as skipper Jy Simpkin’s struggles continued, and Luke Davies-Uniacke provided little.
Ruckman, Tristan Xerri was the bright spot as his impressive season rolled on with 19 disposals, 40 hit outs and 11 tackles, but outside of that it was, well, a North Melbourne performance…
While this game wasn’t exactly a spectator’s dream, it did provide those following closely with some valuable insight into each side’s structure and how the respective coaches may move their chess pieces over the coming weeks.
Harry Sheezel was finally moved out of his half-back role and into a more damaging position on the ground (with mixed results), while the return of Jack Hayes offered the Saints (and more importantly, Marshall) some relief at the ruck position.
So, without banging on any further, let’s get stuck into some takeaways.
Is Darcy Wilson a genuine Rising Star challenger?
The same headline was written about Sam Darcy last week as perhaps the sole threat to West Coast sensation Harley Reid taking out the Rising Star award for 2024.
However, with his nomination already secured from a promising round six display, I think it’s time we put Saints livewire Wilson into that category as well.
In a worrying sign for North, Wilson was a class above the Kangaroos’ young studs as he roamed up and down the ground collecting possessions and booting goals at will.
Most impressive was ability to take a contested grab, which for a bloke of his size is a genuinely rare weapon to have in the arsenal.
It was a standout performance in what is turning into a really strong rookie season, and his case to be the rising star on the year so far is one worthy of hype.
The Sheezel experiment was a bit of a flop, but North must persist
Media heads, arm-chair critics and basically anyone except those in the AFL Fantasy community had been crying out for coach Alastair Clarkson to send young superstar Harry Sheezel further up the ground for weeks.
On Saturday, their wish was granted, but the second-year phenom who had collected disposals like he inhales oxygen did not produce the performance many would have hoped for in his new role.
Sheezel spent all of his game time rotating between the midfield and forward line against the Saints, and while 24 disposals, six marks and five tackles reads like a decent day, he lacked for impact on the contest.
Personally, I think Clarkson and Co got the mix wrong and Sheezel perhaps should have spent more time in the middle than in the forward line, but it’s undeniable that when in the guts the 2023 best and fairest was largely out-bodied by more seasoned opponents.
His forward forays did produce an interesting match-up against fellow young star Wanganeen-Milera, but the Saint took the honours in most of their duels.
It’s a tough predicament for the North coaches to crack. You want Sheezel having the ball in his hands as much as possible, and he undoubtedly will see more of it at half back, but the lack of difference makers on their side leaves them bereft of threats forward of the ball.
I expect North will continue trying to get Sheezel involved more as a mid-forward, but it might take a bit more time for the wheel to start turning than was first anticipated.
The ruck battle was a joy to watch in this one
Two of the league’s premier ruckmen in 2024, Tristan Xerri and Rowan Marshall battled out a terrific ruck duel in this game.
Each showcased and ability to win the ball around the ground as they went for 19 disposals a piece and while Xerri took the lion’s share of the hit-outs, Marshall posted a goal to boost his own credentials.
For mine, Xerri took the honours as the (slightly) better player on the day, but the impact each of these big men has on their respective teams cannot be overstated.
For a while it seemed as though Xerri was the only thing standing between the Roos and an 80-point belting, while Marshall’s ability to cover the ground and get away from his direct opponent was a feature as the Saints continually targeted him in the open field.
I’m excited to see where both of these man-mountains can take their game across the course of the next few months as we really bite into the 2024 season, but for now, both seem like top five rucks in the competition.
Jack Sinclair will be one of the key drivers in turning St. Kilda’s season around
The back-to-back All-Australian was back to his best on Saturday, posting huge numbers with nine marks and seven tackles to go along with his aforementioned 33 disposals and two goals.
A total 21 of his disposals came as kicks, as he consistently propelled passages of play with a damaging boot and plenty of dash.
It was the Sinclair we’ve come to know so well over the past 24 months, and it was the Sinclair the Saints had been crying out to see again.
After missing the first two rounds of the season, Sinclair returned in Round Three and has since been good without being great.
His form was nothing for Saints fans to be upset about, but until Saturday he was yet to showcase the free-flowing, make the opposition shit their pants kind of footy we’ve grown to recognise him for… until Saturday.
It’s fair to say he had North fans halfway to the dunny every time he touched the ball, and he’s going to need to continue on with this level of form if the Saints are to truly turn the corner over the coming weeks.
Aidan Corr was sublime, and North’s defence still couldn’t hold up…
Aidan Corr dominating Max King was not on my bingo card for this one.
So much has been made about North Melbourne’s back six (or lack thereof) this season, that when they come up against a true powerhouse forward like King you just automatically expect the stud big man to post five-plus goals.
Corr seemed to have other ideas though, as despite being peppered with entries from the Saints midfielders, he held up extremely well to keep King to a single goal on the entire day.
It was the best I’ve seen a Roos defender play all year, as Corr was consistent in intercepting the footy and holding strong as his side’s last line of defence.
So now that I’ve given the man his flowers, let’s talk about how his side still lost by 38 points (sorry North fans, you just can’t have nice things).
This is a genuine disaster for North. Going into what looked like maybe their best chance at a win, if you told me King was only going to kick one goal, I’d almost have backed North in on the spot.
And still it was a margin beyond six goals in the end, with a Saints team that has struggled to score at all cracking into triple figures on the scoreboard.
It’s gotta leave North fans with a sick feeling in their stomach, knowing their defence is so putrid that even blanketing the opposition’s main forward threat isn’t enough to stop a poor offensive side running riot on them.
