Round Twenty-Three – St Kilda vs Geelong
The Prophet’s Perceptions
It’s Saturday Night Football in the penultimate round of the 2024 season. It has been another walk in mediocrity and irrelevance for the Saints, albeit with a little bit of momentum to end the season. Yet again, the Cats are eyeing off the top four, even the top two. Under the roof at Marvel, will the Cats continue on their way to finals, or will the Saints beat them for the third successive year in their annual Marvel clash? Here’s what transpired. I’m the Prophet, and these are my Perceptions.
Under Pressure
Well, more applying pressure. But people won’t sing that headline like they will the Queen song. Anyway, you can tell pretty quickly when the Cats are on. They didn’t really look on at any point during this game. When the Cats bring the heat, when they harass, chase, tackle, and just pressure the opposition, they win. In this game, the Cats barely let out a meow, even when they lead by 33 points in the first half.
The second efforts were few and far between, and you could tell that they weren’t switched on. The Cats accuracy in front of goal put them ahead early and kept them in the game, but for the vast majority of the game, it was the Saints getting more bodies to every contest. Whatever the spray was from Ross Lyon at half-time, it worked. The Saints were hungry, energetic, and just overwhelming at the contest. Their pressure and their perceived pressure was immense resulting in them running away with the game kicking 13 goals to 5 in the second half.
Changing it Up
I’ll confess, I haven’t seen much of the Saints play this year, especially in the last few weeks. However, what I really liked, was how they entered their forward 50, and what they did with ball in hand inside 50.
The Cats defence has shown glimpses of their potential this year, however, regularly they have shown to be shaky when the ball is on the ground. To counter that, the Cats play more of a zone defence and guard the long kick – they typically back their pressure to force long kicks to contests.
However, not only was the Cats’ pressure non-existent, but I’m going to credit Ross the Boss and his coaching staff. The Saints midfielders and forwards would spread out well inside 50. When someone marked it outside 30 metres from the goal, they rarely looked to take the shot. Instead, they’d always be looking for a short option, often on a slight angle. The Cats defence was therefore systematically picked apart. This was happening from early in the game, and it appeared as if the Cats did nothing to counteract this. As a little noticeable aside – Mark Blicavs started in defence, and gave Rhys Stanley a chop out in the ruck. These defensive lapses, or whatever you want to call them, were most heightened when Blicavs went into the ruck. Also, the lack of a Jed Bews type in the Cats defence was clearly a match committee oversight.
Capitalising on What’s Before You
We all know that Chris Scott is a very good coach. Regardless of what you think of him, let’s just get it in writing that he is a very good coach. In this game, I feel he got a little too cute and too far out of the box at times. Gryan Miers is one of the leading high half-forwards in the competition. He’s vital to the Cats ball movement and hitting targets inside 50 with his creativity. So, it was surprising to me that he was warming up with the midfield group in the pre-game. And then, lo and behold, he started attending centre bounces and was standing next to Jack Steele. Now, I get the vibe that Steele is a good dude. Not arrogant, and a good team man. But if I was him and saw Gryan Miers standing next to me at these centre bounces, I’d have been licking my lips. Steele had him covered for stoppage craft, for strength, and for the ability to read what was going to happen at stoppages … and boy did he capitalise. He pushed forward repeatedly and was a key midfield cog (alongside Zak Jones) in getting the Saints back in the game. The Cats took an L with this.
The Cats also took an L by allowing Cal Wilkie to stand side-by-side with Ollie Henry all night. Henry wasn’t physical enough – so, his effort needs to be questioned – and Wilkie just read the ball so much better. His impact was immense. He would stifle the Cats offensive moves, repel, and even start some offensive and scoring chains. Given the Cats had a level of midfield dominance (even when the Saints had the momentum in the second half) it would have been interesting to see Patrick Dangerfield go forward and make Wilkie more accountable as someone who could match his strength.
Chris Scott doesn’t have his colours lowered often, but this was well done by Ross Lyon to empower his players to roll with what was before them, and enable them to maximise these opportunities.
Future Stars on Show
Both sides have some really talented veterans. They also have some fun to watch youngsters. Much has been said about the Rising Star favourite Ollie Dempsey this year. From his basketball background to rookie selection, he has offered the Cats a different option and skill set on the wing this year. He was one of the few Cats to run hard all night.
This game was probably Darcy Wilson’s best game. He identified on numerous occasions that he had the leg speed on his opponent (often Tom Atkins or Jack Bowes and later Mitch Duncan) and maximised that. He finished with 2.3 from 25 touches – it could have been a really big game for him.
Then there’s the left-field, second-last pick in last year’s draft Lawson Humphries. You’d have to imagine that if he played the whole season, he probably beat Ollie Dempsey for the Rising Star. His first half last night was special. He out-pointed Jack Higgins aerially, didn’t let Higgins get off the chain, and then became an offensive weapon with his elite dual-sided kicking.
And while he only played a quarter, or even less than a quarter as the sub, I really like what Hugo Garcia brings to the table. His pressure and ability to read where the ball is going to end up sets him up for a prosperous career.
These four, and others on the park, look set to shape the fortunes of their respective clubs going forward.
Other Things
Is beating the Cats the equivalent of the Saints winning a Grand Final? I ask this because of the over-the-top celebrations from Saints fans dancing in the aisles during the final quarter. It felt like they were celebrating a Grand Final … I guess mediocrity is okay for St Kilda.
Jack Bowes is putting together a really solid season. He had a game-high 31 disposals, playing predominantly off half-back. When he finally went on-ball in the final term, he helped give the Cats back some momentum.
The battle between Rowan Marshall and Rhys Stanley was an interesting one. Stanley won the pure ruck craft battle. He had more hitouts and was able to set up his teammates more in that way. However, in terms of general play, Marshall slightly edges Stanley. He had more of the footy and presented more of a threat at times. That said, Stanley was not at all outclassed.
Oisin Mullin is learning the game but still has to learn composure with the ball in hand. His physicality and energy are great, but his awareness needs some work. I understand he’s a project player, and his run with role on Brad Hill was moderately successful early, however, some more development will do him good.
Zak Jones is often maligned by the footy world, but he was the lone ranger in the first half for the Saints around the ball. The Cats were dominant from centre bounces and around the ground, Jones held his own and gave the Saints a few looks. He also got some early touches in the third and kick-started their comeback.
A shout-out to Josh Battle as well. In what looms as his last ‘home’ game for the Saints (albeit being the ‘away’ team at Marvel next week), he did a great job on Jeremy Cameron. Jez kicked a couple of junk time final quarter goals but was well held all night.
Finally, I question the Cats team selection this week. I’ve spoken of some weird match ups, but if they felt they were short-stocked through the middle with Tanner Bruhn missing with a concussion, why not bring in Mitch Hardie for a debut who is tearing up the VFL? Even Brandan Parfitt for a bigger body? It just seems like Scott and co. are set on their favourites and have missed a trick a few times.
What Did We Learn?
Saints – you can’t help but wonder what could have been for the Saints, when they roll out a second-half like that. They were efficient, and made the running. They played quick, expansive, and offensive football the likes we have seldom seen from Ross Lyon coached teams. If this side can work on their consistency, effort, and genuine buy-in over the pre-season, they loom large as a side that can make a very quick and sizable jump in 2025.
Geelong – as a Cats fan, I find that borderline embarrassing. You would have thought that, particularly from the second half, the Cats were the side with nothing to play for. I hope that it was an anomaly, but it likely represents the deeper issues in the side. Inept going forward, not playing on their men defensively, and then no pressure around the ball. It was one of the more disappointing performances the Cats have put in for quite some time.
The Saints go marching in, having celebrated their Grand Final win. While they are booking their Bali tickets, they will hope to play disruptor again next Sunday as they face the decimated Blues at Marvel Stadium. On the flip side, the Cats can sew up a top-four finish with a win against the Eagles at GMHBA Stadium in the early Saturday game.
Subscribe to the Mongrel Punt for all the analysis from those and all future matches.
