It took the Lions three quarters to find their groove, but once they did, they left the Saints looking flat-footed.
A seven-goal blast and a display of power football did its bit to overshadow what was a game that, until that stage, was not one the AFL would be proud of.
This was billed as a bit of a grudge match. Not for anything the players have done, but by the media wanting a story and feeding the narrative that these two teams don’t like each other.
Did it get you sucked in? I mean, I like a good story as much as the next bloke, but comments by Chris Fagan about the amounts St Kilda paid Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, prompting the Saints to respond, administrators yapping about Academies and advantageous picks… it is so superfluous to what happens on the field.
That said, anything that prompts a bit of aggression in footy is always welcome, so I was keen to see just how the teams would respond in the first quarter.
And they responded by boycotting goals.
With a quarter time scoreline comprising a combined 1.12, you could actually feel the energy being sapped from the stadium.
The start time of 12.35 left both teams looking like they had just rolled out of bed, as the game was riddled with errors. There was none of the hoped-for angst, and sadly, none of the big highlights. I’d call it an “almost quarter”. Lots of moments where the teams almost put things together, almost took big marks, and almost kicked goals.
Thank God there are four quarters to a game. After the first break, things started to get a little more interesting.
Enough of the preamble. Let’s jump into The Mongrel’s Big Questions from this one – the most comprehensive match review you’ll read.
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