A Harsh Reality
I’ve reviewed my fair share of Carlton and St Kilda games already this season, and it would not be out of order to suggest unless something changes dramatically, both teams (especially Carlton) and their supporters are in for a long cold winter.
Carlton’s only victory this season has been an uninspiring victory over the Tigers in Round One. The Blues come into this match with their season already in tatters and their coach, Michael Voss knowing he is on borrowed time before the guillotine finally drops.
Carlton Boards, pre the new millennium, would have already cut Voss free – they were ruthless. I mean they did sack Alex Jesaulenko the same year he captained and coached them to a Premiership in 1979.
It would be fair to say the Blues have gone from ruthless to toothless post the Y2K scare, leaving their loyal fans scratching their heads clueless as to when the Old Dark Navy Blues will be a force again.
The change required at Princess Park isn’t happening this year for the Blues and unless they can recapture some their 1970’s and 1980’s ruthlessness and arrogance, it isn’t happening anytime in the foreseeable future.
As for St Kilda, not much can be read into their season to date, with three wins and four losses again positioning them as a team forever chasing their tails. Since almost winning the Holy Grail over fifteen years ago now, the Saints have rarely moved up or down from around thirteenth place on the ladder as they have struggled to remain relevant.
Mediocrity is a word many use to describe the St Kilda teams of the last ten years, and it is no wonder they end up with nicknames like The Aints, but just maybe the tide might be turning.
Like many, it is hard to know if St Kilda are a team on the improve this season, building for a serious tilt at glory in the next two or three years, or are they still stuck in their same familiar abyss of nothingness?
I don’t think even Ross Lyon knows the answer to that question, but he does know players, and he does know footy.
On that cheery note, the Blues and the Saints face off in this Round Eight game where little significance will be paid to the winner, however for the loser, they will be the talk of the town for the next week to come, and it won’t be pretty.
Let’s get the lowdown on the Blues versus the Saints.
Jack Higgins and Darcy Wilson are late outs for the Saints, replaced by Liam O’Connell and Jack Macrae.
The TDK and Jack Reunion Match
It is not possible to review this game without mentioning the two big names the Saints procured from the Blues at the end of last year.
While the spotlight will be rightly be on Tom De Koning and Jack Silvagni and how they perform against their old club, the bigger overall question is whether TDK and Jack are the right players to take the Saints to the next level?
As well as TDK and Jack, this review will also be watching closely how the former Swans Ollie Florent and Will Hayward perform, as well as the former Suns Ben Ainsworth and Sam Flanders.
Deja-Vu Carlton
In Round Zero, I witnessed an exuberant Carlton side who looked a million dollars for two quarters against the Swans, to lead them at halftime. In all honesty, the Blues looked switched on and ready to rumble, but then the halftime siren sounded and Carlton must have mistaken it for the final siren as they just didn’t turn up in the second half. The Swans rattled on 18 second half goals to totally obliterate the Baggers by 63 points.
At the time I formed the opinion the Baggers deserved a mulligan, as they showed plenty of fight in the first half, however, what seemed like an outlier at the time is not an outlier anymore but Carlton’s reality.
In basically a replay of Round Zero, the Blues again looked the goods at halftime against the Saints only to be smashed to pieces in the second half as the Saints marched all over the top of them.
The ineptitude of the Blues leaders in the third quarter was on show for all and sundry to witness, as they became witches hats as the Saints practiced training drills around them.
Patrick Cripps – you were outclassed by Hugo Garcia.
Sam Walsh – shocking disposal efforts.
Adam Cerra – is it possible you could actually hit a teammate when you have the ball?
Harry McKay – when do the excuses stop?
Marc Pittonet – when will you step up?
Adam Saad – when will you rip a game apart when the chips are down?
Will Hayward – this club is not talented enough to carry you, so when will you learn to be a leader by deed and action?
I could keep going, but what is the point?
Midway through the third quarter, when all hell should have been ascending over Michael Voss’ head, the camera panned to him, and he had a look of total resignation on his face and in his body language. He wasn’t angry, nor was he panicking – he was just lost as the same old scenario played out again for the umpteenth time this year.
I have never been one to call for the sacking of a Coach, and I’m not about to start, but poor old Vossy needs a hand from somewhere. Bring Adam Simpson or John Longmire or someone similar to the club as a consultant for Voss or let him go with dignity.
Enough is enough Carlton – this is embarrassing.
The saddest part of the whole Carlton situation is it is all consuming, and even in this review it seemed more important to talk about the Blues woes first rather than the Saints great victory.
Well Played St Kilda
I raised the question in the opening as to whether or not the Saints are a team on the improve, and while this win (nor the mauling of the Eagles last week) does not really answer that question, it does show the Saints can kick winning scores under Ross Lyon as well as trouncing a team without mercy when they are on top. Both of these elements were not part of the Saints DNA in 2025, so yes, the Saints are gathering the required KPI’s necessary for success as they build for glory in years to come.
St Kilda won this match basically because they are a six-goal better team than Carlton and in the third quarter all their stars and up and coming talent came out to play.
Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera
Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera exploded after halftime basically running up and down the ground collecting possession at will, while providing exquisite service to his teammates. Unlike Sam Walsh and Adam Cerra, Nasiah’s possessions hurt the opposition, not just in general field play, but also in goals scored. Nas had eleven score involvements, as well as kicking a sausage roll of his own, and by his deeds he set the standards for the rest of his team.
Mason Wood
The very consistent Mason Wood rarely gets much love as week in and week out he performs his tasks with a tradesman like efficiency, which after a while most just take his output for granted.
Will Hayward could learn from Mason Wood, as Wood is always involved in the game even if he is having an ordinary game, and he is just as willing to chip in up back as he is to go forward at times as an alternative forward option.
Bradley Hill
With 284 games, three Premierships, and best and fairest at Fremantle to his name, Bradley Hill is playing some the best football in his career in the last couple of weeks of his illustrious career at the tender age of 32. I may be over exaggerating his past couple of performances a bit, but nonetheless Bradley Hill at his best must send shivers down the spine of opposing players and coaches.
Brad Hill still possesses an explosive dash with an evasive edge, and in the third quarter it was Hill who ignited the Saints with his run.
The Twin Towers
It would be easy to get carried away with one game, but the combination of Tom De Koning and Rowan Marshall gave notice to the rest of the competition tonight that they striving to be a one two punch combination in the same vein of Lillee and Thompson.
If Tom doesn’t get you, Rowan will.
Five goals between the two rucks was huge, as well they dominated the hit outs and general play around the ground.
For the first time in Tom De Koning’s career, I saw a ruck combination that not only worked, but a combination which looks like it could be sustainable setup for the future, and one which could go a long way in the heat of September action.
If De Koning’s and Marshall’s egos don’t get in the way, the Saints are onto something scary good.
The question of Tom DeKoning’s value to St Kilda was answered last night.
Saints No-Name Forward Line
The names Sharman Cooper, Mitch Owen, Mattaes Phillipou, Anthony Caminiti and Liam Henry would not really put fear into the minds of any backline in the competition, however they should.
The Saints are starting to kick scores north of 100 points each week, and these scores are not necessarily coming from the big names, but rather from a dedicated group of mid-tier players who all contribute each week without one of them necessarily being the focal point. Against the Blues, it was Mitch Owen, Cooper Sharman, and Liam Henry who led the way up forward, but next week it might be Phillipou or Caminiti or Jack Higgins who fills the breach.
With Max King again being injured in the Magoos, the Saints’ forwards and midfielders have adapted well to life without being reliant on big Max.
Up Back
Callum Wilkie is in career best form this season as the General up back for the Saints. While the Saints under Ross are learning to kick winning scores, this change in philosophy has not extended to the backs who are still a tight, hard group of six who are hard to score against, ala as per Ross Lyon’s coaching manifest.
Callum Wilkie is arguably the best defender in the competition at present, and possibly second only to Harris Andrews. Every time I review a Saints game I wax lyrically about the Wilkie – he is a one man brick wall.
Jack Sinclair is the perfect complement to Wilkie up back as they both read the play so well and absorb a lot of heat. Sinclair is a ball magnet and like Nas he rarely wastes a possession, and more importantly, he rarely turns the ball over.
Sam Flanders has been a surprise this year up back or on the wing for the Saints this season and he has adapted well to his new home and teammates.
I had to get to Jack Silvagni sooner or later. Jack had a good game, however, so did his opponent Brodie Kemp who kicked three goals for the match as well as leaving three or four out on the park. Kemp was the one Carlton player who threatened to keep the Blues in the game.
The Silvagni-Kemp matchup was possibly the only matchup on the field which was truly worth writing about.
Before I forget, the mature age recruit Max Hall is a ripper, and like Mason Wood he can fly under the radar when accolades are mentioned, and he put in another stellar performance up back and on the wing in this game.
I nearly forgot to mention Hugo Garcia
Garcia won me over for his Tony Liberatore performance on Patrick Cripps, holding the Cripper to a mere 14 possessions for the entire game. Hugo is one angry ant who was in the face of anyone who got near him. What impressed me most was when Cripps was trying get into Silvagni’s face, it was Hugo who flew the flag and he did not take a backward step.
The in and under and in your face Garcia had 16 possessions for the game and had three goal assists. On a night when the Saints Stars shone, it would not surprise if Ross Lyon saved his highest praise for young Hugo post-game.
Finally on St Kilda
Overall, the Saints strangled the life of the Blues in the third quarter and to their credit, they really stuck the boots right in like a good team should do.
While heaping praise on the Saints, they were slow to start this game and the Blues were in front at halftime, and it is something Ross Lyon and his coaching staff will be trying to address in coming weeks.
Finally, the Saints are back even with the competition with four wins and four losses.
Ben Ainsworth, Will Hayward and Ollie Florent
Ben Ainsworth has continued with the form he displayed at the Suns, and it is to his credit that he fulfils his role each week no matter how dramatic the collapse is around him. Twenty-two possessions and a couple of goals was a good return in a team that was humiliated after the main break.
As for Ollie Florent, there were mixed feelings from the Swans fans when he went to Princes Park to start a new life at Carlton. Some fans wanted him to stay, while others believed he had gone as far as he can at the Swans and it was time for him to move on.
Against the Saints, and with his team crumbling around, Florent played his best game for his new club and probably his best game since 2024. Prior to the 2024 Grand Final, Florent was a mainstay in the Swans side, however, he really struggled in 2025 to point he was dropped to the seconds, so it was pleasing to see him is slowly getting back to his best.
There has always been a lot of hype around Will Hayward, and at his best he lives up to the hype, however, therein lays the problem with him – he is not consistent. Hayward is a confidence player, and he is the type of player who stars when his team is hot, however, he struggles to have any input when his team is struggling.
I’d be interested to ask Carlton fans at the end of the season what their opinions are on Hayward.
Fin
It is easy to say Carlton are poo (and they are), but the list they have, even with some flaws, is better than how they are performing right now. Something is dreadfully wrong at the Princes Park, as how a team performs on field is generally a reflection of how the club is performing off field, which means the Carlton are poo from top to bottom.
I missed the days when I hated Carlton to my core as they were so arrogant, so ruthless, at times so corrupt, and always so good all at the same time. Old Committee men like Wes Lofts, George Harris, Ian Rice, Ivan Rohrt, the legendary Sir Kenneth Luke and even old ‘pigs arse’ Jack Elliott would be turning in their graves given the shambolic state of their club which was once the pride of the old Melbourne town.
Sincerely Carlton, I want to hate you again for all the wrong reasons, as feeling sorry you just don’t sit well with me.
As for St Kilda, their pathway for success is starting to slowly emerge, and while making the finals this year may feel nice, given the road they are currently on, getting the processes right is probably more important than another false dawn.
Next week:
Lucky for the Blues they can work on their tans in Brisbane next Friday before the walk into the Lion’s den after dark for another mauling.
While the Blues get torn pieces in Brisvegas, the Saints will be heading further north as they tackle the Suns at TIO Stadium in Darwin, in an intriguing game for both sides.
Have a great week one and all from all at The Mongrel Punt.
Also, buy HB Meyers (fearless leader) a coffee as he reviews at least four games each weekend as well as publishing new articles each day of the week – the man is a LEGEND.
