St Kilda has made an emphatic statement at Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon, bouncing back from a disappointing showing last weekend to brush aside an in-form Melbourne by 39-points.

Following a poor start last week, history looked to be repeating itself early, before the Saints worked their way back in to the contest, and quickly, kicking a late goal through Tim Membrey, before turning a two-goal quarter-time deficit into a two-goal half-time advantage.

And from there, the Saints never looked like being beaten. A four-goal streak early in the third term put some breathing space between the two sides as Tim Membrey demonstrated his prowess deep inside 50, nestling in just nicely alongside Nick Riewoldt and Josh Bruce. 

A seven-goal margin at the final break was enough, as the Saints ran out victors 20.15(135) to 15.6(96), extending their winning streak over the Demons to 13 consecutive games.

A week after being comprehensively beaten by Greater Western Sydney in both contested and uncontested ball, Alan Richardson’s side made a statement against the Demons. The Saints won both contested ball (+8) and uncontested ball (+35), as well as the tackle count (+13), and were far more damaging in attack, turning 57 inside 50s into 35 scoring shots, and more importantly 20 goals.

The battle within in a battle between Max Gawn and St Kilda ruckman Tom Hickey had featured prominently in much of the pre-game build-up, and with good reason given Gawn’s first five games of the year, which had prompted some pundits to suggest he was on the cusp of  dethroning All Australian Todd Goldstein.

But after Gawn begun the better of the pair, Hickey restricted Gawn’s potency around the stoppages and looked the more dangerous of the two around the ground. If he isn’t the most improved player at the Saints thus far in 2016, he’s clearly in the top few, as his dependable performance suggested.

Blake Acres made an impressive return to senior football, producing the finest performance of his 13-game career to date. The West Australian collected a career-high 28 possessions, to go with two goals, finding some touch after two single game stints in the first four rounds.

 

Power forward Membrey also shone in his first senior game of 2016, returning from an off-season shoulder reconstruction at the top of his game. The 21-year-old was a force deep inside 50, booting a career-high five goals, hauling in eight marks and having a hand in 12 score involvements to stand up in the absence of Paddy McCartin.

Having never previously kicked more than two goals, the former Swan produced the strongest showing of his short career, to suggest he is capable of playing regular senior football.

As he has done for more than a decade, Captain Riewoldt reigned supreme. Playing predominantly up forward, the St Kilda champion kicked 3.2 from 24 possessions and took 14 marks all over the ground in a typical gut running performance we have come to expect from the six-time Trevor Barker Award Winner. When the game was there to be one early in the second-half, it was the skipper who led the way for the Saints.

With only a handful of players accumulating more than 20 possessions it wasn’t a tiresome afternoon for the statisticians. But sometimes numbers don’t tell the full story. David Armitage, Jack Steven, Jack Newnes and Luke Dunstan all played important workmanlike roles, collectively working past a highly-fancied Melbourne onball department that aside from Viney and Nathan Jones lacked contributors.

And whilst Membrey dominated inside 50 for the Saints, budding superstar Jesse Hogan was outstanding at the other end of the ground. Having been kept rather quiet in the first five weeks of the season, Hogan exploded inside Etihad Stadium, booting a career-high 7.1.

MELBOURNE     5.3    8.3    11.5     15.6   (96)
ST KILDA            3.4    9.9    17.11   20.15 (135)

GOALS
Melbourne: Hogan 7, Watts 2, Frost 2, Bugg, Tyson, Jones, Kent
St Kilda: Membrey 5, Riewoldt 3, Bruce 3, Acres 2, Sinclair 2, Dunstan, Newnes, Gresham, Weller, Armitage 

BEST
St Kilda: Riewoldt, Acres, Membrey, Hickey, Steven, Sinclair, Armitage

Official crowd: 27,260 at Etihad Stadium