When the final siren sounded at Etihad Stadium on Sunday, 30,000 St Kilda supporters rose to their feet and celebrated the career of St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt.
The climactic finish brought Riewoldt to tears and left many devout supporters emotional as the 34-year-old waved goodbye for the final time at Etihad Stadium, where he has played more games at and kicked more goals at than any other player.
“It was a very emotional moment,” St Kilda Coach Alan Richardson said on Fox Footy’s AFL 360 on Monday night.
“I probably underestimated it a little bit to be honest, given there was still a game to go.
“The footy club did a really good job, as did Nick, in terms of building the game up as the last game there where he has played so much footy.
“It was a big finish to the game. He was very emotional; it was a really special moment.”
While St Kilda is a long shot to sneak into the top eight in the final round of 2017, requiring a range of other results to fall in their
Richardson said that beating Richmond will be their focus first and foremost, but if Hawthorn beats the Western Bulldogs on Friday night and Fremantle get over Essendon on Sunday, he will use it as a motivational tool late in Sunday’s game.
“My want would be that they don’t know and that we prepare for what is an outstanding footy team – a top-four team that just won by 100 points. So that’s our main focus; that’s our challenge. So clearly that’s what I want us to be thinking,” he said.
“But there’s every chance if it’s been a positive result and we’ve done the right thing and got ourselves into position to potentially win a game of footy, I’d be silly not to use it then.”
