Saints power into NAB Cup final

ST KILDA has earned a chance to erase at least some of the heartache from last September after it booked a place in the NAB Cup grand final by thrashing Fremantle by 70 points at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

After a tumultuous afternoon - in which it looked like the match might not go ahead due to damage to the stadium - the Saints were far too good for Freo, leading from start to finish as they won 2.15.7 (115) to 2.3.9 (45).

The only sour point for coach Ross Lyon was a calf injury to Saint playmaker Lenny Hayes, who is certain to miss next week’s NAB Cup grand final against the Western Bulldogs.

“It’s a corked calf, maybe the slightest of strains, which upset me a bit,” Lyon said of Hayes’ injury.

“It took the gloss off what was a good performance … a weight-of-numbers performance.

“But regardless of whether it’s a cork or a really slight [strain], he’ll play round one, we’re really confident of that.”

Saturday night was a thorough team effort from the Saints who, despite being without skipper Nick Riewoldt and Brendon Goddard, pretty much did as they pleased against the younger, lighter Freo team.

The match itself wasn’t one for the highlights reel. Perhaps the tiny crowd - their numbers thinned by having been kept outside while the stadium underwent a thorough safety examination following the storm - added to the dullness of the contest.

But that didn’t worry the Saints’ big bodies, who helped them establish an early lead that they would not relinquish.

St Kilda led by 14 points at the first break and more than doubled that advantage by the main break.

Clint Jones set the tone with his attack on the ball and ferocious tackling, while the continued emergence of Jarryn Geary was a pleasing sign for Saints fans.

Jason Gram and Nick Dal Santo added some polish for the home side, whle Stephen Milne bobbed up with four goals in Riewoldt’s absence.

There was little to write home about for Fremantle after two impressive displays earlier in the NAB Cup.

Lyon’s team marched clear in the final term to set up a crack at another night premiership, a match the coach believes will serve as an ideal lead-in to the home and away season.

“The Doggies obviously look in really good nick and [so does] Hally,” he said.

“It’s nice to have a look at them early before the year.”

St Kilda        0.4.1   1.6.2   1.12.4    2.15.7  (115)
Fremantle     0.1.5   0.1.6   2.2.7     2.3.9  (45)

GOALS
St Kilda: Nine-point goals: Geary, Gram Goals: Milne 4, Gram 2, Schneider 2, Stanley 2, Armitage, Geary, Koschitzke, Lynch, McQualter
Fremantle: Nine-point goals: Morabito, Pavlich Goals: Barlow, Hayden, Murphy

BEST
St Kilda: Jones, Armitage, Dawson, Milne, Geary, Dal Santo
Fremantle: Duffield, Tarrant, Barlow, Hasleby, Bradley

INJURIES
St Kilda: Hayes (calf), Blake (back tightness) - late withdrawal
Fremantle: Nil

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Jeffrey, Chamberlain, Pannell

Official crowd: 5241 at Etihad Stadium

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.