This is it.
St Kilda’s season – its ups and downs, its trials and tribulations squeezed into a near-inconceivable set of circumstances – has boiled down to this one game against Greater Western Sydney on Friday night.
A spot in the top-eight now hangs in the balance. Win and a nine-year finals drought will be broken. Lose, and fate rests out of the Saints’ control.
The cavalry in Dan Hannebery and Jake Carlisle have arrived to reinforce the brigade, but there’s an army of Saints backing in the red, white and black to get the job done.
A place in the finals beckons, the dam wall waits to be broken.
We are ready.
Round 18
St Kilda v Greater Western Sydney
Friday 18 September
Gabba, 7:50pm AEST
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Last time we met…
Round 7, 2019
Saturday 4 May
Manuka Oval
Greater Western Sydney 18.6 (114) def. St Kilda 10.10 (70)
An eight-goal opening term – of which Jeremy Cameron and Jeremy Finlayson contributed four – proved to be too much of a hurdle for the Saints to overcome.
Despite a plucky fightback from the Saints in the second and third term, the scoreboard opportunities didn’t transpire as the Giants closed out the game as 44-point winners.
The standouts...
Former Giant Jack Steele was one of the Saints’ best, racking up 24 disposals and four clearances in front of his hometown crowd.
Steele was joined through the middle by Seb Ross (26 disposals, nine inside-50s) and a brilliant rucking display from Rowan Marshall (22 disposals 27 hit-outs, two goals) against the burly Shane Mumford.
Although Marshall, Matthew Parker and Dean Kent each snared two majors apiece, the might of the Giants’ forward line won out on the day.
Jeremy Cameron was the star of the show with six goals – three either side of half time – and added to his impressive outing with 11 marks and 15 touches.
Without key players Josh Kelly and Lachie Whitfield, the Giants’ ball-winners went to work with Tim Taranto (28 disposals), Stephen Coniglio (22) and Jacob Hopper (23) continuing their solid patches of form.
The defensive end also accrued plenty of possessions through Zac Williams (30 disposals) and Nick Haynes (26 disposals), while Matt De Boer put the clamps on Jade Gresham in the first half.
Ten Giants also registered majors against at Manuka Oval, with four – including Toby Greene and Harry Himmelberg – multiple goalkickers.
Moment of the match…
Jonathon Marsh’s determination to make it back to the big time paid off in a big way when the former Magpie slotted his first ever goal to the rapture of his teammates.
From the archives...
The agony and ecstasy of a draw between the Saints and the Giants in 2018 hit the heartstrings after the two sides played out a thriller at Marvel Stadium.
Round 17 recap
A spirited fightback in at the start of the final term looked as if the Saints would prevail over the injury-hit Eagles, before the visitors put the foot down to run away with a 15-point win.
The Saints’ pleasing start was undercut by a dominant second term from West Coast, who controlled the air and the ground-balls to mark their ascendancy.
Hunter Clark (24 disposals) and Jack Steele (26) were standouts through the midfield, with the former permanently moving on-ball in the third quarter as Tim Kelly and Andrew Gaff continued to wreak havoc.
Paddy Ryder was also exceptional in his ruck duel against Nic Naitanui, with the two close to inseparable before an influential final term from the Eagles’ big man gave him the points.
Two nights later, the Giants’ finals hopes took a hit after they succumbed to Melbourne by five points in an exhilarating contest at the Gabba.
After trailing for most of the second half, Leon Cameron’s men – minus skipper Stephen Coniglio – hit the front early in the third term off the back of their contested ball ascendancy, but couldn’t hang on as the Demons bounced back with four of the last five goals.
Five-gamer Tom Green was a standout with 30 touches (21 contested), while Josh Kelly carried the midfield alongside Green to close his night with 24 disposals, 10 inside-50s and 707 metres gained.
The ins and outs...
St Kilda has brought in two big additions, with Dan Hannebery and Jake Carlisle joining the line-up in the hopes of breaking the club’s nine-year finals drought.
Nicholas Hind (omitted) and Zak Jones (injured) have made way for the experienced pair.
GWS have recalled skipper Stephen Coniglio along with Jake Riccardi, while Harry Himmelberg and Adam Kennedy have been omitted.
The Giants’ greats…
GWS made headlines last week after dropping skipper Stephen Coniglio, but his return under-lights gives even more reason for the Saints to keep an eye on the big-name Giant.
Despite his side’s inconsistent form this season, GWS’ promising midfield remains its greatest strength and sees them as the fifth-best clearance side in the competition.
Josh Kelly, Jacob Hopper, Tim Taranto and Matt De Boer – along with Coniglio and Kelly – makes for an ominous mix when they’re on, and are only more dangerous when running half-backs in Lachie Whitfield and Zac Williams are thrown on-ball.
Whitfield has served as arguably the Giants’ most consistent player this season, comfortably leading his side for metres gained in excess of 700m and providing plenty off attack from half-back and along the wings.
Joining the 26-year-old is the competition’s leading marker and interceptor Nick Haynes, whose cleanliness and adept reading and influencing of the play could see a defensive forward moved onto the All-Australian nominee to quell his influence.
Up the other end, the forward line is like a time bomb ready to do damage.
The Giants have the firepower and starpower to pack more than a punch through small talents Toby Greene and Brent Daniels, who snared a Goal of the Year contender in last week’s match against the Giants.
But a quiet few weeks has yielded little result for the tall timber, with Jeremy Cameron, Harry Himmelberg – who has been omitted – and the recently re-signed Jeremy Finlayson registering six goals combined across the past three matches.
It will be up to the Saints’ backline to ensure the Giants’ forward line doesn’t explode and return to form to give themselves a sniff at a potential finals campaign.
The milestone men…
Fan-favourite Saint Rowan Marshall will play his 50th match at the Gabba, while Lachie Whitfield is set to reach the 150-game milestone.
On the injury front…
Zak Jones will be moved to the sidelines for the week after straining his hamstring in last week’s match against the Eagles.
The Giants came out of their clash with Melbourne injury-free.
