Purple will be the colour of the day heading into the sixth Maddie's Match celebration on Thursday night, and the Saints will be hoping to enter a purple patch of their own fresh off the back of their stirring revival against West Coast.
But the reigning Premiers won't be resting on their laurels, especially after consecutive defeats at the hands of the red-hot Sydney and Port Adelaide.
While the Tigers will be hungry to bounce back, there's just as much a fire in the belly of the Saints' after Richmond ended their campaign in last season's semi-final at the Gabba.
Prime-time footy doesn't get much better than this.
Round 5 | 2021
St Kilda v Richmond
Thursday 15 April
Marvel Stadium, 7:20pm
Broadcast live on Channel 7 and Fox Footy
The key storylines
1. In memory of Maddie
Marvel Stadium will again be turned purple for Maddie’s Match in Round 5 in memory of the late Maddie Riewoldt.
The sixth annual celebration of Maddie’s Match will help raise much-needed funds for those suffering from Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes (BMFS) through research, support and prevention in the hopes of one day finding a cure.
Since the first Maddie’s Match in 2015, St Kilda has worked alongside Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision (MRV) to bring BMFS into the spotlight and help children and young adults who are amongst those most likely to be affected.
Pumping up the fundraising tyres this year will be the addition of the first ever Ride for Maddie, a fundraising bicycle ride led by Nick Riewoldt.
2. Beware the wounded Tigers
It's as simple as that: underestimate the Tigers and you'll pay the price.
St Kilda can't afford to be complacent against their well-credentialed opposition, even in light of its own form reversal and the flag fancies coming off a pair of losses.
For the past three seasons, Richmond has recorded consecutive losses in the first month of its campaign. In two of those years (2019 and 2020), they went on to win the Premiership.
Richmond's offensive weapons will come out swinging, and with the risk of a 2-3 ledger looming, they certainly won't enter Thursday night's encounter without their roar.
3. Heat on the footy, heat on the contest
Outmatching the Tigers at their own high-pressure style of play will be vital in securing the four points on Thursday evening.
Richmond were thrashed in the contested ball last week against Port Adelaide (-35) despite the narrow two-point loss, and the week before were out-hustled by a rampant Sydney outfit on their home deck.
It won't take much for Damien Hardwick's men to regain their ferocity however, and it will take the Saints' best to go toe-to-toe with the yellow-and-black.
St Kilda will be looking to back up its damaging form from last weekend to draw level with Richmond, with the home side working its way on top of contested ball (+23) and clearances (+16) to leave the stunned Eagles in their wake.
Where the match is won
Richmond’s game style in recent years has demonstrated strong ball movement out of the back half, employing one of the highest handball rates to carve through opposition midfields and penetrate forward-50 from 43 per cent of back half chains last year - the best in the AFL.
The Tigers' opponents this year have found an edge not by stemming that flow, but by out-competing the Tigers once the ball arrives in the danger zone.
Richmond rates last in the league for contested possessions in its forward line in 2021, and struggles to stop long slingshot replies as a result.
In fact, 24 per cent of opposition scores against the Tigers this season have been from end-to-end plays, higher than 16 other clubs.
Team line-ups
St Kilda will go into Thursday night unchanged, with Jack Higgins set to play his first match against his former side.
Ben Long, Darragh Joyce, Luke Dunstan and Paul Hunter have been named as emergencies.
Richmond Premiership pair Kamdyn McIntosh and Daniel Rioli will return for Round 5, with Will Martyn and Jack Ross omitted.
ST KILDA
IN: No change
Last week's medical sub: Ben Long (unused)
RICHMOND
IN: McIntosh, Rioli
OUT: Martyn, Ross
Last week's medical sub: Josh Caddy (unused)
Some words from Ratts
Digging through the record books…
Just 12 weeks before Richmond's drought-breaking 2017 Premiership, the Saints remarkably blew the Tigers away by 82 points in the first half to cruise to a 21.12 (138) to 10.11 (71) victory.
Seb Ross polled maximum Brownlow votes for his masterful 33-disposal haul, while Tim Membrey topped the list of goalkickers with five.
On the radar…
It's hard to leave Dustin Martin off this list, particularly coming off two quieter outings by his lofty standards.
Despite a combined tag from Seb Ross and Callum Wilkie in last year's semi-final, the the triple Norm Smith medallist still had his say on the contest with 25 disposals, six clearance, 597 metres gained and a goal.
Brett Ratten joked that the best way to stop Martin was to hope he "gets a cold", but emphasised the importance of limiting his influence on Thursday night.
Ratten hinted that Ross could be in line for a hard tag on the Brownlow medallist, but the Saints will have numerous midfield dangers to rein in through Trent Cotchin, Shane Edwards, Kane Lambert and Shai Bolton.
Others to watch: Short, Cotchin, Bolton, Balta, Houli, Edwards
Keep an eye on…
Milestone man Jake Carlisle has been in fine touch after coming into the side last fortnight, and is likely to play an important role heading into Thursday night's blockbuster.
The 29-year-old surprisingly lined up in the forward line in last week's encounter with the Eagles, stretching the All-Australian defence before swinging into the ruck to relieve the returning Rowan Marshall.
Carlisle closed out his evening under the roof with a team-high 16 hit-outs and 11 disposals, with his adaptability and embracing of the new role applauded by his teammates during the week.
The No. 2 will play his 150th career game against the Tigers, with 65 completed in red, white and black.
Last time we met…
St Kilda's eye-catching 2020 campaign – which brought about the club's first finals win in over a decade – was ultimately closed by the eventual Premiers, who ran out 31-point winners in the second semi-final.
The Saints fell prey to Richmond's hunt and pace early in the match, but were unable to capitalise on their opportunities in front of goal to put the reigning Premiers under the pump.
Despite drawing within 17 points early in the third term – after finding themselves over five goals in arrears at the major break – and owning important periods of the game, Brett Ratten's found themselves on the wrong side of half-chances to finalise the 12.8 (80) to 6.13 (49) result.
RICHMOND 5.5 9.1 10.4 12.8 (80)
ST KILDA 2.2 3.6 5.11 6.13 (49)
GOALS
Richmond: Bolton 3, Edwards 2, Lynch 2, McIntosh, Castagna, Martin, Prestia, Rioli
St Kilda: Savage, Butler, Steele, Battle, Kent, Ross
BEST
Richmond: Houli, Edwards, Lynch, Baker, Martin, Nankervis, Bolton
St Kilda: Steele, Clark, Membrey, Wilkie, Marshall, Ross, Savage
Moment of the match
An almighty roost from recalled defender Shane Savage provided one of the most memorable moments from the match, with his 70-metre monster from inside the centre square getting the Saints on the board after the Tigers snared the opening two pairs.
The match would ultimately be Savage's last, with the resolute defender finishing his career with 165 senior appearances to his name.
