Rainbow colours will cover Marvel Stadium on Saturday night as St Kilda plays host to Sydney in the 2021 Pride Game.

For the Saints, the annual pride match presents a perfect opportunity for redemption after they fell agonisingly short against the Swans the last time they met.

It also offers a chance for Brett Ratten’s men to find some form after falling to the Blues last Friday night, their third loss in a row.

With four new faces to return to the side, the Saints will be keen to work their way back onto the winners list come Saturday night.

Round 21 | 2021

St Kilda v Sydney

Saturday 7 August

7:40 PM, Marvel Stadium

Broadcast live on Fox Footy and Kayo

Key storylines

The worry of Buddy

The star forward has been in dangerous form this season, booting 41 goals at an average of three per game, sitting eighth in the AFL.

With key defender Dougal Howard set for a stint on the sidelines with a hamstring injury, it is looking likely that Callum Wilkie and Darragh Joyce will share the load of the eight-time All-Australian.

Pride

For the sixth time since its inception in 2016, the Saints and Swans will do battle in the annual Pride game.

Aimed at providing an inclusive environment to members of the LGBTIQA+ community at the footy, the Saints will celebrate the occasion with a newly designed Pride Guernsey, despite the lack of a crowd.

They will also be looking to amend their record against the Swans during the Pride game, having only one game out of the past five.

But that one victory did come last year in the Queensland hub, knocking off Sydney by 53 points at the Gabba.

Right the wrongs

The Saints have hit a snag in their season, having dropped their last three games of the year against Port Adelaide, West Coast and Carlton.

It came off the back of a fantastic three-game stretch where they knocked off the reigning premiers in Richmond, before taking home two wins against Collingwood and Brisbane.

Saturday night presents a perfect opportunity for St Kilda to recapture that form, as well as the chance at redemption following their Round 12 loss to the Swans earlier in the season.

Wayward goal-kicking saw Brett Ratten’s men unable to take home the four-points in the Harbour City, but they will have another shot at Sydney this weekend.

Some words from Ratts

Team lineups

St Kilda has made four changes ahead of this weekend, with Jack Sinclair returning to the side, and will be joined by 50^th gamer Nick Coffield, Daniel McKenzie and Darragh Joyce.

Youngster Cooper Sharman has been named in the starting line-up for the first time after spending the last fortnight as the medical sub.

Injured players Jack Billings (hamstring), Dougal Howard (hamstring) and Hunter Clark (concussion) as well as Ben Long and Paul Hunter (omitted) make way for the recalled Saints.

Hunter joins Jack Bytel, Matthew Allison, Jack Lonie on standby as emergencies.

On the radar

Sydney got up in a thriller against Essendon last week, with Callum Mills standing tall for the Swans.

The No. 14 was in outstanding form, collecting 33 disposals, 12 marks, six tackles and one major to lead his side to a seven-point victory.

Mills has been in fine form for John Longmire’s men, averaging 29 disposals, 21 effective disposals, six marks and six tackles per game this season.

His last five games have seen the 24-year-old notch 30 touches or more, with six games seeing Mills collect seven clearances or more.

Keep an eye on

It is not too far of a stretch to say that Jack Steele is in career-best form this season.

The Saints’ co-captain has been playing some outstanding footy and is a chance for the Brownlow medal, averaging 29 disposals and a whopping eight tackles per game.

He leads the Saints in disposals, effective disposals, contested possessions, total clearances and tackles (which he also sits number one in the AFL for).

Steele’s last outing against the Blues was elite, grabbing 36 disposals, 14 tackles and eight clearances, his eighth game with 30+ touches and his seventh with 10+ tackles.

Last time we met

It was a back-and-forth contest at the SCG earlier in the season as the Saints took it up to the Swans in a thrilling encounter.

Brett Ratten’s men hung with Sydney up until the very end, but some inaccurate shots at goal would come back to haunt St Kilda, who went down by nine points.

Jack Higgins was outstanding across the ground, collecting 23 disposals and taking 12 marks. His co-captain in Jack Steele was his reliable self with a goal, nine tackles and 31 disposals, while Brad Crouch nabbed 38 touches and seven tackles himself.