Plenty of points, but no premiership points
St Kilda touched back down in Melbourne in the early hours of Sunday morning without four premiership points from their trip to Western Australia, following a wasteful opening quarter in front of goal. In a dominant first stanza, Alan Richardson’s side produced an emphatic response after a disappointing Round 1 effort, kicking 6.7 to 4.0 to lead by as much as 25-points. But as Richardson said in his postmortem: 'It’s positive to get the shots, it’s frustrating to not capitalise'. And it was certainly frustrating for supporters, who watched St Kilda waste a golden opportunity to put some space between the two sides before the first break. Late goals to Matt Priddis and Jack Darling also took some of the gloss off the fast start, but after terrible first quarters away from home in 2016, it was a major positive from the game.
Dangerfield last year, Mitchell last weekend
After a poor midfield performance first up against the Demons, Seb Ross helped the Saints’ engine room roar to life in the west. The tough midfielder set the tone for the Saints, manning former Hawthorn champion turned West Coast ball magnet Sam Mitchell for much of Saturday night. Ross won 29 disposals – the most of any Saint – to go with 484 metres gained and 60.2 pressure points in a well-rounded performance in Perth. In a similar manner to his effort against Geelong Brownlow medallist Patrick Dangerfield last year, Ross subdued Mitchell. The four-time premiership Hawk still gathered 25 touches but Ross didn’t allow him to be as creative as he can be. It was a great response by Ross after a quiet start in Round 1.
Brown shines until Kennedy purple patch
For three and a bit quarters, Nathan Brown demonstrated why St Kilda was so thrilled to add the premiership full-back to their list last October. The 28-year-old former Magpie provided the Saints with a big-bodied option deep in defence, which they haven’t had for some time. He played on goal kicking machine Josh Kennedy – the man who has won the last two Coleman Medals – and didn’t allow him to touch the ball until halfway through the second quarter. By the ten minute mark of the last quarter, Brown remained in control of the contest within the contest. But then, Kennedy showed his star power, booting two goals in two minutes and then adding a third a bit later to steal the win for the Eagles, finishing with four goals from nine disposals. While Kennedy did receive some assistance from the umpires and some quality service, Brown was still one of the Saints best in the west.
Saints turning entries into scores, just not goals
After two rounds of the new season, St Kilda is ranked No. 1 for scores per inside 50, converting 64.8 per cent of entries into scores. While this is a clear positive and a by-product of better use in the front half of the ground, the Saints are only transferring 29.5 per cent of inside 50s into goals – ranked No. 9 in the AFL. In his post-match press conference on Saturday night, Richardson was left rueing wasted chances. Had his side kicked straighter, and earlier, could the game have been sewn up at three-quarter time? One player who has started the year strongly is Jack Lonie. The pocket rocket has had a hand in 18 scores so far – 15 in the attacking half – the equal most of any Saint. He is also averaging the second most pressure points (53.5 points) at the club, narrowly behind Ross. Pressure is king and Lonie is the current pressure king.
Injuries to key stars headline start to 2017
St Kilda’s casualty ward is mounting after just two weeks of the season, although none of the injuries are of major concern. Reigning Trevor Barker Award winner Jack Steven has remained in Perth after suffering a punctured lung in the final quarter against West Coast. Steven courageously played out the game with the injury before being taken to hospital and has already been ruled out of this Sunday’s game against Brisbane. Richardson said after the loss that Nick Riewoldt is a 'slight chance' to return from the knee injury he sustained in Round 1, although he is unlikely to be risked. While midfield star David Armitage will face a fitness test this week to determine his availability after he missed the trip to Western Australia due to a groin issue.
