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.

St Kilda has kept its finals hopes alive with an upset 29-point win over in-form Sydney on Saturday night.

The Saints' pressure was relentless at Marvel Stadium as they bucked a three-game losing run to snap the Swans' winning streak at five.

SAINTS MATCH CENTRE: View all news, stats and videos from Round 21

Small forward Jack Higgins slotted an equal career-high four goals for St Kilda, while teammate Dean Kent was next best with three in a match in which the Saints increased their lead at each change.

The 14.9 (93) to 10.4 (64) result puts St Kilda two points outside the top eight with matches still to be played on Sunday.

Saints captain Jack Steele was outstanding, topping the possession count with 34 to go with one goal, seven tackles and six clearances.

Swans superstar Lance Franklin was blunted and kept to two touches in the first half before finishing the game with just one goal.

Max King, who was strong in the opening stages and nailed an impressive snap in the third term in a two-goal effort, didn't finish the match due to a groin problem.

Trailing 50-32 at half-time, the Swans slotted the first two goals of the third term to reduce the margin to just six points.

But St Kilda rebounded with a four-goal run to open up a 76-52 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

They squandered a number of opportunities early in the final term as the Swans got within 15 points before running away with the last three goals.

The Swans were forced into a late change when Callum Mills (achilles soreness) pulled out moments before the first bounce.

Higgins hits the mark

Jack Higgins had 23 disposals and was one of the best players on the ground when these teams met in round 12, but he missed two late shots at goal that would have put the Saints in front and ended the match with 1.6 as the Swans won by nine points.

It was a rare off-day in front of goal for the small forward who has now kicked 23.10 in the 16 other matches he’s played in his first season at St Kilda.

Higgins lit up the Saints in the first half as he snapped three goals straight and ended the day with an equal career-high four goals and only one behind to go with 16 disposals and a winning grin this time.

Man of Steele at his best in Saints century

Jack Steele has almost had to carry his team at times this season but he had plenty of support this week in the St Kilda’s upset victory.

The co-captain still led the way as he gathered a game-high 34 disposals, with 14 of those contested, six clearances and a goal. Steele also wrapped up seven tackles as the Saints beat the red-hot Swans with 65 tackles to 43 and better pressure around the ground.

What a steal Jack has been since arriving for a future second-round pick in 2016 as he reaches 100 games for his second club. 

ST KILDA  5.0  8.2  12.4  14.9 (93)  
SYDNEY  4.1  5.2  8.4  10.4 (64)

GOALS
St Kilda: Higgins 4, Kent 3, King 2, Membrey 2, Sharman 2, Steele,
Sydney: Gulden 2, Dawson 2, Papley 2, Hayward 2, Franklin, Florent,

BEST
St Kilda: Steele, Higgins, Marshall, Dunstan, Hill, Jones
Sydney: Parker, Dawson, Lloyd, Florent, Papley

INJURIES
St Kilda: King (adductor)
Sydney: Nil

LATE CHANGES
St Kilda: Nil
Sydney: Mills (Achilles soreness) replaced in selected side by Clarke

SUBSTITUTES
St Kilda: Bytel (replaced King)
Sydney: Clarke (unused)