A one-point thriller over Collingwood 1966 style may be the only win St Kilda’s VWFL side has to show from the season to-date, however the club’s community side has come out swinging to remain undefeated after three matches.
The Saints’ VWFL outfit piled on six goals in the last term to pip the Magpies by a point in its maiden round of 2023, but were on the receiving end of an equally inspiring, near-identical comeback from Hawthorn earlier in the day, who converted nine goals after half-time - seven coming from Yassin Hill - to pull off its first win in 553 days by the slimmest of margins.
Successive defeats to Essendon in Rounds 4 and 7 (Round 6 against Hawthorn was postponed) marked admirable performances on the wrong side of the ledger, with a much-anticipated rematch against Richmond still to eventuate following a hefty 76-point defeat in Round 3.
Leading goalscorer Ryan Smith has continued his strong vein of form with 24 goals from his five appearances, yet it’s arguably been Nick Briant who has been the Saints’ best through his accumulation in the centre and efficiency in the hit-outs. Briant (31 disposals, 24 marks, 16 hit-outs) was also honoured with the Yiooken Award for his efforts against Collingwood to coincide with the competition’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round.
Youngster Tyler Nash has also been dominant around the court with a standout five goals against the Magpies marking his best performance of the year, mirroring the form of his CWFL counterpart, Sebastian Welsh.
Welsh has scored 29 goals from just three games (the Saints have scored 33 majors this year so far) to help rocket his side to an undefeated start to the season, which most recently added a 16.1 (97) to 1.1 (7) dismantling of Essendon to its impressive 3-0 burst.
The Robert Rose competition has expanded into two separate divisions this year, with each side fielding both a senior (VWFL) and community (CWFL) line-up. Certain players can be classified as being part of the ‘supplementary list’, meaning they can be called up to the VWFL side when required.
St Kilda’s VWFL side will come up against Richmond this Sunday at Torquay’s Wurdi Bayer Stadium at 1:30pm following a bye this week, with the CWFL Saints to also face the Tigers at the same venue half an hour beforehand.
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VWFL Results | 2024 Victorian Wheelchair Football League
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CWFL Results | 2024 Victorian Wheelchair Football League
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VWFL Results | 2023 Robert Rose Foundation Victorian Wheelchair Football League
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CWFL Results | 2023 Robert Rose Foundation Community Wheelchair Football League
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