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St Kilda Coach Alan Richardson and the match committee have a number of players pressing their case for senior selection on the back of strong form at Sandringham.
Although without any injury concerns and after Sunday’s strong 46-point win over Essendon at Etihad Stadium, the Saints may elect to keep the same 22 to play Fremantle on Saturday.
Second-year midfielder Jack Sinclair and promoted rookie Jason Holmes didn’t play at any level on the weekend after being held over from the VFL game as senior emergencies.
Blake Acres bounced back in emphatic fashion from being left out of St Kilda’s side by accumulating 38 possessions, 17 contested possessions, seven clearances, six tackles and five inside 50s to be one of Paul Hudson’s best players in the win over Werribee.
Eli Templeton continued to press his claim for another crack at senior football, producing another stellar effort in the VFL. Playing predominantly on a wing, Templeton collected 31 touches, seven marks, four inside 50s and four rebound 50s.
In a similar manner to Acres, small forward Jack Lonie bounced back from his omission in spectacular fashion. The second-year forward kicked four goals from 29 possessions, as well as acquiring seven inside 50s and six clearances as he split his time evenly between the midfield and inside 50.
After being named emergency a couple of times across the last month, rebounding defender Brodie Murdoch put his hand up for another opportunity at senior level. The South Australian gathered 21 possessions, seven marks and three rebound 50s and provided the Zebras with plenty of drive coming out of defence.
Darren Minchington played a similar role to Lonie, dividing his time between up forward and in the middle. He collected 24 possessions, 13 contested possessions, six inside 50s and had five scoring shots, although his conversion let him down as he finished with 2.3 and could have made more of the day.