St Kilda’s final quarter fadeout against Joel Selwood and Geelong a fortnight ago served as a key lesson in the aftermath of the Round 5 loss. Now, the Saints have redeemed themselves after moving aside Greater Western Sydney’s midfield on Friday night.
In St Kilda’s first appearance on the Friday night stage in more than two years, Alan Richardson’s engine room went to work against the highly rated Giants midfield brigade and came out on top at the final siren.
Against the No. 1 clearance team in the competition, St Kilda won that key indicator by 11, as well as accumulating 11 more inside 50 entries, 11 more tackles and 12 more contested possessions.
In his post-match press conference, a proud Richardson told a packed media scrum that his midfields response, particularly in the last quarter, was the most pleasing aspect of Friday night’s 23-point win at Etihad Stadium.
“I challenged our midfield after the Geelong game. We need to be strong late; we need to learn our lessons. There were many positives, but that was the real positive for me,” Richardson said after St Kilda’s win over Greater Western Sydney.
“I was really challenging on the group after the Geelong performance because we have high expectations of the group that are coming through.
“It was really pleasing that the next generation of mids really stood up when the game was up for grabs.
“We’re really pleased and I’m really proud of those blokes in terms of the way that they played.”
Richardson heaped praise on emerging young gun Jack Billings, after the 21-year-old produced an eye-catching performance in St Kilda’s forward half.
Billings continued his strong recent form against Greater Western Sydney, collecting 22 possessions, six tackles, six inside 50s and 2.3.
“His last couple of weeks have been really pleasing. It’s hard work as a forward to get the sort of numbers he’s had. He’s generating some shots; he’s really wanting the ball,” Richardson said.
“I think he laid five or six tackles again today, so he’s really buying in defensively. It would be fair to say that wasn’t a natural part of his game early on but he’s really building in that space. He’s heading the right way quickly.”
