St Kilda has bounced back from a disappointing showing last weekend in emphatic fashion under the roof at Etihad Stadium, sweeping aside Essendon in the second half to win by 46-points on Sunday night.
After a scrappy opening half where St Kilda wasted opportunities to get on top of the Bomber early, a more polished St Kilda grasped control of the affair in the third quarter and didn’t release its grip until the final siren.
Whilst Essendon fattened up its numbers, both individually and collectively, behind the ball, St Kilda dominated the midfield duel through Jack Steven, Seb Ross and Luke Dunstan’s dominance, winning clearances convincingly (+23), inside 50s (+27), tackles (+7) and contested ball (+15) to march away to a 16.5 (109) to 9.9 (63) to victory.
St Kilda broke the game open after the main interval, on the back of its three prong attack inside 50. With Nick Riewoldt parked on a wing, the three young key talls of Josh Bruce, Paddy McCartin and Tim Membrey grew in stature in third quarter, combining for all seven goals.
Last year’s leading goal kicker Bruce accounted for three of them, Membrey kicked a pair, whilst McCartin, in his first game back since Round 5, kicked two from two perfect set shots out of the textbook.
Bruce produced the best performance of his year, kicking 5.1 to be the most damaging forward on the ground. While Membrey finished with 3.3, wasting a couple of gettable opportunities to build his bottom line.
Alan Richardson spoke with excitement about the prospect of all three working alongside each other at his pre-match press conference on Friday morning. By late in the third term, with all three working in unison, the Saints coach would have been pleased with what he saw. A glimpse into the future on a Sunday afternoon in Docklands.
With the ink barely dry on his new two-year contract extension, emerging midfielder Seb Ross produced another four-quarter performance against the Bombers. Ross collected another haul of possessions, finishing with a career-high 37 touches – his fourth 30+ haul for the year – 16 contested possessions, eight clearances and six inside 50s.
Reigning Trevor Barker Award winner Jack Steven was at his game breaking best, bursting away from countless stoppage to be the most damaging players on the ground. The speedster finished with a season-high 40 disposals, ten clearances, nine inside 50s and three goal assists in one of the Saints most dominant performances of the season to date.
Along with Ross and Steven, Luke Dunstan put in a big shift on Sunday. After a quiet performance in Perth, the hard-nosed onballer got his hands on plenty of the ball, particularly around stoppages, finishing with 26 possessions and seven clearances to help get the job done against Essendon.
Playing predominantly on a wing opposed to Essendon captain Brendon Goddard, Riewoldt acquired plenty of leather once again, collecting 24 possessions, nine marks and eight inside 50s, and more importantly allowing the young key forward trio more opportunity to flourish.
With a six-day break ahead of facing the winless Fremantle at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, St Kilda’s focus will quickly shift to recovery, with consecutive wins the prize next weekend.
ST KILDA 2.5 5.9 12.10 16.13 (109)
ESSENDON 1.4 4.5 7.8 9.9 (63)
GOALS
St Kilda: Bruce 5, Membrey 3, McCartin 2, Ross, Steven, Newnes, Weller, Hickey, Armitage
Essendon: Brown 4, Daniher 2, Baguley, Cooney, Langford
BEST
St Kilda: Steven, Ross, Bruce, Dunstan, Membrey, Riewoldt, McCartin.
