The fans have spoken, and as voted by you, Jack Steele is the Round 7 Dare Iced Coffee Sainter of the Round.
Steele was incredible in Monday night’s affair, racking up 26 disposals (20 contested), 13 clearances and a goal to wrestle the Saints over the line against the Crows for the first time since 2011.
The performance smashed a personal-best clearance count for Steele (previously 10) and equalled his record contested possessions tally. Both figures came from Round 20, 2017 against West Coast.
A perfect 10 votes from the AFL Coaches’ Association – his second for the year – also saw him leap into second place in the League behind Brisbane’s Lachie Neale.
Steele was vital in the Saints’ triumph, particularly when the Crows threatened to spoil the celebrations with a second-half resurgence.
The No. 9 strong-armed the red, white and black on top of the midfield alongside Zak Jones and Paddy Ryder, and also added to the scoreboard with a classy stoppage goal on the opposite boot in the second term.
After the first seven games of 2020, Steele leads the Saints for disposals (149), contested possessions (75), tackles (42), clearances (33) and pressure acts (159).
Steele’s three-vote performance also moves him into top spot on the Sainter of the Round leaderboard, with Steele joining Dan Butler in notching up two fan-voted best-on-ground performances in 2020.
Two votes go to Dougal Howard, whose superb efforts in defence were equally influential in the Saints taking home the four points.
The 24-year-old fired up against Adelaide key forward Taylor Walker, notching up 16 disposals, nine spoils, seven intercepts and a stunning goal against the Crows.
Howard was dealt the short straw on a handful of occasions down in defence, but weathered the storm and opposition pressure to come out on top by the final siren.
His highlight of the night came in the second quarter, with a deft drop-step around David Mackay and running goal from outside 50 putting the 200cm talent on the board for the first time in his new colours.
Rounding out this week’s voting is goalsneak Dan Butler, who has been a massive addition to the Saints’ forward stocks from just his seven games for the Saints.
Butler jagged three handy majors – including the first of the game – to will the red, white and black to sixth position on the ladder.
Off the back of his three-goal outing, Butler (13 goals) sits equal-third in the Coleman Medal race behind Sydney’s Tom Papley (15) and Port Adelaide’s Charlie Dixon (15).
St Kilda will return to South Australia this Saturday to face the top-of-the-table Port Adelaide on Saturday night.
