The fans have spoken, and as voted by you, Hunter Clark is the Round 17 Dare Iced Coffee Sainter of the Round.
In what was an inconsistent night for the Saints on Thursday night against West Coast, the No. 11 delivered reliability across his usual half-back and through the midfield.
Clark ended the evening with 24 disposals (12 contested), five clearances, four intercepts and 346 metres gained as his side fell to an undermanned West Coast by 15 points at the Gabba.
After being placed on-ball for the entire third term, the 21-year-old chalked up 10 touches and came close to snaring a goal from long-range, all while going toe-to-toe with Eagles Liam Duggan and Andrew Gaff.
A fierce, unrewarded tackle on Gaff helped elevate the Saints’ grit around the contest, leaving both sides to scrap it out in a deadlocked, goalless third stanza.
Two votes go to Paddy Ryder, whose battle with Nic Naitanui in the ruck and presence in the air gave the Saints every opportunity to inflict damage.
The All-Australian ruckman got the red, white and black on the board with a skilful goal from the paint of the 50, before going on to register 22 hit-outs, 13 disposals and four marks in his duel with his star counterpart.
The two veterans were close to inseparable for most of the match, before Naitanui found another gear late to help West Coast secure a place in the finals.
Rounding out this week’s voting is Jack Steele, who added another strong performance to his name as he increases his standing as a firm favourite for this year’s Trevor Barker Award.
Steele topped the Saints in every major midfield statistic, amassing a team-high 26 disposals, seven clearances, six tackles and five inside-50s by the final siren.
Thursday’s performance marked the ninth time the recently re-signed Saint has polled in the fan-voted award.
St Kilda will face Greater Western Sydney in a must-win match at the Gabba under lights on Friday 18 September.
