Friday night footy beckons for St Kilda.

After a gruelling win on the road against Gold Coast, the Saints will be eyeing off three-straight wins to continue their push up the ladder.

In their way stands a hungry Geelong outfit, chock full of confidence after a powerful victory against the reigning Premiers, Richmond

Round 9 | 2021

St Kilda vs Geelong

Friday 14 May

Marvel Stadium, 7:50PM

Broadcast live on Channel 7, Fox Footy and Kayo

Key Storylines 

Cameron, Rohan and Hawkins (oh my!)

The three tall forwards were on show for Geelong last Friday, and they certainly made their presence felt.

Jeremy Cameron, Gary Rohan and Tom Hawkins booted 15 out of a possible 19 goals between them, ripping the heart out of the Richmond defence as their side stormed towards a 63-point triumph.

Curbing the damaging trio will be vital to the Saints’ potential success, with Callum Wilkie and Dougal Howard primed for mammoth jobs in defence.

Former Hawk and Demon James Frawley is also in line to make his St Kilda debut, with Brett Ratten confirming that the 32-year-old would be talked about at the selection table.

A premiership defender, Frawley’s experience down back means that should he play, he will likely be given the job to go onto one of Cameron or Hawkins.

Speaking of…

Hawkins vs Frawley

Should James Frawley get the nod to play his first senior game in St Kilda colours, it is likely the defender will head straight to Tom Hawkins.

The last three times the premiership defender has gone to the reigning Coleman medallist, Frawley has kept the key forward to two goals or under.

Should Frawley comes into the side, he will have a lot of work to do alongside Callum Wilkie and Dougal Howard in reducing the impact of the Geelong’s big three.

Fixing Friday nights under lights

For the first time this season, the Saints are set to play on the big stage of Friday night footy.

While Saints fans don’t have many recent happy memories of Geelong matches with just one win and one draw to show from the past decade, the opportunity to play in prime-time and improve its record against quality opposition will be taken with both hands.

Since 2012, the Saints have lost 15 out of their 19 Friday night clashes, so the opportunity now presents itself for the club to turn the tide around.

St Kilda’s last Friday night win came in Round 14 2016, interestingly in what was a milestone match for Jimmy Webster.

Where the match is won

Geelong’s main threat is their ball movement from the back half, successfully moving the ball into their forward zone 50 per cent of the time (highest in the league) with a mix of short kicking and dynamic handballs.

When the Cats do get within range of goal, they have a choice of key targets in Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron, plus the mid-sized Gary Rohan and some crafty ground-ball players.

There’s a strong indication that the Cats rely on volume of opportunities moving forward rather than through precisely hitting targets heading into attack.

Geelong’s marking targets tend to stray far and wide from the goalsquare, meaning they don’t score as much from their marks as they do from other plays.

Match the Cats for opportunity, beat them for advantage.

Some words from Ratts

On the radar

The biggest recruit for the Cats during the off-season was undoubtedly Jeremy Cameron.

Since his debut in the blue and white stripes, Cameron has been an issue for opposition defences, booting 12 goals inside three games.

His latest bag saw the key forward slot six against the Tigers, and the Saints will be looking to minimise the impact of the 2019 Coleman medallist.

Keep an eye on

Callum Wilkie has flown under the radar this season, tackling some of the best forwards in the game and holding his own against them.

In seven out of the eight matches Wilkie has played in, the defender has been able to keep his opponents to one goal or less.

With James Frawley a chance to come in to take on Tom Hawkins, it is likely that the 25-year-old will roll between Jeremy Cameron and Gary Rohan, alongside Dougal Howard.

If his form continues, it would go a long way to helping St Kilda secure an important victory.

Last time we met

Coming off a four-game winning streak, St Kilda’s run finally came to an end at the hands of the Cats, who ran away with a 59-point victory.

Tom Hawkins and Gary Rohan booted nine goals between them, as the Saints were kept goalless in the second half.

Jack Steele led from the front with 25 disposals, while Rowan Marshall was strong in the ruck, pulling down 24 hit-outs to go along with his 16 disposals.

ST KILDA   2.1  4.6  4.8  4.10 (34)
GEELONG   2.4  7.5  11.7  14.9 (93)

GOALS
St Kilda: Phillips 2, Billings, Battle
Geelong: Hawkins 5, Rohan 4, Menegola 2, Tuohy, Dangerfield, Duncan

BEST
St Kilda: Steele, Marshall, Phillips, Sinclair, Bytel, Long, Paton
Geelong: Menegola, Hawkins, Duncan, Rohan, Dangerfield, Blicavs, O'Connor, Taylor