Just got my [AFL-Review] newsletter. The author is a tiger's man. He doesn't seem too happy.
At the MCG:
St. Kilda 5.5 14.6 23.6 27.12.174
Richmond 2.2 6.7 8.9 10.11.71
And the stinkers kept on comin’. The Tiges have been Sinkilda’s ‘biatches’ for several years now. The Stain’s poor recent form and a feeling Richmun were about to rebound from a couple of bad performances proved very misleading as the Saints thumped the Tiggers from pillar to post. Fraser ‘Bourbon Train’ Gehrig booted 10 goals to cap a dominant performance, which delivered a healthy chunk of percentage too. The Tiges, weakened by injury, lacked confidence, intensity and decent disposal skills. Pat Bowden and Greg Tivendale may as well have worn Sinkilda guernseys. Sinkilda made one tactical change in selection, ruckman Michael Rix dropped for midfielder Andrew Thompson. The Tiges’ cause wasn’t helped by a host of late withdrawals, key defenders Darren Gaspar (knee), Andrew Kellaway (injured hamstring while surfing - jeez) and forward Andrew Krakouer (er, finger) joined Kel Moore (groin strain) on the sidelines. Joel Bowden returned from suspension, Mark Chaffey was called up for his first game of the season along with Greg Stafford and Ray Hall.
The ball spent the opening 5 minutes in the Stains’ attacking half. Running half-back Jason Gram enjoyed the first term (and the rest of the game too), he booted the opening goal by starting and completing a move involving Rob Harvey and Nick Riewoldt. The Tiges’ belated first thrust saw Tivendale run a long way without a bounce before his shot hit the post. Tiger Mark Chaffey was busy early, his smart kick found Jay Schulz alone for the Tiges’ first goal. Despite dominating possession the Saints struggled to kick goals for a while, Gram was their most effective attacker. In sequence Gram missed a shot, blasted a 50m goal following a slow build-up, then sliced another running shot on-the-full. Riewoldt missed awfully after marking right in front. The Tiges clung on until Shane Tuck’s good kick found Schulz again, he booted his and the Toigs’ second goal and they trailed by 3 points. The Saints won the ball away from the restart and Gram booted his third, long goal. Tige Richard Tambling came on to tag Gram. The Stainers got a move-on now, Andrew Thompson floated a kick for Gehrig to run onto, mark and boot his first. Soon G-Train had his second, a free-kick against grappling opponent Hall. Stafford missed woefully for the Tiges late in the stanza and the Saints went to the first break 21 points ahead. Goals rained through in the second term. The Tiges scored one straight from the opening bounce, Nathan Brown passing for leading Matty Richardson to mark and kick his first major for a few weeks. Only 15 points ahead, the Saints. They cleared the next centre-bounce and Riewoldt snapped a goal, then Brendon Goddard kicked a very easy one under no pressure. Harvey and Riewoldt combined to create a comfortable goal-square mark for Gehrig, he converted and the Saints jumped 33 points ahead. Tivendale broke the run with a goal following some very good roving, but the Saints were doing it in third gear. A sharp Stinkilda move from a kick-in saw Sam Fisher run afield under no pressure and pass to Riewoldt, on to leading Gehrig for his fourth goal. The Tiges suffered a further blow as Brown damaged a hamstring, his day ended. Tigger Tambling booted a goal after marking Richo’s wobbly punt, the Tiges were still clinging on 25 points behind. Gehrig added two goals to the tally in rapid succession, one an off-ball free-kick against battling Ray Hall, the other a mark of Gram’s pass. Tiger Richo benefited from the umps’ vigilance in punishing off-ball holding, Saints 30 points ahead. Saint man Goddard was flattened by Stafford with a decent shirt-front, the game was held up for a while as Goddard was stretchered off. But he wasn’t hurt badly and returned later. The Saints bagged three late goals, a pair of mysterious 50m penalties allowed Brett Voss to kick the first. Busy Leigh Montagna cleared the restart and Gehrig out-marked Joel Bowden to boot another, a poor turnover by Tigger David Rodan led Montagna to punt a major of his own. After Richo missed a late shot the Saints led by 47 points at half-time, G-Train with 7 goals already.
Sinkilda ruckman Cain Ackland kicked a goal straight from the opening bounce of the third term, a soft free-kick and 50m penalty the causes. Richmun ruckman Troy Simmonds won just about every hit-out on the day but the Saints took the ball away almost every time. As Ackland and his sidekick Jason Blake are largely useless as tap-ruckmen, the Saints bank on that happening. Nick Dal Santo free-kicked a goal after being ploughed into the ground by Patrick Bowden and the Saints were 59 points ahead. Richardson’s third goal, a good lead to Brett Deledio’s pass, affected a dead cat bounce before the margin expanded rapidly. Great length-of-the-ground running by Stephen Milne set up Gehrig’s eighth goal, Gram roosted another long sausage and soon Riewoldt’s pass set up Gehrig’s ninth. Goddard returned to cheers from Stainer fans, prior to Milne taking a good mark in traffic and playing-on to snap it through. Pat Bowden’s appalling turnover allowed Montagna to kick a goal and a second later Montagna had another, snapping truly from a throw-in. The Stainers 87 points ahead before Tige skipper Kane Johnson marked and converted. Once again Johnson had been good, winning his battle with Dal Santo. The Saints had won everywhere else, though. Ex-Tiger Aaron Fiora restored the 87-point lead before the final change. Mercifully, the Saints missed a few shots in the last korter. The Saint players must’ve wagered on Gehrig winning the Coleman medal as they looked for him at every opportunity, but G-Train ignored the plan by passing off for Harvey to kick the first goal of the ultimate Mario. But a minute later Gehrig marked Milne’s lobbed kick and booted no. 10, they led by 99 points. Gehrig’s first miss of the day brought up the triple-digit margin. Majors alternated to the end, Richardson and Tivendale goaled for the Toigs, Goddard and Riewoldt majored for the Stains. Frustrated Tige ruckman Simmonds biffed Riewoldt, which might cost him a game or two.
Plenty of good players for the Stains, headed by Fraser Gehrig with 10.1 from 12 marks and 15 kicks (2 handballs). Jason Gram (29 disposals, 4 goals) helped build the early momentum and Leigh Montagna (34 touches, 3 goals) cashed in after half-time. Nick Riewoldt (11 marks, 14 kicks, 2 goals) was happy to play the traditional CHF and set up others to kick goals - G-Train particularly - while Luke Ball (28 possies, 10 tackles), Stephen Powell (24 disposals), Robert Harvey (23 handlings, a goal) and Brendon Goddard (22 touches, 2 goals) all saw plenty of it. Sam Fisher (25 touches, 8 marks) ran downfield to get a kick. Brett Voss was alright too. Only two Tigers really worth mentioning, Kane Johnson (15 disposals, a goal) did his job again on Dal Santo and Andrew Raines (22 disposals) played well. Matty Richardson (9 marks, 13 touches, 4 goals) did alright when the Tiges could get the ball to him. Brett Deledio (24 possies) was best of a beaten midfield. Jay Schulz and Greg Tivendale kicked 2 goals each. Plough sighed though the press conference. "I could tell after about five minutes the game was heading that way . . . It was disappointing to lose Gaspar and Kellaway late in the week but they (the rest of the team) should still be going in with the right attitude and the right psychological approach. It's in those circumstances that mental strength arises and they have just got to handle those situations better." Grant Thomas said "I think the consistency of the four-quarter effort where we continued to attack and probably the most pleasing thing from a coaching perspective, we all agreed, was the fact that we stuck to our plans and worked together as a team. We stuck to our structures and we didn't collapse those sorts of things when the game was no longer in the balance which I think we've been guilty of in the past. You get a bit greedy and a bit selfish which teams can do, but we were really pleased with our selflessness and our team effort."
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