Saints need win-win
ST MARY’S co-coach Glenn Keast says his side is treating today’s clash with Leopold as a mini elimination final, with the result set to determine the Saints’ top-five hopes.
The Saints sit inside the finals places with one round of the home-and-away season to go, but if they lose to the Lions and Bell Park beats wooden spooner North Shore then they will drop from the five.
Keast said St Mary’s was driven by having its finals dreams in its own hands.
“It’s now actually imminent. There’s no next week for us, it’s an elimination final of sorts.
“The reality is if we don’t win then there is no next week. It is what it is for us.
“We knew, to be honest, a few months out that it could get to this so it’s not an unknown or unforeseen circumstance.
“We’ve probably felt like this might have been coming. It’s good to be in a position where it is in our hands.”
It’s been a remarkable comeback for the Saints in 2019, having made a 1-4 start to the season.
A win over South Barwon in Round 6 kickstarted their season, winning nine of their past 11 to rocket up the ladder.
“We knew we could only drop two games (after our start to the season). We obviously got outplayed by Colac in the second half … Bell Park we had one of those days where everything that could go wrong went wrong and they got over the line against us.
“Certainly we think our form is pretty good. We’ve beaten a few of the contenders and we’ve obviously got one of those contenders (Leopold) to get over the line against.”
Keast revealed St Mary’s will be without defender Ryley Hall for today’s clash with Leopold.
“He has got a bit of a calf strain and will miss this week,” Keast said. “We have planned all week that he wouldn’t play, so we feel comfortable that we have things in place to cover that loss. He is a pretty big out, he’s an interleague level fullback.
“We will look to a few guys to cover off. We are going to be a bit undersized, but we are looking to Damian McMahon and Josh Jaska to stand up and play that role for us.
“But we would be hopeful and pretty confident that he would be ready for the following week if we get through.”