Saints push red-hot Cats all the way
HISTORY will show the hot favourite Geelong a 13.7 (85) to 11.5 (71) winner over a St Kilda team effectively eliminated from finals contention by a loss at GMHBA Stadium.
What it won’t show is that the Cats had been 31 points down late in the first term and staring down the barrel of back-to-back home losses for the first time in 15 years.
The Saints had Max King looking like John Coleman up forward, a rampant combination of Jack Steele and Luke Dunstan in the middle and were rebounding as if their half-backline was a tightly sprung trampoline.
The resurrection wasn’t instant, but as soon as the Cats midfielders tightened up and King’s supply was cut off, the tide turned slowly but almost inevitably.
Admittedly the match remained in the balance until deep in the final term, but that seemed more a product of nerves than a reflection of possession as the Cats overcame a couple of key outs to momentarily, at least, return to the top of the table.
Meanwhile, Carlton plumbed to a 21.14 (140) to 5.15 (45) capitulation to Port Adelaide, officially ending their season and potentially David
Teague’s tenure as coach as well. The Blues actually led by as much as 23 points in the early stages but conceded a woeful 19 consecutive goals. Port’s biggest lead was 96 points. Since 2001, the only larger runs were the Bulldogs’ 21 consecutive goals against Essendon in 2019 and Geelong’s 23 consecutive against Fremantle in 2018.
Making matters worse, it was Marc Murphy’s 300th and final match, with the 95-point smashing the worst loss for a 300-gamer in VFL-AFL history.
Murphy will retire with 182 losses, the second-most among active players.