Long walk to finals footy
Saints to host Bulldogs at Gabba
ST KILDA has had its first finals victory, with the club strongarming the AFL into scheduling its home elimination final at the Gabba.
Coach Brett Ratten took his players to Sunshine Beach at dawn on Monday as the Saints look to make their first finals appearance in nine years count.
The 5.30am walk from the club’s Noosa hub helped players reset their minds and focus on next Saturday’s elimination final. Players and staff members all linked arms in Friday night’s emotioncharged rendition of their song after securing a place in the top eight with a 52-point win against GWS.
“I spoke to (coaching director) Danny Sexton when we got to the ground and said, ‘When we get this job done let’s get everybody in’,” Ratten said.
“There’s people at our football club that have been here a long time and haven’t been involved in finals.”
The Saints have played six of their past nine matches at the Grand Final venue whereas their opponent, Western Bulldogs, have played there just once this season, a match they lost by 24 points.
Ratten nominated the Gabba as the club’s finals home ground on Friday night, and the Saints earned hosting rights by finishing sixth on the ladder.
But the league tried to switch the elimination final to Adelaide Oval, which is likely to have a crowd capacity of 25,000 (50 per cent capacity) for the finals.
Queensland stadiums are also capped at 50 per cent, although further health protocols bring the Gabba’s maximum crowd down below 20,000.
St Kilda’s past two games at the Gabba have drawn 1528, against GWS on Friday night, and 1925, against West Coast in Round 17.