Cats swarm Saints
SAINTS great Nick Riewoldt last week said not even Wayne Carey would’ve got a kick in St Kilda’s forward line the past two weeks.
Yesterday Saints coach Alan Richardson could’ve partnered Carey with Tony Lockett and Buddy Franklin and still struggled to kick a winning score.
The forward structure was barely visible.
Coaches often talk about connection between parts of the ground. Yesterday the Saints were bits of Lego with mismatching holes.
Pitted against a Geelong team conceding a leagueworst average of 62 inside 50s in the first three weeks, the Saints managed just seven entries in the first quarter.
The scoreboard read 1.4 (10) to the Cats’ 4.3 (27), although four of St Kilda’s five scoring shots were courtesy of umpire whistles.
Cats coach Chris Scott deployed a loose defender, often Tom Stewart, and would have been pleased with the improved defence.
But St Kilda’s scoring woes are the most glaring symptom of its form slump and Richardson’s team are now 1-3 for the fourth time in six years.
After Round 4 the Saints are ranked 18th for attack – a damning statistic given their first three matches were at Etihad Stadium. St Kilda have scored just 19.40 from their past three matches and 17.27 from their past three mega losses at Geelong’s stadium.
The effort was OK yet the ball use was ordinary.
Jack Billings added two behinds and didn’t record an effective kick until the end of the third quarter.
After Billings’ first behind, the Cats kicked long and down the corridor to Brandon Parfitt, who stood by himself.
In a matter of seconds they whisked the ball coast-tocoast to Daniel Menzel, who kicked the first of four consecutive goals for the match.
The Cats’ ball movement was bliss. For all of St Kilda’s grunt, and it won clearances 43-30, there was little polish.
Menzel, the AFL’s most undervalued player, finished with 5.3 to cap the most productive month of his career – 14 goals. The sharpshooter booted the last goal of the first quarter and the first three of the second.