THIRD DEGREE STUNS CATS
FOR two-and-a-bit quarters, the Saints clung on while Geelong held them at arm’s length.
But rivals are quickly learning to be wary of St Kilda in the half hour after halftime, which again proved the difference as Brett Ratten’s men claimed the Cats’ scalp by 10 points on Saturday night.
In doing so, the Saints beat Geelong for the first time in six years and provisionally climbed back inside the top four. The reaction from Ratten in the coaches box said everything about what this victory meant to them.
The Saints erased a match-high deficit of 22 points in 10 minutes of scintillating football and then put the foot down to shoot 16 points clear by three-quarter time.
They kicked seven third-quarter goals, including the last six in a row, off the back of contested-ball dominance. The Saints have now won eight of their nine third terms this season.
Jade Gresham won 12 of his 30 disposals and four of his nine clearances in the match-winning quarter, while Brad Crouch, Callum Wilkie and Seb Ross all came to the party.
St Kilda repeatedly ripped the ball out of the centre and tore through the corridor of Marvel Stadium, with the relentless Jack Sinclair another star on the night.
The job was far from done, with the Cats re-engaging at the start of the final term and slashing the difference to three points, thanks to a pair of Tom Hawkins marks and goals.
A poor Daniel McKenzie defensive switch gifted Hawkins the first of them but Paddy Ryder stepped up to spare his teammate’s blushes with two clutch
goals. The loss continues Geelong’s inconsistent campaign in 2022.
CONCERN FOR HIGGINS
TIGER-turned-Saint Jack Higgins has had his share of roadblocks and challenges in his career and life, not least of which were two rounds of brain surgery in 2019.
The forward is playing career-best football at St Kilda, including three bags of at least four goals, but he’s set for another week on the sidelines.
Higgins suffered a second concussion in seven weeks when Geelong defender Jake Kolodjashnij bumped him after dishing a handball.
Kolodjashnij’s initial contact was to Higgins’ arm but he could find himself in strife with match review officer Michael Christian. The same Cat also left Saints captain Jack Steele nursing his right shoulder late in the second quarter from a bruising tackle.
SHINING LIGHT DOWN BACK
GEELONG has been mocked at times for fielding ageing sides, but Chris Scott continues to hand young defender Sam De Koning big roles.
Saturday night’s contest was the 21-year-old’s ninth at AFL level but he’s already a vital part of the Cats.
Up against Max King, De Koning conceded only two goals and won 15 disposals to the Saints star’s nine.