St Kilda has defeated Essendon by 10 points at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night, 12.10 (82) to 9.17 (71), but it’s come at a cost.
Jack Billings (hamstring) and Hunter Clark (shoulder) were both struck down with injury in a hammer blow ahead of Round 1.
St Kilda led for most of the contest and looked more slick than the Bombers outside of a late charge from Ben Rutten’s men in a matchup between two clubs with finals aspirations in 2022, if not more.
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St Kilda responded after a seven-point loss to Carlton at Ikon Park last week, in which Brett Ratten’s side displayed an inconsistency it was plagued by during 2021.
Essendon were without star Jake Stringer as he aims to return from a groin injury in Round 1 against Geelong.
The match got underway at 7:10pm AEDT from Marvel Stadium.
Both clubs held a minute’s silence before the game to tribute Shane Warne after his tragic death on Saturday morning in a touching show of respect for the Australian sporting legend and massive Saints supporter.
It was a hot start to the game, with St Kilda’s Dan Butler kicking the first two goals to get his team off to the perfect start.
Mason Redman got Essendon on the board with a long-bomb from 50m out.
From then on, however, it was all the Saints, as Brad Hill thrived and the side’s end-to-end play was on full display.
Max King looked imposing early, taking five marks and booting a goal in the first term.
It took a towering contested mark from Peter Wright to get the Bombers a goal in return.
It was a much scrapper second quarter, with just one goal kicked in the first 10 minutes as neither side was able to gain the upper hand.
Breaking Essendon’s three-goal run, Mason Wood booted a highlight snap major late in the second quarter, then followed it up with another a minute later to extend St Kilda’s lead out to 18 points.
Wright continued his brilliant first half with a long-range bomb from outside 50, his third for the contest.
It emerged at the start of the third quarter that star Essendon midfielder Zach Merrett (18 disposals in the first half) would be rested for the second half as the club prioritises keeping him fresh for Round 1, while skipper Dyson Heppell sat out the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, St Kilda was hit with more serious injury concerns to Jack Billings.
“Fears that Jack Billings has sustained a hamstring injury, he’s gone down to the rooms,” Fox Footy commentator Sarah Jones said.
Billings was later seen icing his hamstring on the bench, with Saints great Leigh Montagna noting on Fox Footy he looked ‘dejected’.
Tim Membrey came to life in the third quarter, booting two goals to bring up an equal game-high three for the match and continue the Saints’ run.
The injuries kept coming for St Kilda in the fourth quarter following a big collision between Hunter Clark and Darcy Parish where the former came off second best.
Clark was helped off the field by a trainer clutching at his shoulder as he immediately went down to the rooms.
It come as Essendon went on a surge late including back-to-back goals to Archie Perkins. But it wasn’t enough in the end, with King putting through a goal late to seal the win for St Kilda.
THE 3-2-1 (What we learned)
3. BRUSIED SAINTS SUFFER ‘FAMILIAR TALE’
St Kilda’s 2021 season was largely cruelled by injury. And a similar unfortunate narrative is again unravelling for the club.
Jack Billings (hamstring) and Hunter Clark (shoulder) were both struck down with setbacks on Saturday night, the latter’s appearing more serious following a brutal collision with Darcy Parish.
It’s now looming that St Kilda will be without several key players for its Round 1 clash against Collingwood on March 18.
“Of course they’re already going to miss Zak Jones for the first part of the season. Dan Hannebery won’t be seen for a little while, Nick Coffield is out for the year, Jarryn Geary’s still not right and Paddy Ryder as well. You add a couple more to that list before the season even starts, it’s starting to be an all too familiar tale for St Kilda,” Montagna said.
Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley also highlighted how the injuries would’ve soured the win for the Saints.
“If you’re sitting in Brett Ratten’s shoes you’re a little bit disappointed,” Buckley said on Fox Footy post-match. “You get the win but you want Billings and Clark in the early stages of the season.”
2. KING ‘READY TO TAKE NEXT STEP’ AS SAINTS FORWARDS LOOK OMINOUS
St Kilda’s forward line is in good hands this season.
Max King was dominant in the first quarter, taking five marks including three contested as he flew high in the air.
Essendon defenders were forced to man King more tightly from that stage, keeping him honest for the rest of the contest.
Alas, Buckley noted that King, who booted 38 goals last season, “is ready to take the next step” in 2022.
But it was his fellow forward Tim Membrey that stole the show, booting three goals including two in the second quarter to break the game open.
“Geez, he’s become an elite player, I think he’s underrated still,” Buckley said of Membrey on Fox Footy.
“He gets up and back, he’s dangerous in the air.”
Meanwhile, Dan Butler started hot with two goals in the first term, while Mason Wood chipped in two of his own as the Saints looked good forward of centre all night.
Brett Ratten would’ve loved what he saw in attack from his side.
1. HAVE DONS FOUND TWIN TOWER PAIRING?
Although it wasn’t the best night for Essendon, it may have found its forward pairing for 2022.
Peter Wright was firing with three goals and showed he’s capable of spearheading the attack, while Kaine Baldwin also impressed in his first AFL hitout.
Of course, the Bombers need their next wave to step up after the retirement of Cale Hooker, who led the club’s goalkicking for a portion of last season and finished third in the end with 33 majors.
Wright was clunking huge marks against St Kilda, and perhaps most importantly, converting his shots, much to the delight of Fox Footy’s pundits.
“No doubt has developed confidence from last year,” triple-premiership winning Lion Jonathan Brown said.
“He’s starting to find his place within the team, he’s a big man, you want him jumping at the contest. He’s got a very good endurance base, you want him going to work, not just propped at the top of the goal square.”
Buckley also noted how Wright looked comfortable at the top level.
“He’s been in the caper for a while now. Obviously coming from Gold Coast and cutting his teeth there. Needing him to come down, make a new start and try and impact,” he said.
“It probably shows the importance of finishing your work too – three-goals straight. Very different from 1.2 or 0.3 and that’s the responsibility to finish when you get your chances.”
Meanwhile, Baldwin, a South Australian who was expected to get drafted higher as a junior before suffering several injury setbacks, only finished with one goal but contributed in other areas.
“Ben Rutten was keen to see this fella play and you can see why,” Buckley said.
“He’s done two or three really sharp things, he’s been able to finish his work, his contest has been huge. And he’s a team man, he’s been playing and creating space for his fellow forwards as well.”
TEAM LINE-UPS
ESSENDON
B: Jayden Laverde, James Stewart, Tom Cutler
HB:Nick Hind, Jordan Ridley, Zach Merrett
C: Nik Cox, Andrew McGrath, Dyson Heppell (C)
HF:Will Snelling, Harrison Jones, Kaine Baldwin
F:Matt Guelfi, Peter Wright, Devon Smith
FOLL:Sam Draper, Darcy Parish, Jye Caldwell
I/C: Archie Perkins, Mason Redman, Kyle Langford, Brayden Ham, Nic Martin, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher, Nick Bryan, Ben Hobbs
EMG: Alec Waterman, Sam Durham, Dylan Shiel, Tex Wanganeen
ST KILDA
B: C.Wilkie, J.Battle, B.Paton
HB: D.McKenzie, D.Howard, J.Sinclair
C: H.Clark, J.Gresham, B.Hill
HF: D.Butler, T.Membrey, J.Higgins
F: M.King, J.Billings, J.Hayes
FOLL: R.Marshall, J.Steele, S.Ross
I/C: J.Webster, R.Byrnes, M.Wood, B.Crouch, M.Windhager, N.Wanganeen-Milera, M.Owens, C.Sharman
EMG: D.Joyce, B.Long, T.Campbell, D.Kent
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