THEY came out with their "Free Bakes" signs at the Docklands last night, a handful of St Kilda supporters venting their spleen in the outer over the incrimination of little Steven Baker. The tough kid from Colac had become the latest cause celebre.
But really, this was about much more than Baker and the league's judiciary system for the Saints. St Kilda had its spot in the finals to think of, and after another week of distractions, controversies and shadows, it was back to the footy. Round 21 had thrown up a cluster of matches that would decide the fate of teams jostling for position in the finals, and for St Kilda, the importance showed.
The Saints had their cause and they were led by Nick Riewoldt, who tossed the coin as captain for the night and took his position most seriously. Manned by the uncompromising Adam Hunter, Riewoldt gave a clinic in the first quarter when St Kilda set the tone, leading up the ground then u-turning and coming again if he did not win the ball at first attempt.
Hunter simply could not go with him and the results were plain. Riewoldt kicked one goal and had a direct hand in three others in a magnificent first quarter. West Coast coughed up the ball under relentless pressure from St Kilda, and the absence of Daniel Kerr appeared to grow in significance. Moreover Chris Judd was stationed at half-forward in deference to his chronic groin injury rather than in his customary on-ball position.
St Kilda dominated the first half other than for a brief burst by West Coast in the second quarter, when Dean Cox's peerless ruckwork had an influence. The Saints led by 28 points at quarter-time and 22 at the long break, and while Judd was not disgraced up forward, there was an instructive moment when his opponent, Sam Gilbert, ran him down in a tackle at centre half-forward late in the second for a holding-the-ball adjudication.
But West Coast is nothing if not feisty. Saddled by injury problems, the Eagles showed why they are the defending champions. Cox began to find his smaller teammates with deft palms at the centre bounces and boundary throw-ins, Ben Cousins launched some of those trademark runs, and Matthew Priddis, previously beaten by Lenny Hayes in the middle, put his nose over the football and farmed it out to runners outside him.
West Coast kicked five goals to one in the third quarter and took the lead. St Kilda was profligate. Aaron Fiora's turnover gave Priddis a goal, then Raphael Clarke sold teammate Matthew Ferguson into trouble deep in defence, Ferguson was caught and West Coast secured an easy goal.
St Kilda has had trouble running out games, and it is hard to escape the conclusion that this comes back to its injury-management and conditioning. Once again, the Saints would flag when it counted most. Matthew Maguire, who had a forgettable night, could not handle Quentin Lynch (five goals) at one end, and at the other, Fraser Gehrig could not get on top of the indefatigable Darren Glass, who was magnificent.
Most of all, West Coast always looked in control of the football when Cox was in the ruck and patrolling around the ground. St Kilda came back to within a kick when Justin Koschitzke marked and goalled with 21 seconds remaining. But at the critical centre bounce, Priddis extracted the ball for the umpteenth time and Mark Le Cras ran in to goal to seal it.
The Eagles ended with Judd sitting out the last quarter on the bench, but they will make the top four now and cannot yet be discounted. St Kilda has not missed the finals since 2003 but will be overtaken in eighth spot by the end of this weekend's round and must beat Richmond next weekend to have a chance of reclaiming that position. For the chasing pack of Brisbane Lions, Adelaide and Essendon, this was a sweet result, for their chances have soared.
