ST KILDA 2.7
MELBOURNE 4.3
GOALS St Kilda: Gehrig 4, Baker 2, Koschitzke 2, X Clarke, Fiora, Goddard, McQualter, Harvey. Melbourne: Neitz 3, Robertson 3, Green, Bruce, White.
BEST — St Kilda: Gehrig, Montagna, Dal Santo, X Clarke, Ball. Melboune: Moloney, Bruce, Jones.
INJURIES— Melbourne: McLean (ankle).
UMPIRES: McBurney, Stevic, Meredith.
CROWD: 49,490 at the MCG.
NOBODY gave them much of a chance, save their former coach, but the new-look St Kilda last night proved the critics wrong with a resounding 31-point win over a hapless Melbourne side.
Like a teenager with a new hair cut, the Saints took a little time to get used to their new do, but once they grew into the style — and with their white away strip, it wasn't hard to imagine they were a certain former grand finalist — they were too hard, too committed and simply too good for the Demons.
Having been headed at the first change by eight points, the Saints came out in the second and were unstoppable, going into the half-time break 10 points ahead, the last 37 in front and then celebrating the final siren as comfortable winners.
And unlike St Kilda of recent years, where wins more often than not were underpinned by one or two standout performances, last night the Saints were notable for their even spread of players who had influence.
If statistics mean anything, the Saints had 14 players registering between 10 and 17 kicks.
Xavier Clarke played possibly the best game of his career and showed the potential many believe has been a long time coming. Aaron Fiora also had a solid game, while Nick Dal Santo, Robert Harvey, Lenny Hayes and Fraser Gehrig also contributed well.
Melbourne started the better of the sides, getting off to a two-goal lead, courtesy of goals to David Neitz and Brad Green and the Saints hitting the post three times in a row. It looked like the Demons had "come to play" but the illusion soon wore off.
In the early stages, St Kilda appeared untidy and tentative, with even hard nut Gehrig seeming to shirk a mid-air contest with the much smaller Brock McLean, whose turnover pass found Jeff White, who in turn hit Green on the lead for a set-shot goal.
Matthew Whelan cleaned up Luke Ball with a tremendous hip and shoulder shepherd which, while supposedly a great feature of AFL football, unfortunately will have three poor outcomes.
The first was Ball spending more than a quarter on the bench dazed and returning with a heavily bandaged head. The second was Whelan spending time off seeing stars as a result of an accidental head clash. The third will be played out with the match review panel, who under this year's ridiculous revised rules will be bound to cite Whelan for the head clash.
But as the Melbourne defensive turnovers mounted, so did the Saints' confidence in the style of play new coach Ross Lyon has brought to the club.
It took them until the 20-minute mark of the first quarter to score their first goal, and despite the lack of scoreboard pressure, they were only eight points adrift.
The Demons were prepared to work hard, but St Kilda was willing to match their endeavour and then run harder and fight more ferociously.
It wasn't until the 11-minute mark of the second quarter that they took the lead with a goal to Andrew McQualter.
From there, they took control, the Demons unable to find a way through the pressure of the man-on-man press the Saints set up not only around the stoppages but right across the ground all night.
At one stage just before half-time, the Saints had flooded all 18 men back into their defensive 50 and when the ball spilt free, charged back forward.
As a result, the Demons overused the ball and could not gain any run or forward momentum. At times, they looked inept.
A freak goal to Russell Robertson, throwing the ball on his boot while lying on his back in the forward pocket before the main break, had the potential to spark the Demons in the second half, but come the third, the Saints came out full of running and posted 4.5 to only two behinds.
As they did at the start of the second quarter, Melbourne goaled in the first minute of the last but when Gehrig kicked a goal, courtesy of a 50-metre penalty at the nine-minute mark, the margin was back out to 36 points and the game all but over. Gehrig was possibly best on the ground, chasing when he wasn't leading, and kicking 4.3 from his 16 kicks and 10 marks.
Melbourne refused to concede as St Kilda slowed, with Cameron Bruce scoring at the 14-minute mark, but the Saints held on for an impressive win, notable in that they did it without Nick Riewoldt, Aaron Hamill and Max Hudghton.
The loss came at an even greater cost to the Demons, with Brock McLean not taking to the field after half time with a suspected broken foot and Whelan having whiplash.
