Geelong is sweating on the severity of Tom Stewart’s knee injury after being brought back to earth in an upset seven-point loss to St Kilda.
Stewart was hurt when his right knee jammed into the hard Docklands surface on Saturday night as the Saints held off their fast-finishing opponents to prevail 15.8 (98) to 13.13 (91).
The five-time All-Australian was substituted out before halftime, adding to the Cats’ woes after Bailey Smith (calf) was a late withdrawal.
St Kilda defied their own long injury list to bounce back from a round one thumping by Adelaide, kicking as many as 41 points clear during the third term.
Geelong stormed home with seven of the last nine goals, but were held off by a spirited Saints outfit.
Jack Macrae (35 disposals), Zak Jones (27) and Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (29) were all influential for St Kilda, and Jack Higgins was the best of their goalkickers with four.
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Marcus Windhager blunted Cats star Max Holmes in the first half and finished with 25 disposals and two goals, and Rowan Marshall fought tirelessly in the ruck.
There was some concern for the Saints, who lost Liam Stocker to concussion before halftime.
Geelong, who thrashed Fremantle by 78 points at home in round one, was made to look second-rate in the first half against the Saints.
They lifted late in the contest, with Patrick Dangerfield (18 disposals) and Ollie Dempsey (two goals) providing final-quarter sparks.
But Dangerfield faces scrutiny from the match review officer over a high elbow that clipped Ryan Byrnes as he kicked the ball.
Two Saints players immediately remonstrated with Dangerfield after the third-quarter incident.
In a stunning start to the match, St Kilda piled on six goals to one in the first quarter, and the Cats held their collective breath when Stewart limped off.
The star defender briefly returned with his right knee strapped after quarter-time, but could not continue.
The Saints’ lead ballooned to 40 points when Higgins slotted his third goal, but two late Geelong goals trimmed the margin to 29 by halftime.
St Kilda kicked the first two goals of the second half, including one to debutant Isaac Keeler, but coughed up four of the next five.
Dangerfield was huge in the final term and Geelong kicked 4.4 to 1.2 but ran out of time to complete what would have been a remarkable comeback.
St Kilda will fancy their chances against Richmond at Docklands in round three, while Geelong face a tough test against reigning premiers Brisbane at the Gabba.
Earlier, Port Adelaide responded to a poor round one defeat with a commanding performance against a young Richmond side, with Sam Powell-Pepper putting his hand up for a goal of the year nomination with a stunner from the boundary.
And in the first game of the day Adelaide blew Essendon off the MCG in a comprehensive Crows win.
Re-live all the action from the full day of Saturday footy below.
Key Events
AFL Saturday scoreboard
That’s it from me tonight – what a game
I’ll close up the live element of the blog now and get some more in-depth match reports moving soon.
But wow … what a great game. Footy at its best in that final 15 minutes, and the Saints would be really up and about tonight.
To be a little self indulgent for a moment, anyone who knows me would know I’m a Geelong fan, but I also have a massive soft spot for the Saints because dad was a passionate St Kilda supporter.
We used to go to all those great Cats v Saints games back in the day, and he used to whack me on the leg every time the Saints kicked a goal.
He passed in 2019 and I haven’t been to a Cats and Saints clash as a punter since – but I could feel those whacks on the leg tonight with every St Kilda goal.
How good is footy hey?
I’ll be back tomorrow with Chris De Silva as we cover another big day of action, starting with the Lions and the Eagles at the Gabba.
Have a cracking night everyone.
Key points and stats for the Cats
Some observations from the game for the Cats:
- After an brilliant game against the Dockers, Sam De Koning struggled against the more mature Rowan Marshall. He had moments, but you have to think Geelong is trying to get ruck minutes into him as a long term Mark Blicavs replacement, with Toby Conway the future number one ruck.
- Ted Clohesy was fantastic after he came on as a sub for Tom Stewart. He had 16 touches and kicked two goals and looked calm with the ball when he had it.
- They would be kicking themselves over basic mistakes. Dropped marks, shots at goal that weren’t taken, fumbles. They had the chance to win it but let it slip.
- Patrick Dangerfield might be a little bit nervous about an errant elbow on Ryan Byrnes, but he shouldn’t have too many concerns. They’ll need him too, with Tom Stewart set for a decent whack on the sidelines with a knee injury.
- The kids were pretty good, and it’s easy to forget this is quite a young Geelong team. Jhye Clark, Mitch Knevitt, Shannon Neale, Lawson Humphries and Connor O’Sullivan all had good moments. There was a lot to like.
Key points and stats for the Saints
Some observations from the game for the Saints:
- While all the talk had been about the other Bulldogs recruit, it was Jack Macrae that stole the spotlight at Docklands. He had 35 touches but crucially also had 11 tackles. His work in the middle was immense
- Zak Jones set the tone in the first half. This was a completely different St Kilda team from the one that got flogged by the Crows last week.
- Marcus Windhager was important. He kept Max Holmes out of the game in the first quarter when the Saints kicked away, and had two goals to go with his 25 touches.
- Rowan Marshall was immense. He had 29 touches and dominated the hitouts against Sam De Koning.
- The edge they have over the Cats at Docklands continues. That’s their fourth win in a row over the Cats at their home ground.
FT: St Kilda 15.8 (98) defeat Geelong 13.13 (91)
IT. IS. OVER.
Thank the footy gods for a good game today, because we needed it.
That last quarter was everything that is good about football. Geelong just full of attack, intense and slick as they put the Saints under pressure.
But the Saints, out on their feet and written off before the game, fought for every moment in the last stanza. Totally exhausted, they dived at everything – man, ball, fresh air – all of it.
The desperation was highlighted by the photo above, when it looked like Brad Close had the goal to put Geelong a straight kick away from winning the game. But Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera managed to get the smallest toe onto to deny the goal, and it ultimately saved the game.
That was amazing.
That was footy.
Chris Scott says after the game that the Cats gave themselves the chance to win but just didn’t take their chances.
“[Early on] I just thought they were clean,” he said of the early onslaught.
“It was their ability to work their way out of any sort of pressure.”
He says their were no issues with intensity from the Geelong side of things and puts all the credit on the Saints.
This is incredible footy!
The Cats are attacking and attacking and attacking, and the Saints are defending with everything they have. They’re smothering, they’re tackling, they’re out on the feet, but they’re holding on!
Close kicks a goal! It’s three points the difference!
Wait! No it’s not!
The umpire called goal but a post-call review is made and the replay shows it came off the St Kilda boot!
It’s the right call, and it’s back to 8 points!
Neale kicks a long bomb and we’re on at Docklands!
A free kick to Shannon Neale – that’s definitely there – sees him get a set shot from outside 50 … and he hits it FLUSH!
We’re back to 11 points!
Now Dempsey has another one!
How many times do we see this sort of goal from Ollie Dempsey?
The Rising Star winner battles and grapples with Ryan Byrnes as they run back to goalsquare, and he just gets a toe to it and taps it through the goals.
There’s three straight kicks in it!
Now Clohesy gets one back!
It’s tic tac stuff here which doesn’t bode well for Geelong, but they get the answer through Clohesy who snaps from the pocket.
The Geelong youngsters are standing up here. The momentum is coming via the likes of O’Sullivan, Clohesy and Knevitt.
Higgins has four!
Higgins gets on the end of an Owens handball and he JUST gets the snap away to answer back.
That’s a crucial goal for the Saints and sucks a heap of air out of the Geelong sails.
Cats draw first blood via Dempsey!
It’s back to 21 points after Ollie Dempsey takes a lovely mark at the top of the square.
The lead up play showed the desperation from the Saints though, with a brilliant Jimmy Webster smoother on Brad Close looking like it will kill the play off.
It’s the closest Geelong has been since early in the second term.
3QT: St Kilda 14.6 (90) leads Geelong 9.9 (63)
Jezza has been fishin’ for disposals this game and it highlights how out of whack Geelong has been.
The Cats won the quarter by two points but missed some gilt-edged opportunities to make it a much closer game.
Lawson Humphries slipping over in the middle of the field felt like a 12-point play, Mark O’Connor could have taken a shot for 40m on the run and clear but decided to pass, and Shannon Neale dropped an easy chest mark that would have led to a set shot from 35m with no angle.
Then Ted Clohesy – who has been impressive since coming into the game – missed a shot after the siren.
It feels like Geelong needed those moments. The Saints certainly have petrol in the tank and it will take something special for the Cats to outscore them by five goals this quarter.
Owens converts and that hurts for Geelong
The Cats were on the attack there and young Lawson Humphries was out and free, but he slips over and it causes a turnover.
The Saints manage to get back on the attack, and after a missed set shot from Owens, they get the ball back in quickly to him for take two – and he converts.
Boy, that stings for the Cats.
Stengle snaps one and that’s three in a row!
After Shannon Neale dropped an absolute sitter of a chest mark, the Cats form another attack and it’s an Ollie Dempsey kick over the back that finds Tyson Stengle.
Stengle snaps the goal and we’re back to 22 points!
Keeler is limping badly
Moments after the joy of kicking his first goal in his first game with his first kick, Keeler is now limping badly around the field.
There’s speculation it’s a hamstring, but he manages to limp to the next contest and actually win a free.
It looks like he’ll be OK.
Knevitt has one and there’s a pulse!
Blicavs is the key man in that one out of the ruck, and the play after is a reminder that this is actually a pretty young Cats team.
It ends up with Clohesy, who gets it to Mullin, who finds Knevitt on the run inside 50 and Knevitt converts truly!
Now Clohesy has his first!
Geelong answers back now via Ted Clohesy, and he becomes the third player of the night to score the first goal of his career!
A lovely snap from the sub from about 40m out and it’s back to 35 points.
Windhager answers back!
He’s having a BIG game Marcus Windhager.
He grabs the ball after it ping pongs around and snaps a beauty over his shoulder!
That’s 16 touches and two goals for Windhager.
Jeremy Cameron answers back
Cameron has barely been seen forward tonight, but gets on the end of a long bomb from Shannon Neale after a big clunk.
He wins the free kick for a hold … but gee it’s a tough one on Bradley Hill, both players were holding each other.
