1. Eleventh hour fitness tests, late changes, new structures
The whiteboards in the rooms would have copped a workout before the game with both teams forced into late changes. West Coast forward Josh Kennedy was a hot tip to be a late withdrawal after appearing sore in a light run at Melbourne's Wesley College on Saturday, and suspicions were confirmed when the team sheets were lodged 90 minutes before the game. Kennedy failed a fitness test on Sunday morning, which was the same for St Kilda youngster Nathan Wright, who tried valiantly to recover from the heavy knock he copped to his back last week less than an hour before the teams were finalised, while Tom Hickey didn't come up from foot soreness. The changes threw things in the air for both coaches, with Andrew Embley catapulted from an expected role as the substitute to starting the game on the bench before going forward. For the Saints, Kennedy's withdrawal allowed Rhys Stanley to play forward – a move that provided instant results when he was involved in the first four scoring attempts -- and support Ben McEvoy in the ruck.
2. Worth the wait
Injuries have kept West Coast defender Blayne Wilson from making his AFL debut since he was taken at the end of 2010 in the NAB AFL Pre-season Draft. On Sunday, he used his first senior opportunity to make an encouraging statement in the absence of Darren Glass. The 21-year-old had 21 disposals and was impressively accurate by foot, with the exception of a minor brain fade in the second quarter. The backman was kicking out and neatly delivered the ball to Stephen Milne, who had just had a momentary mare of his own when he marked at point-blank range, played on, and kicked a point. Milne didn't miss twice, leaving Wilson to look for a hole to crawl into. Still, the positive points from his game outweighed the negative and West Coast fans should be pleased with what their young defender can bring to the table.
3. Saints win the battle but lose the war
It was a game played between two sides that aren't in the top eight and the amount of errors and turnovers that eventuated were indicative of that fact, despite the exciting final term where the score leveled out three times. While neither team had their skills running at an all-time high, one thing St Kilda coach Scott Watters will be pleased with was the fight of his players. Going into the game, the Saints were ranked 17th in the competition above only Richmond in tackles, while the Eagles were positioned in second place below the Sydney Swans. On Sunday, the Saints racked up 70 tackles to 39, with David Armitage laying a handy 12 on his own.
4. Magic Milne
It was Armitage doing the tough things and breaking the lines, and it might have been Nick Riewoldt's 150th milestone as St Kilda captain, but the final quarter capped off Milne's highlights reel for the day. The small forward, after his second quarter reversal of fortunes, ended with five goals; two of which were scored in the thrilling fourth term. At one point, he copped a heavy knock and was coming off with a cork when the ball came to him. He suddenly felt no discomfort and managed to kick a goal, showing that the most effective method of pain relief is quite possibly kicking a major in a tight game.
5. Hayes' hopes
A niggling calf injury has kept veteran Saint Lenny Hayes to one game since round five, with the midfielder aggravating the complaint in his comeback game in round nine against the Western Bulldogs. Before Sunday's game, Hayes reflected on whether playing against the Dogs after three weeks out was a hasty decision. "Ideally, maybe [I should have taken] that extra week but I did everything I could and the fitness staff thought I was ready to go," Hayes said. "In hindsight, it's a wonderful thing and looking back, it would have been nice [to have more time], but the way I trained for the previous two weeks, I had pretty much done everything. It was just the slightest little bleed on the original injury but that was enough to just hamper you for a little bit and make you miss another couple of weeks." In a pre-game interview with SEN, Hayes also said he hadn't made a decision on 2014 but predicted a return to the field after the Saints' bye with a potential stint in the VFL first.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs.
