Head to head: St Kilda 11 wins, Fremantle 11 wins
Last time: St Kilda 17.9 (111) d Fremantle 4.4 (28), round 4, 2009 at Etihad Stadium
MISSING IN ACTION
St Kilda
Nick Riewoldt (hamstring) - indefinite
Sam Fisher (concussion) - test
Lenny Hayes (broken nose) - test
Luke Miles (leg) - indefinite
Jesse Smith (ankle) - yet to be assessed
Justin Koschitzke (suspended) - one week
Fremantle
Antoni Grover (knee) - 3-4 weeks
Garrick Ibbotson (shoulder) - 5-7 weeks
Tim Ruffles (knee) - 3-4 weeks
Nick Suban (ankle) - 1-2 weeks
Chris Tarrant (ankle) - test
Scott Thornton (groin) - 4-5 weeks
FORM
St Kilda: WWW
Fremantle: WWW
SUMMARY
This game is a surprising match of the round, pitting two of the AFL’s three undefeated sides against one another. What’s more, Fremantle is a genuine chance to take the points.
Mark Harvey’s side has not put a foot wrong this season, and is coming off perhaps the greatest win in the club’s history against Geelong last Sunday. The WA side will be looking to build on that against the undefeated Saints.
St Kilda must prepare for life without the injured Nick Riewoldt, which they seemed to manage well in the second half against Collingwood last week. But now that they have had a week to plan for the loss of their skipper, it will be interesting to see what the Saints have come up with.
Fremantle is firing on all cylinders, and could even have defender Chris Tarrant back from an ankle injury to make life that much more difficult for St Kilda’s depleted forward line.
Fremantle is firing on all cylinders, and could even have defender Chris Tarrant back from an ankle injury to make life that much more difficult for St Kilda’s depleted forward line.
PLAYER TO WATCH
St Kilda small forward Stephen Milne has spent much of the week in the headlines, but from a football perspective, he has a lot of responsibility up forward with Riewoldt injured and Justin Koschitzke still suspended. Milne had a great game against the Magpies, and needs to lift again for the Saints this week.
The Saints are yet to play against a truly dominant forward yet this season, and Matthew Pavlich is in career-best form. The Fremantle skipper was the main difference against Geelong, and Ross Lyon’s staff will be putting a lot of time and effort into planning for him this week.
QUESTION MARKS
Can the Saints cope without Riewoldt?
While Riewoldt is as valuable to St Kilda as any player is to their side, the Saints will be comforted in the knowledge they can win games without him up forward. The Saints will employ a slightly different game plan without their captain as the main target, and will need to adjust quickly.
Is Fremantle the real deal?
Based on what we’ve seen so far, you’d have to say yes. Most have been surprised by Fremantle’s early-season form, but when you look at the facts, it makes sense. They have a dominating forward, the competition’s star ruckman in Aaron Sandilands, and pace all over the ground.
WHO WILL WIN AND WHY?
Fremantle looked the goods at Etihad Stadium against Essendon two weeks ago, but this is its first test on the road against elite opposition. St Kilda has enormous depth in the midfield, and will find alternate avenues to goal in Riewoldt’s absence. This contest will be closer than anyone would have predicted a few weeks ago, but the proven side will take home the points.
PREDICTION
St Kilda by 14 points.
Follow Mark Conway’s's inside view of St Kilda v Fremantle at #aflsaintsfreo
on Twitter.com from 4.40pm Sunday
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
