Someone had to step up for the Saints when their midfield leader Lenny Hayes was a late withdrawal from Friday night's game with calf tightness. Emerging midfielder Jack Steven did his best to cover the loss of Hayes' inside ball-winning. In the first half, Steven won five clearances, four of them at centre bounces, and was particularly impressive in the second term, setting up a Nick Riewoldt goal with a searing pass inside 50 at the six-minute mark. He did not let up in the second half either, finishing with a game-high 10 clearances, including nine from the centre square – seven more than any other Saint.
2. Magpies sharing the load in defence
With Alan Toovey going down with a season-ending knee injury in the Magpies' Anzac Day loss to Essendon, midfielder Dale Thomas was sent to half-back on Friday night to help cover his loss. Thomas rose to the unfamiliar challenge, playing his best game for 2013 after an injury-interrupted pre-season. He had a game-high 34 possessions against the Saints and, pleasingly for Pies coach Nathan Buckley, mixed steely defence with his trademark attack. In even more encouraging news for Magpie fans, Buckley said after Friday night's win that Thomas would only get better once he returned to full fitness.
3. The tagger is not dead
It was a good night for the tagger or run-with players, as they're more popularly known. St Kilda sent Jarryn Geary to goal-kicking Magpie midfielder Steele Sidebottom, and Saints coach Scott Watters could scarcely have asked for a more effective shut-down job. Geary kept Sidebottom to just 10 possessions and as ineffective he's been for some time. Collingwood gave Brent Macaffer the job on Saints playmaker Nick Dal Santo, and the Pie best known previously for his smarts as a small forward barely left the Saint's side for the entire game. Macaffer did his blanketing job so well, Dal Santo had just nine possessions in the first three quarters and 16 for the game at 44 per cent disposal efficiency.
4. Milne's been here before
Saint goalsneak Stephen Milne knows a thing or two about bad bounces around goal against Collingwood. In the 2010 Grand Final draw, he was in the goalsquare by himself waiting to pounce on a seemingly certain goal that would have clinched the Saints' second premiership when a long kick in took an unexpected sideways bounce and went through for a behind. At the 21-minute mark of the second quarter on Friday night, Milne got a similarly bad bounce that resulted in a behind, albeit in different circumstances. This time, he was on the run and kicking for goal. His shot looked good too, but took a bounce to the right of the goalpost. Again, Milne could consider himself unlucky.
5. Stanley's big job
Travis Cloke loomed as a one of the Saints' biggest concerns before Friday night's game given their lack of key defenders. Rhys Stanley, who had played predominantly as a forward before this season, was given the big job ahead of experienced but undersized teammates Sam Fisher and Sam Gilbert. Stanley made a reasonable fist of one of football's biggest jobs too. Despite struggling to keep up with Cloke on the lead in the first half, Stanley forced him up the ground effectively at times and held him to a wasteful 1.4 up to three-quarter time. However, Cloke, who appeared to injure his left hand in a marking contest in the first quarter, got clearly on top in the final quarter, kicking three crucial goals.
