1. Leaping Liam's acrobatic attempt
Dogs veteran Liam Picken isn't as noted for his high marking as his father Billy was with Collingwood, but the 29-year-old almost took what would have most likely been the mark of the year. Midway through the second quarter, Picken launched himself and received a huge lift, only to spill the chest mark, thus robbing the sporting world of a highlight that would surely have gone viral (actually, it still might). It had been a big five minutes for Picken, who had earlier run onto a handball from Tom Liberatore and snapped a smart goal. Not finished there, before half-time he again jumped high into a pack, this time on the wing, and again couldn't hold onto it. Picken added a second goal in the last quarter. 

Full match coverage and stats

2. Riewoldt's triple century
A week after becoming just the fifth captain to lead in 200 games, Nick Riewoldt became just the fifth Saint to play 300 games – and the champion, at 33, continued to be a consistent presence, with each of his possessions accompanied by a chant of "Roooo!". Against the tide, Riewoldt helped set up the Saints' first goal with two precise passes after following play from half-back. To the sighs of the Saints faithful, the champ missed two shots in the second term, including a poster from close range, and committed and uncharacteristic clanger in the back 50, before eliciting roars with a contested mark and goal in the third term, and another major in dying moments. 

3. Dogs slow to snarl
The Bulldogs blew away Fremantle in the first quarter last week and they could easily have dished out the same treatment early to the Saints, but initially couldn't recapture their round-one efficiency. The Dogs had the first six scoring shots and at one stage dominated the inside 50s 12-5 but led by just five points (1.5 to 1.0). The top-four hopefuls continued to be wasteful but eventually prospered on the wealth of opportunities provided by Marcus Bontempelli, Tom Liberatore, Lachie Hunter, Jason Johannisen and Jackson Macrae. 

4. Stringer's ungodly task
After bagging five goals in a brilliant performance against Freo, Bulldogs star Jake Stringer was compared to Geelong legend Gary Ablett senior for his explosiveness, body shape and matchwinning abilities. It was always going to be tough to produce an adequate encore, and 'The Package' mirrored his team in that he started slowly and never reached any great heights. Saints veteran Sean Dempster proved a terrific match-up, restricting the 21-year-old to just two goals, the first of which brought up 100 career goals. Now for another 900-odd to catch Ablett. 

5. The understudy returns
It was fitting the night Riewoldt reached his milestone, the youngster being groomed to take his place showed promise in his first game of the season. Paddy McCartin, the No.1 draft pick of 2014 who had suffered a hamstring strain during the NAB Challenge, excited at times with his aggression in the air and workrate on the lead. The latter was best exemplified by a, dare we say it, Riewoldt-like, 80-metre lead from one flank to the other to get on the end of a pass. Unfortunately, McCartin's set shot from 45 metres sailed out on the full. He was also unlucky not to slot an easy goal in the final term.