1. Fyfe bumps, knees and dominates
Head-on-head clashes after initial body contact has been cleared by Match Review Officer Michael Christian, so Brownlow favourite Nat Fyfe should be OK after his bump on Seb Ross in the third term sent the Saint from the field for a few minutes. Except for less blood, the incident was eerily similar to Fyfe’s bump on Gold Coast’s Michael Rischitelli which ruled Fyfe out of the Brownlow race back in 2014. Fyfe was involved in another incident in the second term which ended Jake Carlisle’s night. This time it was an accidental knee in the temple that left the big Saint dazed and confused. For all that, Fyfe was still dominant with 36 possessions (25 contested, the first time anyone has done that two weeks in a row), 13 clearances, a goal and almost the mark of the year. Probably another three votes, although Ed Langdon played one of his very best games for the Dockers.
WATCH: Could this be a concern for Nat Fyfe?
DOCKERS BOUNCE BACK: Full match coverage and stats
2. Inaccuracy blues
Since round two the Saints are now 0-6-1 and have booted 10 goals or more just once. They’d also booted 45.78 in the past six matches before Saturday night. The trend continued with a paltry 1.5 in the first half, with Tim Membrey missing a couple of sodas. But Membrey played his part in a big third-quarter run of 6.2 which looked to have blown the kicking blues away. Alas the curse returned. Membrey’s clanger set shot from 25m straight in front early in the last term was followed by another miss from Jack Steele and then a further set-shot miss from Membrey which gave him 1.5 for the night. The Saints were well on top at that stage and those misses really took the wind out of their sails. At the other end, classy Docker Adam Cerra nailed a set shot against the run of play which kept the Saints at bay.
3. Are the Saints back?
While inaccuracy has been a huge issue at St Kilda this season, it hasn’t been the only one. The Saints haven’t won since round one with a draw against Greater Western Sydney the closest since. When they were 36 points down and had booted 1.5 (11) to half-time, their lowest first-half score since 2002, it was again looking dire. But from 43 points down early in the third term they found something, booting six of the next seven goals to go to the last change just 14 points behind. And but for poor kicking at goal early in the last term they could have grabbed the lead. That second half might just give them a kick along for next Saturday night’s clash with Collingwood at Etihad Stadium. Debutant Ed Phillips was another bright light. He looked lively and, after starting badly with a dodgy kick out of defence, found his feet and had a pretty good first match with 24 disposals.
WATCH: Jade Gresham gets on on the board
4. Lyon’s lot
Despite Freo kicking just 4.9 against the Tigers last weekend, a career-low for coach Ross Lyon, he would have been rapt to get back to footy after another challenging week off-field. His team looked totally unaffected, jumping out to a six-goal lead by half-time with an even contribution across the board. And there was no grief from fans. For all the dramas, Fremantle continue to head in the right direction on the field. Watching Freo’s recent draftees such as Andrew Brayshaw, Bailey Banfield, Adam Cerra, Taylin Duman and Mitch Crowden making giant strides might point the way forward for the Saints.
WATCH:The Dockers are playing as a team
5. Pearce returns
Danyle Pearce’s career has had more false finishes than an NBL play-off game, but he was back in for his second match of the season and was serviceable with 18 disposals and six inside 50s. With injured Bradley Hill facing sanctions after being arrested for breaching a move-on notice near a Scarborough bar, Pearce could find himself getting more than the odd game. Is he cooked? Who knows, he does what he does and hasn’t changed much in the past few years. He’s now played 257 AFL games so knows what to do out there. Veteran defender Michael Johnson was also back and found plenty of the ball.
