The Saints’ sheer number of attacking options overwhelmed Richmond in Sunday night’s quarter-final to set up a mouth-watering semi-final clash with Essendon next Saturday night.
Melbourne and Geelong will meet in the other semi-final on Friday night with both games to be played at the Telstra Dome.
But on this display the Saints will fancy their chances of beating any of the three remaining semi-finalists after they ran away from a disappointing Richmond to win 2.15.11 (119) to 1.7.6 (57).
The Saints have long been touted as potentially one of the AFL’s most exciting teams and last year improved from just five wins and a draw in 2002 to 11 wins in 2003.
But if their forward line of Aaron Hamill, Nick Riewoldt, Fraser Gehrig and goalsneak Steven Milne can continue to dominate matches the way they did against Richmond on Sunday night, then it’s a fair bet the Saints will again improve significantly in 2004.
While Riewoldt was goalless, his dominant first quarter got the Saints off to a great start as Gehrig helped himself to three first quarter goals.
And then after Richmond threatened a revival in the second term, it was time for Hamill to put his stamp on the game with two third quarter goals which helped the Saints regain the momentum.
And if one of three key forwards weren’t taking marks then it was the livewire Milne doing the damage at ground level with three goals.
In fact if not for inaccuracy in the third quarter when the Saints kicked three six, with even Hamill spraying a couple of shots and the normally reliable Stephen Powell missing one from 35 metres in front, the Saints would have won by even more.
St Kilda coach Grant Thomas was delighted not only with the efforts of his match-winning forwards but also his team’s under-rated defence in the absence of Hudghton.
“I was really pleased with our defence particularly with the unsettling effect of having Max out,” he said.
“And our forwards got a good return for the amount of times the ball was in there.”
Thomas also cleared Riewoldt of any serious injury after he copped a nasty knock in the second quarter, which did dim his effectiveness after half-time.
“It was just a kick on the shin and we all know how painful they are but it was only for a short-time,” he said.
Richmond, which had looked impressive in beating the Western Bulldogs in the first round, looked devoid of options at both ends of the ground.
Their backline in particular looked inadequate against the Saints powerful attack with both Ray Hall and Luke Weller appearing outclassed, which forced Richmond coach Danny Frawley to bring his star defender Darren Gaspar back into the fray far earlier than expected.
Gaspar, one of the AFL’s best defenders, was expected to only play a half in his comeback game from knee surgery in June last year but found himself on even before quarter-time due to the early dominance of Riewoldt and Gehrig.
And at the other end the Tigers weren’t faring much better with Matthew Richardson, impressive in his first game for the season, and Brad Ottens – who spent the bulk of the game in the ruck, their only targets in attack.
The Tigers also did not help their cause through continual turnovers with even Mark Chaffey, normally one of the best users of the ball in the side, costing his side a goal in the third term through a bad turnover in defence.
The Saints also had other winners in midfielder Nick Dal Santo and veteran defender Aussie Jones and considering the side went into this game without two of their best players in Justin Koschitzke and Max Hudghton then Saints fans certainly have plenty to look forward to in 2004, starting with next Saturday’s clash against the Bombers.
However as for the long-suffering Richmond fans, well on this display and particularly their dismal last quarter fade-out – the Tigers still have their problems and now face a practice match against reigning premiers Brisbane in Brisbane next weekend.
Richmond coach Danny Frawley was bitterly disappointed with his side’s performance, in particular their physical approach to the game.
“The last two times we have played St Kilda they have really put it to us physically,” he said, in reference not only to Sunday’s loss but the their 80 point loss to the Saints in round 19 last year.
“You have only got to be five percent off and the opposition looks tougher and that’s what happened tonight.”
Frawley said his team simply did not compete against the Saints and said even during the second quarter when they matched Grant Thomas’ team, they were let down in other areas.
“Our intensity was good in the second quarter but then our ball use let us down and our inability to find a target was un-AFL like at times.”
The Tigers also lost Ty Zantuck to a shoulder injury but Frawley said the injury was not serious.
ST KILDA: 1.4.1, 1.5.4, 1.8.10, 2.15.11 (119).
RICHMOND: 0.1.3, 0.3.6, 1.5.6, 1.7.6 (57).
NINE POINT GOALS: St Kilda: Guerra, Hamill.
Richmond: Brown
SIX POINT GOALS: St Kilda: Gehrig 4, Milne 3, Hamill 3, Dal Santo, Clarke, Voss, Powell, Goddard.
Richmond: Richardson 3, Ottens 3, Krakouer.
BEST: St Kilda: Dal Santo, Gehrig, Hayes, Hamill, Riewoldt, Jones, Powell.
Richmond:Ottens, Richardson, Fleming, Chaffey.
INJURIES: St Kilda:. Nil.
Richmond: Zantuck (shoulder).
REPORTS: Nil.
CROWD: 18,177 at Telstra Dome.
