Match

St Kilda vs GWS Giants

Commentary / 21 Apr 2018

Pre Game

59:30
Welcome to Etihad Stadium for the St Kilda v GWS Giants Round 5 clash.
59:33
Outs for Saints: D.Roberton, R.Marshall, J.Lonie
59:34
Ins for Saints: T.Membrey, H.Clark, M.Weller
59:36
No changes for Giants.
59:40
Don't forget to enter your tips for this match, you have until the bounce to make your selection.
00:00
Greater Western Sydney has scored a total of 84 points directly from clearances this season (ranked first), and has scored from 16 percent of its kick-ins this season (also ranked first).

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:35
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Rushed)
01:36
St Kilda has retained possession in the midfield from just 27 percent of its kick-in chains this season (ranked last), but was able to generate an inside 50 entry from its first kick-in today in an early sign of better ball movement.
02:16
The opening goal to the Saints came from a chain started in the defensive 50. St Kilda has only scored one goal in total across its past two games from such a chain.
04:00
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Jeremy Cameron)
04:14
Both of the scores to the Giants have come from forward half stoppages. GWS is ranked first at scoring from this source, with an average of 21 points per game.
09:17
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Jeremy Cameron)
09:31
Jeremy Cameron who has taken two early forward 50 marks for the Giants has won 46 percent of his offensive one-on-one contests this season, which is the third-highest percentage of the top-20 players to be involved in such contests.
10:30
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Rushed)
10:53
GWS currently leads the tackle count 11-4. St Kilda was the No.1 ranked team last season for tackles with an average of 6.6 per game more than its opposition. This season the Saints are ranked 15th with an average of six tackles less than its oppositio
13:45
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Jack Billings)
13:59
An early set shot miss from Jack Billings who has recorded a career-low shot at goal accuracy of just 29 percent this season, but is also the No.1 ranked Saint for score involvements in 2018.
17:09
In the last ten minutes, the Giants have won the contested possession count 21-9 with its midfield starting to swarm on the ground ball.
18:30
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Rushed)
18:34
Saints Interchange - Brandon White off due to the blood rule.
19:38
Giants Interchange - Nick Haynes off due to an injury.
19:40
Dylan Shiel currently leads all players for contested possessions (five), disposals (eight) and score involvements (four). Shiel has averaged 20.6 disposals against the Saints, which is his lowest return against any team.
21:12
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Ryan Griffen)
21:30
The last goal to the Giants came courtesy of an assist from Matt de Boer who this season has won a competition-high 15 groundball-gets in the forward 50, and also ranks equal-first in the AFL for forward 50 clearances (six).
24:18
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Blake Acres)
24:33
St Kilda has won the last six clearances (and now leads this count 11-6) with the last clearances providing the score to Blake Acres. The Saints are ranked last in scores from stoppages this season with an average of 15.8 points.
25:51
Saints Interchange - Jack Newnes and is possibly out for the game.
26:43
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Hunter Clark)
28:50
St Kilda has targeted Jade Gresham with four of its inside 50 entries in the opening quarter (more than any other Saint). Gresham has only been targeted eight times in total across the first four games of the season.
29:07
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Callan Ward)
30:56
An even first quarter ends with the Giants holding a three point lead. St Kilda fans would have been encouraged by the strong effort, with the Saints matching the Giants at stoppages and shading them for time in forward half (52 percent).

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
00:08
St Kilda currently lead 3-1 in intercept marks. Greater Western Sydney has taken the second most intercept marks of any team this season, with Nick Haynes and Phil Davis each contributing 12 (ranked equal-sixth in the competition).
01:30
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Jack Billings)
02:43
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Jeremy Cameron)
04:23
Jeremy Cameron has now taken three forward 50 marks for the Giants today and 20 for the season, which is more than any other player in the competition.
05:15
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Jack Billings)
05:25
A couple more behinds early in the second quarter to Jack Billings who has now kicked two goals and eight behinds for the Saints this season, but provided a team-high seven score assists.
06:07
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Ryan Griffen)
07:56
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Paddy McCartin)
08:05
Giants Interchange - Nick Haynes off due to an injury.
08:44
St Kilda lead 6-0 in forward half intercepts this quarter, and has scored 1.2.(8) from these opportunities.
10:10
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Dylan Shiel)
10:46
This quarter the Saints lead 20-13 in contested possessions and 8-4 for inside 50 entries, but both teams have scored one goal.
11:12
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Paddy McCartin)
12:22
St Kilda now has two goals today from defensive 50 chains, and has scored 3.2.(20) in total from defensive half chains, which is more than it scored in either of the previous two weeks from this source.
12:47
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Maverick Weller)
14:02
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Jacob Hopper)
15:08
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Stephen Coniglio)
15:41
Blake Acres leads the Saints for contested possessions (seven) and score involvements (six), while also launching four scores for the Saints today (no other Saint has launched more than one score).
18:21
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Sebastian Ross)
19:29
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Luke Dunstan)
19:41
The excellent set shot at goal from Luke Dunstan was again launched by a Blake Acres intercept. St Kilda has now scored 3.3.(21) from its set shots at goal, while GWS has scored 2.4.(16) from its set shots at goal.
22:48
The Saints have generated the last seven inside 50 entries and now lead 12-4 in forward half intercepts this quarter, with shades of the 2017 version of St Kilda on display.
24:24
The steadying goal from Jeremy Cameron was launched from a defensive 50 chain. GWS has now scored 3.2.(20) from such chains, and averages 17 points from this source.
26:55
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Jake Carlisle)
27:39
In the last ten minutes of the second quarter, the Saints won the inside 50 count 10-1 and time in forward half (79 percent). GWS managed to score a goal from that solitary entry to keep the margin to just five points at half time.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
01:08
St Kilda has now had 14 of the last 15 forward 50 entries in the game with the Giants defence under siege.
02:18
The Saints have won the contested possession count 8-2 to start the third quarter, and generated the first four inside 50 entries, but do not have a score to show for this dominance.
03:29
St Kilda lead 35-13 in forward half tackles and 8-1 in forward 50 tackles with the manic forward half pressure of last season evident again today for the Saints.
04:04
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Lachie Whitfield)
05:53
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Jeremy Cameron)
06:54
GWS has averaged 35 points from 25 forward half intercepts this season. Today the Giants have scored just 0.1.(1) from seven such intercepts.
08:47
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Brett Deledio)
09:01
A classy goal from Brett Deledio gives the lead back to the Giants. Deledio has a team-high nine contested possessions and an equal team-high 17 disposals in another encouraging performance from the prized recruit.
10:48
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Tim Membrey)
12:07
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Toby Greene)
12:26
Another classy goal to the Giants, this time from Toby Greene makes it three goals in a row to GWS. The last two goals for the Giants have come chains started in the defensive midfield, and in the first half they scored 0.5.(5) from these chains.
13:05
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Stephen Coniglio)
13:35
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Dylan Shiel)
14:01
The last goal to the Giants came from a Dylan Shiel intercept on a St Kilda kick-in. St Kilda has retained possession in the midfield from just 27 percent of its kick-in chains this season (ranked last).
15:15
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Jack Steven)
15:46
This quarter the Saints lead 8-1 in forward half intercepts, with the Jack Steven goal coming from this source. St Kilda has scored 3.4.(22) from 23 such intercepts today, and average 23 points this season from these opportunities.
16:33
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Toby Greene)
18:00
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Rushed)
18:42
St Kilda leads the clearances 22-20, but GWS lead the scores from stoppages 2.4.(16) to 0.3.(3). The Saints are ranked last in scores from stoppages this season.
21:10
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Tim Membrey)
21:36
Phil Davis has again been terrific at disrupting the ball movement of the opposition. Davis has game-highs for intercept possessions (nine), and spoils (12). He has also won seven one-on-one contests, while St Kilda has won six.
23:49
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Blake Acres)
24:26
GWS lead 16-3 in spoils gaining possession with its defenders doing well to not only diffuse the ball movement of St Kilda but direct spoils to advantage.
25:18
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Rushed)
26:17
The seven defensive one-on-one contests that Phil Davis has won equals the most that a player has won since these contests have been recorded (2012).
27:00
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Rushed)
29:05
The Saints lead in forward 50 disposals 39-26, but have recorded disposal efficiency of only 44 percent in this area of the ground, compared to the Giants 58 percent.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
00:09
Lachie Whitfield has contributed team-highs of nine score involvements and 476 metres gained for GWS.
01:59
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Jonathon Patton)
02:10
The opening goal of the final quarter to the Giants was sourced from a forward half stoppage. GWS is the No.1 ranked team at scoring from this source, and today leads 14-2 in scores from such stoppages.
03:55
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Jack Billings)
04:00
A clutch snap goal from Jack Billings was again sourced from a forward half intercept. St Kilda now leads 25-12 in such intercepts and 28-8 in scores from this source.
05:37
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Brett Deledio)
08:53
GWS lead 13-4 in hitouts to advantage with Dawson Simpson contributing 12 of these. His primary opponent Tom Hickey has contributed a team-high seven clearances and an equal team-high 11 contested possessions.
09:24
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Stephen Coniglio)
11:11
In the final quarter, the Giants lead the clearances 8-3 and disposals 44-20 with signs that their midfield depth is overwhelming the Saints.
12:02
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Jacob Hopper)
13:20
Stephen Coniglio has again contributed in all phases of the game, with team-highs for disposals (27), contested possessions (12) and tackles (9), while also recording eight score involvements and six clearances.
14:16
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Sam J. Reid)
15:46
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Maverick Weller)
15:55
The goal to Weller came courtesy of an assist from Seb Ross (his third of the day) and was launched from a kick-in. This was the first goal of the season that the Saints have scored from a kick-in.
19:59
St Kilda has recorded kicking efficiency of just 47 percent in the final quarter, with this undoing more territorial control (14-9 inside 50 entries).
21:30
A super goal from Ben Long was again launched by a forward half intercept. St Kilda has a season-high 31 such intercepts and has scored 5.4.(34) from these opportunities. GWS has scored 2.3.(15) from its 18 forward half intercepts.
23:06
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Toby Greene)
25:48
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Paddy McCartin)
26:11
Another forward half intercept launched the goal to Paddy McCartin, who has been targeted with a team-high 13 forward 50 entries today.
27:27
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Jade Gresham)
29:51
GWS has won the clearances 15-5 in the final quarter, and have a forward 50 stoppage in the final minute (from which they are the No.1 ranked team at scoring).
31:42
A much improved showing from the Saints today who dominated the inside 50 count (67-47) and got back to applying strong forward half pressure (47-26 forward half tackles) that lead to a 32-20 advantage in forward half intercepts.