Match

St Kilda vs North Melbourne

Commentary / 04 May 2024

Pre Game

00:00
86.1% of St Kilda’s kick-ins have been through the corridor – the highest percentage in the league.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
03:54
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Marcus Windhager)
04:38
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Rushed)
05:45
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Darcy Wilson)
06:01
Darcy Wilson kicks the first goal of the match and the sixth of his young career. St Kilda has been able to control the ball early taking 14 marks to one.
06:55
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (George Wardlaw)
10:25
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)
11:09
Colby McKercher has started the match hot with eight disposals. McKercher finished with a season and team-high 32 disposals and 574 metres gained in Round 7.
12:19
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Tom Powell)
12:39
A critical mistake by foot from Jimmy Webster gives North Melbourne its third successive goal. Tom Powell was able to capitalise. Powell attended a season-low 14% of centre bounces last round and had just 10 disposals, 70 metres gained, and two clearances – all season-lows. Today he has started strong back in his usual midfield role.
14:18
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (George Wardlaw)
15:17
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (George Wardlaw)
18:48
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Max King)
19:08
Over the last 10 minutes, 68% of play was in North Melbourne's forward half. However, an off-the-ball free kick gave Max King a shot in front of goal to halt the run of North Melbourne.
25:11
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Jack Hayes)
25:44
Jack Hayes kicks a goal in his first match of 2024 after battling injuries across 2022 and 2023. Hayes burst onto the scene with three goals and 10 marks, including four contested, in his Round 1 debut against Collingwood in 2022.
29:44
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Tim Membrey)
31:44
Tristan Xerri has produced a stellar first term against one of the premier ruckmen in the competition Rowan Marshall. Xerri has three clearances and 13 hitouts, three to advantage, while St Kilda collectively has three hitouts. Xerri has blossomed this season, averaging seven clearances - his previous best season average was 2.9.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
01:20
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Sebastian Ross)
02:02
66.1% of St Kilda’s score has come from intercept possessions – the highest percentage of any side. Today all 32 of St Kilda's points have come from intercepts.
03:01
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Jack Hayes)
04:18
The Saints have early control in this quarter with 81% of play in their forward half. They have three clearances to zero to start the term.
08:15
Jack Sinclair is already up to 303 metres gained early in this second term. Sinclair finished with a team-high 28 disposals, 11 contested possessions, and 666 metres gained last week against the Power.
09:02
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Darcy Wilson)
09:54
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Angus Hastie)
11:56
The Kangaroos have committed 16 turnovers in their defensive half for the match. The Saints have turned the ball over just four times in their defensive half, albeit two in their defensive 50 which were both converted into a score by the Kangaroos.
13:36
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Josh Battle)
16:53
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)
18:20
In the last 10 minutes, St Kilda has a pressure factor of 223 while North Melbourne has a pressure factor of 169. Despite being under heavy pressure, North Melbourne manages to break through a run of six St Kilda goals to have Cam Zurhaar kick his second major for the match.
23:47
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Rushed)
29:00
Colby McKercher and Luke Davies-Uniacke have combined for 26 disposals in this match and zero turnovers.
29:07
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Bradley Hill)
30:15
St Kilda has won the past four matches between these sides by an average margin of 28 points. St Kilda currently leads by 28 points as the half-time siren nears.
32:32
The Saints have scored 13.5 points per game from forward half intercept possessions this season – ranked last. In the first half of this match they have scored 27 points from forward half intercepts.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
02:23
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)
05:13
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Paul Curtis)
05:54
The ferocious play of George Wardlaw was essential in kick-starting North Melbourne's transition upfield to end in a Paul Curtis goal. Wardlaw leads all North Melbourne players with 325 metres gained to go with his nine contested possessions and a goal.
07:03
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Darcy Wilson)
10:14
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Paul Curtis)
15:18
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Mason Wood)
16:10
Mason Wood breaks through for St Kilda's second goal of the quarter. Wood has eight marks for the match, including three intercept marks. He also has a team-high six score involvements.
16:36
Kangaroos Interchange - Tristan Xerri off due to an injury.
17:01
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Jy Simpkin)
17:30
Dougal Howard has set a new career-best with 12 marks. Five of these are intercept marks, his best tally is six in a match.
20:33
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Bradley Hill)
22:53
St Kilda currently leads the mark count 103 to 42. A difference of 61. As it stands this is the second largest difference in a match season. Oddly enough, the largest mark differential in a match this season is when the Western Bulldogs took 74 more marks than St Kilda in Round 6. St Kilda still has an opportunity to surpass this figure with more than a quarter left to play in this match.
24:56
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Jack Sinclair)
27:08
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Cameron Zurhaar)
29:24
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Darcy Wilson)
30:33
Darcy Wilson had a season-high 21 disposals last week against the Power and became the second-youngest player to reach 20 disposals for St Kilda since 2003. Wilson has continued his stellar form over the first three quarters in this match. Amassing 19 disposals, two goals, and seven marks.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
01:13
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Jack Sinclair)
03:12
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Darcy Wilson)
04:36
Harry Sheezel has a career-high 35 pressure acts, leading all players in this match. Marcus Windhager is next best with 23 pressure acts.
05:58
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)
08:37
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Paul Curtis)
09:14
North Melbourne has generated 32 points from its defensive half, keeping in touch with St Kilda's 34 points from the defensive half. The gap for North Melbourne is in the forward half where it has generated just 14 points, while St Kilda has created 40 points from its forward half.
10:47
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Tim Membrey)
12:36
SCORE GOAL - Kangaroos (Nick Larkey)
13:15
The Kangaroos have taken nine marks inside 50 for the match. Three in this quarter and two of them have been converted into goals. The Kangaroos have kicked the last three goals of this match.
14:50
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Mitch Owens)
16:51
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Rushed)
19:33
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Rushed)
23:45
SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Jack Sinclair)
23:58
Tristan Xerri has set a new career-high for winning the first possession at a stoppage in this match. He has 14 first possessions, the next best in this match is Jack Sinclair with eight.
25:29
SCORE GOAL - Saints (Rowan Marshall)
26:10
Mitch Owens has had 14 score assists this season – ranked No.1 at the club and equal-sixth in the league. Interestingly, he has not had a score assist in this match and has registered just one shot at goal despite St Kilda scoring over 100 points. North Melbourne has conceded a score of 100 in every match this season.
30:49
SCORE BEHIND - Kangaroos (Zane Duursma)
30:53
St Kilda showed its ability to control the football in this match taking 59 more marks than North Melbourne. This played a large part in why 63% of play across the match was in St Kilda's forward half.