Many had expected St Kilda to advance to the Grand Final. Few considered that the Western Bulldogs could break free of the fresher Saints. For the first half of the match it looked as though the experts might be proven wrong. But, the second half was all St Kilda’s as they played out the match as scripted.
For two hours before the first bounce the rain fell heavily over the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) making the surface wet and slippery to start.
St Kilda was coming off a week’s break after having narrowly defeated the Geelong Cats—the Saints would be fresher than their underdog opponents.
Looming as the most important player for St Kilda, Nick Riewoldt had returned to his damaging best after recovering from a serious hamstring injury early in the season. The captain had been the main difference in their 7-point victory when these two teams met in last years corresponding match. He again dominated the Bulldogs with three goals.
The Bulldogs, having battled injuries to key players and failing form in the last month, were coming off last week’s hard-fought confidence-building win—where they had an excellent second half after falling languishing behind the Sydney Swans by 30 points until minutes before half-time.
While the Western Bulldogs had featured in Preliminary Finals in the previous two years without reaching the Grand Final, St Kilda was striving to appear in its second consecutive Grand Final. Both have only won one premiership each: 1954 and 1966 respectively. The Saints had won the last four occasions they had met (excluding the 2010 pre-season competition final where the Dogs had won comfortably and mounted their case as pre-season premiership favourites).
The stage was set for either a blow-out like the previous night’s First Preliminary Final—where Collingwood charged into the Grand Final—or a close intense contest that these two had dished up in recent history.
Although the Saints were looking ominous, they couldn’t make their early dominance count on the scoreboard—they had five gettable shots at goal but only managed to score three behinds.
In a tense opening, the first half of the game was played in St Kilda’s forward half with just one inside 50-metre entry by the Western Bulldogs, which was ill-directed and easily cleared by the Saints’ defence. It took 16 minutes from the start of the first quarter for the Dogs’ first score—a wayward behind. Seconds later, the resulting kick-in by the Saints was turned over, a quick pass and the ball landed in the hands of Mitch Hahn who kicked truly for the first goal of the match.
The game opened-up as the Bulldogs became more attacking, winning the ball from clearances and getting on top of the Saints in contested situations. The Saints were wasteful as the dogs’ won the quarter: St Kilda 1 goal 5 behinds (11 points) to Western Bulldogs 3.1 (19).
During the second quarter St Kilda’s delivery forward lacked direction. They repeatedly kicked the ball into a position where the Dogs could defend and attack. Their trademark ball possession tempo game-style was ineffective as the Dogs, growing in confidence, continued to take the game on with their run and play-on strategy. However, like the Saints in the first stanza, inaccuracy cost the Dogs. They led at half-time by just 6 points: 3.6 (24) to 4.6 (30).
The third quarter was St Kilda’s. They came out from the long break fired-up and full of run to tear the game apart. With the rain having stopped since just before the opening bounce, the MCG surface had dried-out and the fresher legs of St Kilda players became evident. St Kilda’s tempo game-plan began to work for them against the season-weary Dogs. The Saints opened the quarter by kicking five unanswered goals and led by 31 points at the end of the 3rd quarter: 5.9 (39) to 10.10 (70).
The lead blew-out to 45 points with only 10 minutes left to play. The Saints had kicked 10 goals to 1 since half-time. The Dogs had no realistic chance from that far down. With the sting out of the game, junk goals late flattered the 24-point margin final score-line: 13.10 (88) to 8.16 (64).
For the Western Bulldogs, exit stage left. Their season over and retiring captain Brad Johnson’s 364-game playing career at an end.
For St Kilda the stage shifts to next Saturday afternoon Sept 25 against red-hot favourites Collingwood in the 2010 AFL Grand Final.
For two hours before the first bounce the rain fell heavily over the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) making the surface wet and slippery to start.
St Kilda was coming off a week’s break after having narrowly defeated the Geelong Cats—the Saints would be fresher than their underdog opponents.
Looming as the most important player for St Kilda, Nick Riewoldt had returned to his damaging best after recovering from a serious hamstring injury early in the season. The captain had been the main difference in their 7-point victory when these two teams met in last years corresponding match. He again dominated the Bulldogs with three goals.
The Bulldogs, having battled injuries to key players and failing form in the last month, were coming off last week’s hard-fought confidence-building win—where they had an excellent second half after falling languishing behind the Sydney Swans by 30 points until minutes before half-time.
While the Western Bulldogs had featured in Preliminary Finals in the previous two years without reaching the Grand Final, St Kilda was striving to appear in its second consecutive Grand Final. Both have only won one premiership each: 1954 and 1966 respectively. The Saints had won the last four occasions they had met (excluding the 2010 pre-season competition final where the Dogs had won comfortably and mounted their case as pre-season premiership favourites).
The stage was set for either a blow-out like the previous night’s First Preliminary Final—where Collingwood charged into the Grand Final—or a close intense contest that these two had dished up in recent history.
Although the Saints were looking ominous, they couldn’t make their early dominance count on the scoreboard—they had five gettable shots at goal but only managed to score three behinds.
In a tense opening, the first half of the game was played in St Kilda’s forward half with just one inside 50-metre entry by the Western Bulldogs, which was ill-directed and easily cleared by the Saints’ defence. It took 16 minutes from the start of the first quarter for the Dogs’ first score—a wayward behind. Seconds later, the resulting kick-in by the Saints was turned over, a quick pass and the ball landed in the hands of Mitch Hahn who kicked truly for the first goal of the match.
The game opened-up as the Bulldogs became more attacking, winning the ball from clearances and getting on top of the Saints in contested situations. The Saints were wasteful as the dogs’ won the quarter: St Kilda 1 goal 5 behinds (11 points) to Western Bulldogs 3.1 (19).
During the second quarter St Kilda’s delivery forward lacked direction. They repeatedly kicked the ball into a position where the Dogs could defend and attack. Their trademark ball possession tempo game-style was ineffective as the Dogs, growing in confidence, continued to take the game on with their run and play-on strategy. However, like the Saints in the first stanza, inaccuracy cost the Dogs. They led at half-time by just 6 points: 3.6 (24) to 4.6 (30).
The third quarter was St Kilda’s. They came out from the long break fired-up and full of run to tear the game apart. With the rain having stopped since just before the opening bounce, the MCG surface had dried-out and the fresher legs of St Kilda players became evident. St Kilda’s tempo game-plan began to work for them against the season-weary Dogs. The Saints opened the quarter by kicking five unanswered goals and led by 31 points at the end of the 3rd quarter: 5.9 (39) to 10.10 (70).
The lead blew-out to 45 points with only 10 minutes left to play. The Saints had kicked 10 goals to 1 since half-time. The Dogs had no realistic chance from that far down. With the sting out of the game, junk goals late flattered the 24-point margin final score-line: 13.10 (88) to 8.16 (64).
For the Western Bulldogs, exit stage left. Their season over and retiring captain Brad Johnson’s 364-game playing career at an end.
For St Kilda the stage shifts to next Saturday afternoon Sept 25 against red-hot favourites Collingwood in the 2010 AFL Grand Final.
