Media articles and stats - Saints game

[one-eyed]

Gehrig kicks bagful
as Saints run riot
29 July 2006   Herald-Sun
AAP

  A 10-GOAL haul to Fraser Gehrig helped lift St Kilda into the AFL top four as it thumped Richmond by 103 points at the MCG today.

The Saints cruised to a 27.12 (174) to 10.11 (71) victory, effectively ending Richmond's hopes of making the finals and handing the Tigers their third defeat of the season by 100 points or more.

Gehrig ran riot as he became the first AFL player this season to kick 10 goals in a match, booting seven to halftime.

His Saints teammates Leigh Montagna and Jason Gram also had days out.

Montagna kicked three goals and had more than 30 touches on a wing, while Gram kicked four goals and gave the Saints huge run off a half-back flank.

The Saints dominated from the first bounce but took complete control in the second quarter with a nine-goal burst - five of which Gehrig kicked.

They then backed it up with another nine-goal quarter in the third term.

Gehrig destroyed opponents Ray Hall and Joel Bowden - helped heavily by outstanding delivery into the forward line.

But Richmond went into the game desperately undermanned in defence, hit heavily with the withdrawal of key backmen Darren Gaspar and Andrew Kellaway before kick-off to rob the Tigers of a more suitable match-up for Gehrig.

And the Tigers' day was made even worse with star forward Nathan Brown injuring a hamstring midway through the second quarter and not returning.

Richmond's percentage took another hammering with today's defeat and virtually ensures they cannot make the top eight.

St Kilda climbs to third place on percentage with its victory.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,19952599%255E20322,00.html

[one-eyed]

Team stats

Kicks       189 - 226
Handballs 114 - 158
Marks      101 - 129
Tackles     50 - 40
Hitouts      35 - 23
Frees       19 - 12 

Individual stats

Player           K  H  D M HO T FF FA G B
B.Deledio     12 12 24 7 0 5 0 0 0 2
A.Raines      12 10 22 3 0 3 1 1 0 0
G.Tivendale  16 5   21 8 0 2 2 0 2 1
S.Tuck         10 10 20 4 4 3 0 1 0 0
C.Hyde         11 8  19 7 0 2 2 0 0 0
K.Pettifer       13 5 18 9 0 3 0 1 0 1
D.Polo           12 6 18 6 0 4 1 0 0 0
M.Chaffey       9 7 16 4 0 2 0 0 0 0
J.Bowden      10 5 15 3 0 0 1 0 0 0
K.Johnson     12 3 15 4 0 4 1 0 1 0
T.Simmonds   10 5 15 4 18 2 2 1 0 0
N.Foley            7 7 14 5 0 5 1 0 0 0
M.Richardson 11 2 13 9 0 1 3 1 4 1
R.Tambling       8 4 12 5 0 2 1 0 1 4
R.Hall               4 7 11 5 0 1 0 3 0 0
G.Stafford        5 6 11 4 13 3 2 0 0 0
P.Bowden        7 1  8 2 0 2 1 1 0 0
D.Meyer          5 3  8 2 0 1 1 1 0 0
M.White          4 4  8 2 0 3 0 0 0 0
N.Brown          5 2  7 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
J.Schulz          4 1  5 4 0 1 0 0 2 0
D.Rodan         2 1   3 1 0 1 0 1 0 0

Top 5's

Ranking points

Gehrig         189
Montagna     165
Gram           163
Ball              121
Goddard       119

Contested possies

Powell         10
Maguire        9
Raines          9
Ball               8
L.Fisher        8

Uncontested possies

Montagna    25
Gram          22
S.Fisher      21
Ball             20
Deledio       17

Effective kicks

S.Fisher      17
Montagna    15
Gram          14
Goddard     14
Tivendale    14

Inside 50

Montagna     9
Gram           9
Powell          7
Foley           5
S.Fisher       4

Rebound 50

S.Fisher       5
J.Bowden     5
Montagna     4
Gram           4
Maguire       4

[one-eyed]

Tigers humbled
4:59:01 PM Sat 29 July, 2006
Paul Gough
Exclusive to afl.com.au

......

With three straight losses the Tigers now look set to be September spectators again and it was the drop off in their skill level that must be of greatest concern to coach Terry Wallace.

Richmond coach Terry Wallace said the loss - the club's third by more than 100 points this season - was similar to the round seven clash against Sydney when the Tigers capitulated after losing key defenders to injury just before the game.

And he said his side has to learn to become mentally tougher to be able to deal with such situations.

"In two of the games (the 100-point plus defeats) there has been a real similarity in that we lost players late in the week but not only did we lose those players but we lost the other players as well in that they have allowed that (the late withdrawals) to impact on their psyche leading in to the game," Wallace said.

"It was disappointing to lose Gaspar and Kellaway late in the week but they (the rest of the team) should still be going in with the right attitude and the right psychological approach."

"It's in those circumstances that mental strength arises and they have just got to handle those situations better."

ST KILDA: 5.5, 14.6, 23.6, 27.12 (174)
RICHMOND: 2.2, 6.7, 8.9, 10.11 (71)

GOALS - St Kilda: Gehrig 10, Gram 4, Montagna 3, Goddard 2, Riewoldt 2, Dal Santo, Ackland, Milne, Voss, Fiora, Harvey
Richmond: Richardson 4, Schulz 2, Tivendale 2, Johnson, Tambling

BEST - St Kilda: Gehrig, Gram, Montagna, Ball, Powell, Goddard, S Fisher, Harvey, Voss
Richmond: Raines, Johnson, Chaffey, Richardson, Deledio,

INJURIES - St Kilda: Hudghton (knee strain)
Richmond: Brown (hamstring)

CHANGES - Richmond: Gaspar (knee) replaced in selected side by Hall, Kellaway (hamstring) replaced in selected side by Stafford, Krakouer (finger) replaced in selected side by Chaffey

CROWD - 43,250 at the MCG

Full article: http://richmondfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=284820

[Stephanie]

The Saints killed us in the clearances, really the only ones we got were from frees.
Once again I think our older blokes let us down and even though we played a shocking game the younger kids stepped up.

[one-eyed]

Gehrig boots Saints into form
30 July 2006   Herald-Sun
Jon Ralph

WHEN Nick Riewoldt bypassed the vacant goals and spotted up Fraser Gehrig from only 35m out, midway in the third term yesterday, it seemed even St Kilda had lost interest in proceedings.

With the Saints run into spectacular form by a woeful Richmond team, Riewoldt was mirroring the crowd's only remaining curiosity: how many goals would big Fraser snare?

Gehrig would kick truly for his ninth consecutive goal as he and Riewoldt, too, ran themselves into top form.

By that stage Gehrig had 54 points to Richmond's collective 49.

He would end with 10, but if he could not set a personal best, that was the only disappointment of a red-letter day for the improving Saints.

Riewoldt might have been doing the team thing, but the strength of St Kilda's win was its ruthlessness from then on - despite Gehrig's tally.

There was no lairising, no silly handballs over the top to Gehrig - just a determination to obliterate the hapless Tigers. Almost every one of the Saints' 27 goals told a story of Richmond's ineptitude, but perhaps Gehrig's second of seven to half-time said more than most.

That Ray Hall was playing anyway was troublesome - and all three emergencies were needed, as key defenders Andrew Kellaway and Darren Gaspar along with Andrew Krakouer were pulled from the line-up on game day.

But as Hall surveyed the wide space ahead of him late in the first stanza, no Tiger player presented, so he sprayed the ball out of bounds by a good 5m.

The ball would rebound to his direct opponent Gehrig within seconds, where Hall roughly manhandled him then watched as the G-Train goaled from the free kick.

Up the other end, Matthew Richardson had been dragged by that stage of the first term and by the 15-minute mark of the second Nathan Brown had hurt his left hamstring.

Even when both were afield, the Tigers seemed so determined to isolate goal-kicking half-back Jason Gram at full-back that at times the Tiger forward structure was compromised.

Then the Tigers threw two loose men behind the ball, so much so Brett Deledio at one stage looked up at half forward to see five Saint defenders in front of him.

It was like that all day for Richmond which, like no other team, seems to either win or capitulate meekly.

Poor foot skills, woefully undermanned down back, its best forwards out of form or injured and run off their legs - that pretty much summed the Tigers up yesterday.

But to downplay St Kilda's razor-sharp performance would be an injustice.

Gehrig returned to Coleman Medal-winning form, the midfield was running in waves and the tall defence of Max Hudghton, Sam Fisher and Matt McGuire was content to mix and match.

Gram has become one of the most dangerous counter-punchers in football.

The Richmond brains trust spent plenty of time trying to counter him and he still kicked four long-range goals from six long-range shots.

Leigh Montagna was another to have a day out on a wing and he relentlessly surged forward to cut Richmond to ribbons.

Brendon Goddard was flattened by Greg Stafford, but where once he might have shirked the contest, he was burrowing in hard and low.

Even Gehrig's first miss of the day - after 10 consecutive goals - had a silver lining - it stretched the margin to an even 100 points by that stage.

Suddenly the Saints are on the march again.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,19955091%255E19771,00.html

[one-eyed]

St Kilda's Brendon Goddard was knocked unconscious by a flying Greg Stafford.
Photo: Sebastian Costanzo

Hail to the Saints as they reign over the Tigers
Lyall Johnson at the McG
The Age
July 30, 2006
 
THE forecast was for hail at the MCG yesterday. But when that failed to materialise, St Kilda took matters into its own hands and decided to rain goals down on a hapless Richmond.

It was one of those days, where it was writ large virtually from the opening bounce. For the first 20 minutes, the Saints were all over the Tigers like a cheap suit, the only letdown being that they were unable to translate their dominance into scoreboard pressure.

But the feeling was always one of impending doom, and that the floodgates would open and the Richmond resistance, if that's what its paltry effort could be called, would be swept away.

And the man who opened the scoring for the Saints, Jason Gram, was the one who triggered it. Surging through the midfield, Gram grabbed the ball, bounced once and drilled a brilliant goal on the run, his and St Kilda's third.

It was 22 minutes into the first quarter and St Kilda was 3.5, Richmond 2.2. When Fraser Gehrig kicked his 10th straight goal with four minutes gone in the last term, the Saints had kicked another 22.1. Richmond's total was a mere 8.9, meaning Gehrig had kicked three more points than the entire Tiger side.

With the Saints leading by 87 points at three-quarter-time, about the only two things of interest after the last change was whether Gehrig would get his 10th and whether the Saints would win by 100 points.

With his next kick after notching his 10th, Gehrig put them ahead by that 100-point margin. He did it by kicking his first behind of the day.

Apart from the first 20 minutes, it was a day when everything St Kilda touched turned to goals. The Saints tackled well, ran hard into space, made second efforts and correct decisions with the ball, and capitalised on the opportunities they created.

Richmond's Troy Simmonds was winning almost everything in the ruck, but St Kilda's midfield, led by an emerging star in Leigh Montagna, Luke Ball, Robert Harvey, Stephen Powell and Gram's surging runs off half-back, gobbled up everything once the ball hit the deck and swept forward without resistance.

In contrast to the haphazard, indecisive and error-riddled Tigers, who were forced to bomb to contests because their targets were well covered, St Kilda sped down the middle and along the wings, kept its forward 50 open, and managed to find either Gehrig or Nick Riewoldt at will on the lead.

With a back line decimated before the game by the loss of Andrew Kellaway and Darren Gaspar, it was always going to be tough for the Tigers.

Ray Hall was forced to stand Gehrig. It's an onerous task on any day but was especially horrendous with Gehrig playing with such awesome power and Hall not having played for a month. Gehrig outled, outmuscled and outsmarted Hall, but with the ball flying in 20 times a quarter, the task was going to be impossible.

Not even the concussion of Brendon Goddard could disrupt the rampage. Goddard was taken off on the stretcher after a hip-and-shoulder from Greg Stafford, and courtesy of two 50-metre penalties from the very next play, Brett Voss marked above Danny Meyer and goaled from a set shot. Steven Baker, who remonstrated with Stafford and pushed him backwards over the unconscious Goddard and the club doctor, may have a charge to answer for punching Stafford to the face.

While St Kilda was clinical in its disposal, the Tigers could not find a target, and even as the match was disintegrating around them, they also couldn't find their direct opponents.

How Aaron Fiora could remain unseen for 20 seconds only 25 metres out from goal is as unfathomable as it is unforgivable.

One of the few positives for Richmond was the four-goal haul to Matthew Richardson, while skipper Kane Johnson shut Nick Dal Santo out of the game. But Nathan Brown strained his hamstring, an injury that may end his season.

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/07/29/1153816427094.html

[one-eyed]

Brown's unlucky run continues
Lyall Johnson
The Age
July 30, 2006

THE season of Richmond's Nathan Brown could be over after the star forward yesterday strained his left hamstring.

The loss of Brown rubbed salt into the wounds of the Tigers, who suffered their third 100-plus point drubbing this season, this time at the hands of St Kilda at the MCG.

Brown marked on the lead at the 13-minute mark of the second quarter but immediately grabbed his left leg. He handballed the ball off, went straight to the bench and took no further part in the game.

"It's a hamstring … it'll be scans to see where he goes. I suppose where we are with Nathan at the moment we've got to make a decision whether we pack him for the end of the year now that he's done this," coach Terry Wallace said.

The season had not been the best for Brown, who was forced to miss a large chunk of the year while he was recovering from the broken leg he had suffered last year.

Wallace said the Tigers were not out of contention for a place in the finals, saying the ball was still in their court. But he added the side was not thinking about finals because it just had to concentrate on winning each week and would hope to win more games this year than the 10 it won in 2005.

"We finished on 10 wins last year and we're on eight wins this year with still a fair lump of the season to go. I suppose what's testing us out at the minute is just where we are as a club in relation to who we can get on the ground," Wallace lamented.

"We had 10 players I marked off before the game … who had played senior footy at this footy club not available though injury. Browny now makes that No. 11."

Wallace said it was disappointing that the loss of Andrew Kellaway (hamstring) and Darren Gaspar (knee) late in the week seemed to mentally affect the rest of the team.

Kellaway injured his hamstring surfing on Thursday and could be out for a number of weeks.

Andrew Krakouer was also a late omission, having had an operation on his hand during the week.

On the positive side for the Tigers, Mark Chaffey made a successful return to the side after being kept on the sidelines all season with hamstring problems.

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/07/29/1153816432049.html

[one-eyed]

Saints are hot
30 July 2006   Sunday Herald Sun
Rod Nicholson

AFTER a fortnight of nail-biting anxiety and lucky wins against Essendon and Port Adelaide, St Kilda fans yesterday relaxed, cheered and drooled as their warriors went on a warpath.

The Saints went on a spree of huge dimensions against a devastated Richmond combination.

They piled on a club record score against their opponents, a record goal-kicking spree by full-forward Fraser Gehrig and a percentage-boosting 103-point win that may yet land a top-four finals spot.

In an avalanche of goals, the Saints kicked 27.12 (174), beating the 165-point highest score against the Tigers, at Moorabbin in 1972.

Gehrig was the main contributor with 10 goals, thereby becoming the first Saint to kick double figures against Richmond.

And, most importantly, the massive victory catapulted its percentage well above Collingwood and into third place on the ladder overnight.

The Saints have won - although not handsomely in recent weeks - all five matches since the break and are in shape to tackle West Coast at Telstra Dome on Friday to lay genuine claims to a premiership challenge.

They were slick yesterday after a few early inaccuracies. They kicked 2.5 by the 20-minute mark of the opening term and then three consecutive goals to finish the quarter.

They then enjoyed their best second term against the Tigers with 9.1 and followed that with another nine straight. A final term fall away of 4.6 hardly mattered.

The reasons for the onslaught were double edged: the Saints played crisp and direct football, and the Tigers were cruelled by injuries and are a shadow of the team that threatened finals footy a month ago.

The writing was on the wall when Jason Gram, playing on a half-back flank, dashed forward in the opening term for three goals from five shots.

When Gehrig took control in the second term, kicking five goals, any suggestion of a contest was over with the margin already 47 points. Leigh Montagna was outstanding with 34 disposals and three goals. He had great support from Luke Ball (29 disposals).

Nick Riewoldt was a handful and he was one of the players who made life so easy for Gehrig, who was rarely challenged on the lead or standing his ground in the goalsquare.

The Saints' only concern was a blow to Brendon Goddard, who was shirt-fronted by Greg Stafford during the second term. But he returned after half-time and finished with 22 disposals, eight marks and two goals.

Richmond was pitiful but, to be fair, it had no chance before the opening bounce.

It lost key defenders Darren Gaspar (knee) and Andrew Kellaway (hamstring) as well as elusive forward Andrew Krakouer (finger) from the selected team.

Worse, Nathan Brown hurt his hamstring taking an easy chest mark at the 12-minute mark of the second term and limped off. His season is now in jeopardy. And forward Jay Schulz, who kicked two goals in the opening term, also hurt an ankle to further blunt the attack.

The good news for Richmond was the continued improvement of Matthew Richardson, who has a broken finger and sorely needs quality time on the field. He kicked four goals and showed signs of the benefits of match time.

Young Brett Deledio tried hard, as did Andrew Raines, while Stafford did well in the ruck with 18 hitouts and 15 disposals.

But the Tigers were training session obstacles for the Saints, who ruthlessly slipped into top gear.

Gram, a long and accurate kick, caused havoc running off the half-back and finished with four goals, 29 disposals and nine marks.

He took the ball inside the team's 50m arc a staggering nine times for a defender, as did the elusive Montagna.

A pleasing aspect for coach Grant Thomas was that 10 players shared in the goal feast, despite Gehrig kicking 10.

While St Kilda's attack was the attraction, the defence was also solid and aggressive. Sam Fisher is in the best form of his career, while Stephen Powell and Matt Maguire were tough and innovative.

Too few opportunities came the Tigers' way, and too often they were wasted. Richard Tambling managed only 1.4 and needs to convert to justify his task.

This was a day to savour for Saint supporters, but the day Richmond fans conceded an end to this year's finals.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,19955095%255E19742,00.html

[one-eyed]

Brown adds to pain
30 July 2006   Sunday Herald Sun
Jackie Epstein

RICHMOND is counting the cost of another heavy defeat with star forward Nathan Brown likely to be put on ice for the rest of the season.

Brown strained his hamstring while on a lead in the second quarter and took no further part in the match.

Coach Terry Wallace said scans would reveal the extent of damage and a decision would be made on Tuesday on whether to pull the plug on Brown's forgettable season.

"We've got to make a decision whether we pack him up for the end of the year now that he's done this," Wallace said. "His body hasn't been right the whole way.

"It's been a bit frustrating.

"It was great to see Matthew (Richardson) back in a little bit of form today.

"I thought that was terrific for him and his confidence.

"I don't think there's been a time this year when we've had Browny and Richo absolutely 100 per cent right.

"You saw what (Fraser) Gehrig and (Nick) Riewoldt did to us up the other end.

"You need your key blokes up and running, and fighting fit and well."

Brown has already been rested this season with soreness in the leg he broke last year.

This fresh injury and a jumper punching incident involving Troy Simmonds and Riewoldt further soured the Tigers' third defeat by more than 100 points this season.

They were already reeling from the late withdrawals of Darren Gaspar (knee), Andrew Krakouer (finger) and Andrew Kellaway, who injured his hamstring while surfing on Thursday.

"I don't think he (Kellaway) was that fond of ringing me as he was heading back up the Geelong highway on Thursday morning telling what had happened and how it happened," Wallace said.

"He's been surfing every day off for the last five years.

"I think it says more about an ageing body than what it says about his pastimes.

"I don't have any issue with that at all."

Wallace said he was disappointed the players were not mentally tougher to cope with the loss of key players.

"It's testing our depth and our ability to be competitive against the good sides," he said.

"If you aren't at your best, if you haven't got your best, they'll make you pay and St Kilda were outstanding today.

"They didn't put it on the scoreboard in the first quarter (so) it could have actually been worse.

"I didn't have any doubt that we were in all sorts of trouble very, very early in the match and never got any better as the game progressed."

Despite making no inroads in the race for a finals spot this year, Wallace refused to concede they were out of reach.

He said their destiny was in their hands with matches against the Western Bulldogs, Brisbane, Carlton and Essendon to come.

"We still have the ability to win more games this year than what we won last year," Wallace said.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,19955778%255E19742,00.html