Grand final re-matches are always a special fixture during the AFL season, especially so this time around. Collingwood were easy winners last time, but let us not forget why a grand final replay was needed, and just how close St Kilda came to pinching the flag against the odds. We’ll have live scores and a live blog of Collingwood vs St Kilda.
The Collingwood Magpies have been purring along ever since, almost effortlessly, and not even a narrow loss to Geelong sufficient to otherwise persuade most pundits that Collingwood is well on track for consecutive flags, for their first time in 75 years.
The St Kilda Saints, on the other hand, have really struggled to find their form from the last few seasons following a tumultuous pre-season, and many are convinced that their premiership window is well and truly shut.
Forward, middle, back – the Pies are strong all over the park. They press in their forward 50 better than any other team, and are capable of shutting teams down for long periods of a match. The noticeable part of their game this year has been an ability to score very heavily in spurts, 6 to 8 goals in 10 minutes, highlighting an ability to blow teams off the park whenever the mood takes it, or as soon as the opposition lower their guard.
Collingwood welcome back important ruckman/key forward, Leigh Brown, a sure sign that Collingwood are still building for the second half of the season.
St Kilda have been experimenting with youth this season in a bid to find the right formula. Tonight we’ll see two debutants taking the field: Tom Simpkin, 20, from the Geelong U18s, and Tom Ledger, 19, from Claremont.
St Kilda’s only hope is to get back to what made them strong the past three years, and apply the screws to an extent that scoring becomes difficult at both ends. Unfortunately, if they succeed, it won’t be pretty. They put in an improved performance over Fremantle last week
Ross Lyons started the mind games earlier in the week by declaring Daisy Thomas the best player in the AFL at the moment. This season Thomas has added an ability to win contested possession to his armoury, which already included a pretty good highlights reel of high marks and lairy goals.
His own team mates (Shaw and Didak) quickly worked to bring Thomas back down to Earth by asking: “How can you be the best player in the league if you are not the best player at our club?” With friends like that…
When it’s all said and done, Collingwood look too strong for St Kilda, and have far too much fire power for the Saints to shut them down completely for long enough periods. Collingwood by five goals is the prediction, and we’ll be running live scores and blog here for the big game
Teams
Collingwood
Backs: Davis, Reid, O’Brien
Half-backs: Buckley, Maxwell, Shaw
Centres: D Thomas, Swan, Wellingham
Half-forwards: Tarrant, Dawes, Krakouer
Forwards: Didak, Cloke, Sidebottom
Followers: Wood, Pendlebury, Ball
Interchange: McCarthy, L Brown, Beams, Toovey
Emergencies: Goldsack, Blair, Fasolo
In: L Brown
Out: Blair
St Kilda
Backs: Gilbert, Dawson, Baker
Half-backs:Dempster, Fisher, Gwilt
Centres: Goddard, Armitage, Jones
Half-forwards: Peake, Riewoldt, Schneider
Forwards: Milne, Siposs, Ray
Followers: McEvoy, Dal Santo, Montagna
Interchange: Steven, Polo, Simpkin, Ledger
Emergencies: McQualter, Gamble, Clarke
In: Simpkin, Ledger, Baker
Out: Blake (knee), Lynch (hand), Winmar
New: Tom Simpkin, 20, Geelong U18; Tom Ledger, 19, Claremont (WA)
Venue: MCG
Kickoff: 7:10pm tonight
Head to Head: Collingwood 151 St Kilda 57 drawn 2
Last time: Grand Final 2010 (replay) – Collingwood 16.12 (108) def St Kilda 7.10 (52) at MCG
TAB Sportsbet: Collingwood $1.20 St Kilda $4.40