Peter Ryan and Justin Chadwick
Updated ,first published
In today’s AFL Briefing, your daily wrap of footy news:
- Richmond are confident the worst of their injury crisis is behind them, and they will avoid having to call up VFL-listed top-up players against Essendon.
- Ross Lyon says St Kilda get the chance as they “go through the grades” to see how much they have improved against Fremantle.
Reid all about it: Harley revs Eagles to giant upset
Bailey Williams has produced the best game of his AFL career and Harley Reid was best afield as West Coast secured a shock 17-point win over GWS at Optus Stadium.
The Giants led by nine points early in the final quarter of Sunday night’s match on the back of a huge display from Clayton Oliver (38 possessions, 12 clearances).
But two clutch goals from Jake Waterman and a towering mark up forward by Williams to kick his second major of the match helped West Coast secure the 13.10 (88) to 10.11 (71) win in front of 36,781 fans.
The result snapped West Coast’s six-match losing run and improved their record to 3-7, already triple the amount of wins from last year. GWS slipped to 4-6, with the unexpected loss dealing their finals hopes a significant blow.
Reid finished with 33 disposals, 10 clearances, eight tackles 788m gained and two goals in a dominant display.
Williams, who was overlooked for the ruck role in the early part of the season in favour of Matt Flynn, racked up 40 hit-outs, 16 possessions, nine tackles, seven clearances and two goals in a monster display against Kieren Briggs (14 disposals, 31 hit-outs).
West Coast defender Reuben Ginbey kept GWS spearhead Aaron Cadman to just 0.1 from five disposals in another important effort from the undersized key backman.
Oliver tallied 12 disposals and five clearances in the opening term alone but GWS were only ahead by 10 points at quarter time on the back of some shoddy 2.6 goalkicking.
The second quarter was the Harley Reid show as the No.1 draft pick from 2023 tore the game apart.
AAP
Injuries bite but Tigers confident they can name full squad of 26
Peter Ryan
St Kilda will set themselves for a crucial three-match run against teams above them on the ladder after moving to ninth spot with a 36-point win over an injury-hit Richmond at Marvel Stadium.
The win squares their season ledger with coach Ross Lyon saying they get the chance as they “go through the grades” to see how much they have improved when they take on Fremantle next Friday night.
Fighting to make the top 10, the Saints face Fremantle in Perth, Hawthorn at Marvel Stadium, and Sydney in the harbour city in the next three rounds after five wins and five losses in their first 10 matches.
“Can we keep going through the grades?,” Lyon said. “I have a belief in us and there is growth in us.”
A win in any of those three encounters will give their finals chances a massive boost although star midfielder Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera will be absent again next week. Liam Ryan and Mitch Owens are in some doubt.
The Tigers have bigger injury concerns after a hamstring injury to Campbell Gray added another name to their long injury list however they are confident they will have enough fit players to pick a squad of 26 against Essendon in the Dreamtime match on Friday night.
Richmond coach Adem Yze said the situation was being managed. They kept Samson Ryan and Caleb Smith out of Saturday’s VFL game to ensure they were available for selection on Friday night and Mykelti Lefau would be available after being managed as would Jasper Alger.
He rejected any suggestion the injuries were forcing him to coach with one hand behind his back saying there were still many opportunities for growth in players whether they were on the field or not.
“Individually there are guys that are getting opportunity right now they might not have, so there will be growth in that,” Yze said. “And as a team we can still learn by sitting in meetings and understanding what good looks like.”
But on Sunday, chasing a four-quarter performance, the learnings for the Tigers came mainly from a poor first quarter. The Saints took off out of the blocks to open up a four-goal lead before the match stagnated as Richmond made the most of limited opportunities to hang within five goals for the next two quarters.
The Saints were racking up inside 50s at world record pace but could not convert that dominance on to the scoreboard, with the margin just 26 points at half-time despite the Saints leading the count 36-14.
St Kilda’s Tom De Koning gave his on-ballers silver service at centre ball-ups several times in the second quarter with Max Hall and Hugo Garcia the beneficiaries. On more than one occasion, the Saints burst from the centre square, but only one of those moments became goals when Mattaes Phillipou kicked a long goal off one step.
Garcia collected 15 disposals, eight contested possessions, four clearances, six score involvements and a goal in the first half. Hall, who has been one of the Saints’ best this season kept pace with 14 disposals, six clearances, six score involvements and a goal.
Despite that Richmond had hung in with nine scoring shots from their 14 inside 50s with Noah Roberts-Thomson kicking two goals with his first two kicks in his AFL debut. It was an impressive start to the career of a cousin of Sydney premiership player Lewis Roberts-Thomson.
The Saints kept pushing in the third quarter but again were unable – either through inaccuracy or dropped marks – to make Richmond really pay.
The margin gradually increased but never became comfortable enough for the Saints to consider bringing on a non-bowler for an over as cricketers sometimes do for a laugh when the result is known.
First gamer Charlie Banfield, the son of No.1 pick and West Coast premiership player Drew Banfield, generated some excitement when he kicked a goal in his first match.
Banfield took up residency at former AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan’s house after arriving in Victoria and looked as comfortable on the Marvel Stadium wing as he would living in one of the McLachlan mansion’s wings.
In the end the Saints’ territorial dominance was enough to see them score 100 points for the fifth time this season, a signal that their attacking game is building given they kicked that tally just seven times in the previous three seasons.
Lyon said there were no concerns about Jack Higgins despite him being proppy while Richmond’s Sam Cumming suffered a corkie.
They weren’t slick or frightening at any stage, but they were better than the Tigers to run out 36 point winners in a match that never reached great heights with St Kilda winning the inside 50 count 63-37.
