Australian Football

Match Report

St Kilda redeemed themselves for a bitterly disappointing performance against Port Adelaide in round one by demolishing Gold Coast. New coach Scott Watters notched up his first win, while Saints captain Nick Riewoldt returned to form with four goals. It was never really a contest, as the Saints blew the game apart early with a five-goal to none first quarter. Suns superstar Gary Ablett again played a lone hand, finishing with 40 possessions (20 contested) and two goals. Even though Gold Coast lost by 92 points, Ablett would be odds-on to pick up three Brownlow votes for the game. There is now significant pressure on Suns coach Guy McKenna for his side to start turning out more competitive efforts after showing no real improvement from much of their 2011 endeavors so far. But a major positive for the Suns was the form of 2010 No.1 draft pick David Swallow. He was classy with his ball use in the midfield and he continues to develop his game when some of his young teammates appear to have stagnated.




GOALS:

St Kilda: Riewoldt 4, Stanley 2, Koschitzke 2, Armitage 2, Milne 2, Milera 2, Steven, Gilbert, Geary, Cripps, Goddard, Jones, McEvoy

Gold Coast: Brown 2, Ablett 2, Matera, Russell, Hickey 



BEST - AFL.COM.AU

St Kilda: Goddard, Steven, Hayes, Riewoldt, Milera, Armitage, McEvoy
Gold Coast: Ablett, Swallow, Lynch, Matera, Harbrow

BEST - THE AGE
St Kilda: Hayes, Steven, Goddard, Riewoldt, Armitage, Dal Santo
Gold Coast: Ablett, Swallow, Harbrow, Prestia, Matera, Bennell

COACHES COMMENTS
Scott Watters (StK): From our point of view, there were some key fundamentals we put on the table, not just this week for the last four weeks. The players really delivered in those areas which was really pleasing and shows that the players have really bought into the direction we're taking.

Guy McKenna (GCo): I'm sure we'll back our kids in to know that it's going to happen, and probably happen sooner rather than later. But it's going to take time. Maybe (we're) just trying to play too much pretty football (instead of) rolling up the sleeves and getting dirty.

Umpires: Kamolins, Wenn, Foot