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CAPTAIN’S QUARTER
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon demanded a better effort at the contest after his side’s vapid first half.
He got it – and it was piloted by his skipper.
Captain Jack Steele led a full-blooded assault of previously rampant Richmond in the clinches, the Saints dominating at ground level, forcing turnovers and generating repeat dangerous entries.
Steele had 10 touches for the term, six of them contested and was the key figure in St Kilda’s tremendous third-quarter turnaround, which began at the coalface and turned into some slick corridor transitioning that had been absent in the opening hour.
Jack Steele of the Saints.Credit: Getty
THE SHAI AND DUSTY SHOW
Shai Bolton and Dustin Martin turned Norwood Oval into their own two-man playground in the first half.
Defying Richmond’s injury-ravaged forward line, the pair’s brilliance catapulted Richmond to a commanding 21-point quarter-time lead over St Kilda.
Alternating between on-ball and half-forward, Martin looked fresh and energetic in his return from injury, racking up a game-high 20 first-half disposals.
Meanwhile, Bolton looked the most dangerous forward-of-the-footy on either side, finishing with four goals, including two absolute rippers from the Sir Edwin Smith Pavillion pocket.
KING’S ROYAL FLUSH
Max King made an indifferent start in his return from a week’s suspension, fading two shots way left to The Parade end in the second term – the first registering a behind and the second sailing out on the full.
He made spectacular amends after half-time.
Richmond v St Kilda.Credit: Getty
King dropped an easy chest mark in front of Ben Miller just before time-on in the third term, the ball dribbling harmlessly out of bounds.
He got his hands on the subsequent boundary throw-in and defied a near-impossible angle to nail a miracle goal from the scoreboard pocket, giving St Kilda their first lead of the afternoon.
Then in the shadows of three-quarter-time, his piercing forward entry found Jack Higgins who crushed a six-pointer from the goal-square with eight seconds left, extending the resurgent Saints’ advantage to eight points.
