St Kilda need a win against Brisbane on Friday night to keep their finals hopes alive, but they will be without inspiration in half Dan Hannebery.
The Saints (11-9, 101.1%) have taken a cautious approach with the veteran after he tweaked his ankle in last week’s loss to Geelong.
Brisbane (14-6, 124.2%) have their own injury problems with defender Marcus Adams ruled out with concussion.
The Lions have beaten St Kilda just once at Marvel Stadium in 22 years, dating back to 2000 when it was known as Colonial Stadium.
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Mid subs are Zak Jones (St Kilda) and Ryan Lester (Brisbane).
This match kicks off at 19:50 AEST from Marvel Stadium.
Watch it live on Fox Footy (Channel 504) from 7pm AEST.
Follow St Kilda v Brisbane on our live blog below!
REPORT OF THE PARTY QUARTER TO QUARTER
The Saints showed their cards early when tagger Marcus Windhager went straight to Lachie Neale for the first rebound.
And while the Lions did all the attacking in the opening minutes, it was Jack Higgins who got St Kilda on the board first.
Higgins pounced when Oscar McInerney missed with his hands in the middle of the floor.
The Saint sailed home from the center square and bounced.
“One little handling error and it’s out the back door,” said commentator Brian Taylor.
Neale headed forward to try and beat Windhager’s tag but only had one touch to his name after more than 10 minutes of play.
“He and the Lions asked the question … ‘okay, you can run through the middle of the field as a tagger, but how do you do as a pure defender if I get forward?'” Nice move, praised commentator Daisy Pearce.
After early mistakes from Dan McStay and Hugh McCluggage, plus Cam Rayner’s out to the full, it took a brilliant catch from Charlie Cameron to get the Lions on the board.
McCluggage then added his team’s second a minute later from the center post.
The ball just wouldn’t sit for Neale as he flowed inside the 50 and Saints dodged a third bullet when Jack Sinclair was there to take the ball out of defence.
But the first season was largely played in the Lions’ forward half as St Kilda failed to clear.
When Jarrod Lienert won a great ruck battle against McInerney, the Saints went ahead and Tim Membrey did not disappoint with the snap, going to Dayne Zorko to let him know.
Tempers threatened to boil over a few times in the first quarter as the Saints sat within just one point.
“St Kilda are on course to register 100 tackles here,” said commentator James Brayshaw.
“They came to play.”
Mason Wood then gave the Saints the lead after Mitch Owens broke free from the stop and handballed home.
But St Kilda let the lead slip away after the quarter-time siren when Hipwood slotted home from 40m.
The second term belonged entirely to the Lions as they found another team and kicked out.
A big hit from Brad Crouch rocked Lion Darcy Gardiner early in the second term as the Saint crashed hard into their opposition.
Pearce immediately thought Crouch’s actions would result in a ban of at least a week, but luckily for Gardner he was able to stay off the field.
Joe Daniher went airborne before kicking his first goal of the night before Linc McCarthy extended Brisbane’s lead to 14 points minutes later.
Just like the first quarter, the ball remained blocked in Brisbane’s attack as St Kilda’s defense came under enormous pressure.
Hipwood came out the back and scored from the square before another big contested grab from McStay pushed the lead to a maximum of 26 points.
Wood gave the Saints some hope minutes into the break with a great goal inside 50.
But at the main break, Brisbane held a 22-point lead.
Dougal Howard was stunned early in the third season when he was dismissed for insufficient intent to keep the ball in play.
Howard had opted to put a fist on the foot and hit it on the boundary.
“I think he’s stiff. The defender 15 meters from the goal, he does damage, he doesn’t know what’s coming behind him… what’s left for him?” asked Pearce.
“I think within the letter of the law … but he was screwing up,” added Luke Hodge.
Tempers threatened to boil over again when Zorko was penalized for a trip to Windhager, and it continued for a bit after the touch.
Brad Hill pounced, as did Windhager’s opponent Lachie Neale to continue what had been threatening to spill all night.
And the St Kilda players got back in Zorko’s face when he coughed up a silly 50-metre penalty that took Jack Higgins to the goal line.
The Lions veteran stepped up and fell on Jarrod Lienert’s pass attempt.
But the Lions had an immediate answer through Cam Rayner, the third straight from a central office.
“It just takes the heat off the Lions,” Taylor said.
Max King missed the chance to pull away but Wood made no mistake to get his third to close St Kilda to 15 points.
“He had a bit of Stephen Kernahan in him,” laughed Brayshaw.
“It had a bit of a twist.”
Membrey kicked his second goal of the night when the Saints were kicked in the middle of the pitch from an offside foul.
“This is where the Lions start to lose their composure a little bit,” Taylor said.
“They are mounting a great challenge here.”
Max King dropped a great contested catch just 20 yards straight in front but once again missed, his third behind of the night.
“Two real ones Max King has lost this term,” lamented Brayshaw.
Membrey was the man again for the Saints moments later when Jack Payne was pinged for insufficient intent.
“There was a man three meters away running towards the boundary,” lamented Taylor.
“And he got hit when he kicked him!” Pearce added in disbelief.
Wood put the Saints ahead for the first time from the opening minutes before Membrey and King missed golden chances to seal their lead.
The Saints kicked five goals to one in the third term to take a five-point lead into the last.
“It’s like a mini cyclone has come through Brisbane,” Brayshaw said.
Rayner gave the Lions the lead just minutes into the final quarter as the “overhanging” contest continued as King’s continued into the final quarter.
But this time, his fifth behind of the night cost the Lions as the visitors went coast-to-coast and Joe Daniher scored from the square to open up a two-goal lead.
“That hurts,” Brayshaw said.
The Saints continued to give themselves chances in the final term, but costly mistakes from Windhager and Membrey denied St Kilda a charge.
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