Saints dismantle lifeless Lions

St Kilda   186 defeated Brisbane Lions   47

One of the greatest performances in club history has given St Kilda the perfect springboard to dive into September from, as they accounted for Brisbane and their season in stupendous style, registering a devastating 139-point victory at the Telstra Dome tonight.

Livewire goalsneak Stephen Milne snagged a career-high 11 goals and was ably assisted by Nick Riewoldt with six, as the Lions looked sluggish from the opening bounce, their year ending in embarrassment without even the faintest roar.

The Saints are still ravaged with injury and will find it tough against Adelaide next week, but any thoughts of taking this game easy were quickly shelved as a Luke Ball inspired midfield got on top early, and Aaron Hamill ran off the line to collect Jason Akermanis.

Barry Hall’s three goals in Sydney’s victory over the Hawks earlier today ensured two things: St Kilda would finish fourth and Fraser Gehrig would collect consecutive Coleman trophies, and the Saints rested both he and Matt Maguire accordingly.

The Lions on the other hand went in as selected, but without powerhouse forward Jonathon Brown who had season-ending surgery earlier in the week. In the end however, a half-fit Brown would have made little difference as forays inside 50 were few and far between.

Milne’s haul gave him best on ground honours, while Riewoldt was close behind, taking 14 marks and gathering 22 touches to go with his six majors. Ball was inspirational from the start, while Stephen Powell and Nick Dal Santo also picked up possessions at will, the latter also threading three classy goals.

For Brisbane, finding contributors was harder than finding a productive Australian bastman. Skipper Michael Voss had 22 touches, while Josh Drummond adapted to his new role up forward with two goals, but in reality, neither was in the best 20 players on the ground.

If their season was on the line, somebody forgot to tell Leigh Matthews’ side, as it was St Kilda who came out firing. They kicked the first three goals of the game, with Riewoldt causing Tim Notting more than his fair share of trouble, and Hayes and Ball on top in the middle.

Dylan McLaren got the Lions on the board, before the game livened up as the pesky Milne bobbed up with a double to stretch the margin to 20 points after one, with Akermanis left dazed on the bench and the Saints’ tall forwards looking dangerous.

When Milne started the second term by nailing his third and fourth majors, it seemed that any life left in Brisbane’s up and down season was disappearing faster than pints on their impending Mad Monday celebrations. Ball grabbed his first, and while Daniel Bradshaw got one back, it merely served to set up Riewoldt’s response straight after – from a freekick, an area Grant Thomas’ men were getting the rub of the green in.

Milne, giving Jed Adcock a nightmare under lights, kicked another two to take his half-time tally to six, and nine goals to three for the quarter had Lion heads bowed as they left the field wounded.

Ironically, Milne marked on the siren to line up for his seventh, but Hamill’s indiscretion off the ball meant settling for half a dozen at the main break, albeit with a 59-point team lead.

From there on the second half became a procession, with another six third quarter goals to the Saints and their opposition understandably looking as though they wanted out as soon as possible. Milne kicked his seventh and got the crowd involved, and he continued to knock bricks out of a fallen dynasty with his eighth on the three-quarter time siren.

Riewoldt looked to steal some of the limelight from his smaller partner in crime in the final term, as he kicked three of his own, retreating to the bench with six of his own. But in the end it was the Milne show, as he kicked another three of his own to take his personal haul to 11, and become the architect to one of the darkest days in Brisbane’s short history.

Next week, the Saints travel to South Australia to take on minor premier Adelaide in a qualifying final on Saturday Night, who may be without influential skipper Mark Ricciuto through suspension, while the Lions will be off on their end-of-season trip, wondering where it all went pear-shaped.

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