Updated ,first published
In today’s AFL Briefing:
- Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, Liam Ryan and Cooper Sharman among the goals for St Kilda in win over GWS.
- North Melbourne’s Paul Curtis receives three match suspension for dangerous tackle.
- Young Lions champ dribbles through a wonder goal in 35-point win over hard-working Tigers.
- Former Adelaide great Rory Sloane says the AFL needs to take a stand on umpire criticism.
More Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera brilliance and a career-high six Liam Ryan goals have pumped life into St Kilda’s faltering season.
In need of a win after blowing a 33-point lead to Sydney last week, the Saints outlasted Greater Western Sydney at Marvel Stadium on Sunday for the second time this year to climb inside the top 10.
The eight-point victory at the end of a rollercoaster afternoon under the roof in front of a modest crowd snapped St Kilda’s three-match losing skid.
The Saints, who have six wins from 14 games ahead of a clash with the Western Bulldogs, also hung on for a four-point victory over the Giants in Sydney in round two.
GWS closed within one point inside the final nine minutes after Jesse Hogan – playing for the first time in six weeks off a hip injury – kicked his first goal of the day.
But Wanganeen-Milera (32 disposals and 12 score involvements) was always there when the Saints needed him most, particularly when the tension soared in the second half.
St Kilda’s $2 million man won the ensuing centre clearance after the Hogan goal, leading to a quick reply from Cooper Sharman, who also starred with four goals.
Wanganeen-Milera emerged from that contest looking ginger and spent the rest of the game in attack, but he remained in the thick of the action as the Saints barely held off the Giants, who slipped outside the wildcard threshold.
It was the second time in the final term that Sharman benefited from Wanganeen-Milera’s wizardry.
Earlier, Wanganeen-Milera managed to bring the ball to ground in an aerial contest with GWS star Sam Taylor, then snatched it off the ground and somehow escaped to deliver a pass to Sharman for a close-range finish.
However, neither moment topped Wanganeen-Milera’s 55-metre goal on the run in the third quarter that briefly silenced the Giants, who were making a major push.
Zippy Giant Phoenix Gothard was trying to spin his way out of trouble at the top of his team’s defensive arc, but instead came crashing to the Marvel Stadium surface in a forceful Marcus Windhager tackle.
Not content with winning the ball back, the Saints’ hardman – a trade target for various teams in the off-season before re-signing – followed up by aggressively getting in Gothard’s face.
Windhager’s ninth tackle of the afternoon became even more valuable seconds later, when he dished it to Wanganeen-Milera, who has had little trouble justifying his fat contract.
St Kilda led by two points at quarter-time, one at half-time, then eight at the final break.
The match appeared as if it was headed in a drastically different direction when GWS kicked three goals in as many minutes to jump out to an early 17-point lead.
But St Kilda hit back strongly, in large part due to Sharman breaking loose up forward with four marks and two goals, as well as Wanganeen-Milera racking up 10 touches in the first term.
The Saints kicked 15 points clear in the second quarter during a patch Ryan kicked three of his six majors, but the Giants never wilted, even though they could never quite get their noses back in front.
Beyond Wanganeen-Milera, Sharman and Ryan, Hugo Garcia was also excellent with 27 disposals and seven clearances.
Aaron Cadman kicked four goals for GWS, while Brent Daniels (31 disposals, 10 clearances) and Clayton Oliver (35, eight) were among four Giants with at least 30-plus touches.
Curtis offered suspension
North Melbourne forward Paul Curtis has been offered a three-match ban for a dangerous tackle which left West Coast defender Hamish Davis concussed on Saturday.
The first-quarter incident was very similar to the tackle Curtis laid early last season on Port Adelaide’s Josh Sinn that earned him a three-match suspension.
That controversial outcome led to a rule amendment which gave the match review officer more flexibility in grading tackles so players could be suspended for fewer than three matches if there were mitigating factors that led to a player being concussed.
However, the MRO decided Curtis’ tackle on Davis amounted to careless conduct, severe impact and high contact and rubbed him out for three matches.
Curtis grabbed Davis front on and lifted his opponent off the ground.
The Eagle fell to turf as he handballed, his head hit the ground, and he left the ground concussed.
North Melbourne has until tomorrow to decide whether to take the case to the tribunal.
Fagan predicts Lions will storm home
Brisbane Lions’ coach Chris Fagan has sent a warning to the competition, saying the reigning premiers will gather momentum in the second half of the season as they welcome back players for matches against Sydney and Geelong after their bye.
The seventh placed Lions have played four finals on the way to each of their premierships in 2024 and 2025, so Fagan’s main focus is hitting September in good form. After three successive losses from rounds 10-12, Fagan’s team has responded with wins against Gold Coast and a 35-point win over Richmond in the past two rounds.
“The main aim is to try to qualify for finals. Yes, you want to finish in the top four, if you can, but sometimes just giving yourself a chance is the best thing that you can do,” Fagan said.
“Hopefully, we can get a few players back and launch a bit of an attack in the second half of the year.”
The Lions expect Dayne Zorko to return soon, alongside Ryan Lester. Hugh McCluggage and Keidean Coleman will miss for longer but eventually return, however Lincoln McCarthy suffered a calf injury setback during the week.
But it was left to several of their premiership heroes to keep the fire in their season burning against Richmond.
Will Ashcroft has already won two Norm Smith Medals in his short career, and now stands a good chance of becoming a dual goal-of-the-year winner after kicking a miracle dribble-kick goal against the Tigers in Hobart.
It was not just the brilliant skill exhibited when Ashcroft received a handball out of a stoppage, sized up his options from the boundary before dribbling the ball through the goals as if he was dropping a long putt.
It was the goal’s timing as it came in the middle of a cavalcade of Lions goals from stoppage – both centre square and around the ground – which tilted a hard-fought encounter the Lions’ way.
They had taken until half-time to wake up in the crisp Hobart air as Richmond squandered several golden opportunities to kick away with the breeze in the second quarter and left the scrappy Lions with a slender lead they didn’t really deserve.
Tim Taranto was outstanding for Richmond, recording a career-high 20 disposals and two goals in the first half as the Tigers dominated the clearances and stopped the Lions’ short-kicking game from penetrating the middle.
Veteran Dion Prestia played well and Richmond’s pressure was sky-high with Maurice Rioli terrorising Lions defenders with his chase-down attempts.
They were creating scoring opportunities from turnovers but Seth Campbell, Steely Green and Noah Balta somehow squandered chances, allowing the Lions to stay in touch.
The back-to-back premiers regrouped at half-time and came out firing. Most of the damage was done at the centre bounce as Sam Draper won hit-outs and Ashcroft, Lachie Neale and Cam Rayner went to work.
Inside 50m, Zac Bailey and Charlie Cameron took advantage of the quick forward entries to register goals or create scoring opportunities for teammates.
The Lions piled on four of the five goals kicked in seven minutes to open up a four-goal lead. It was enough of a gap to get the win.
“The difference in the game was centre-bounce clearances in the third quarter,” Fagan said.
“Hopefully, we can get a few players back and launch a bit of an attack in the second half of the year.”
That spurt brought Eric Hipwood into the game in his first match back from a knee reconstruction (and his 200th match) when he kicked one of his two goals for the game.
He received good opposition from Richmond first-gamer Kye Annand, who looked as though he belonged. Jasper Alger also cashed in with four goals and Tyler Sonsie was excellent as the young Tigers showed good signs, despite having six players in the team with fewer than 10 games’ experience.
Richmond coach Adem Yze said it was important to respond after their 114-point loss to Sydney in round 12.
“We needed to play the right way, and I felt like we did. We just weren’t good enough,” Yze said. “We kept fighting [and] that was the main thing.”
But it was Will Ashcroft’s day. His two goals went with a career-high 38 disposals; a reminder of how bright the future is at the Lions. They remain premiership contenders in seventh spot.
Calls for Hardwick to be censured
Former Adelaide captain Rory Sloane has called on the AFL to crack down on public criticism of umpires after Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick expressed his disappointment at crucial decisions made during the Suns’ loss to Geelong on Friday night.
After opening up the conversation when he argued for a change in the way the last-disposal out-of-bounds lasso rule was adjudicated, Hardwick was asked in the post-match media conference about his frustration with the umpiring against the Cats.
“It was like the Roman Colosseum,” Hardwick said.
“I reckon they [the umpires] were waiting for the crowd to do this one [thumb-down] then, all of a sudden, free kick.
“At the end of the day it is what it is, home-ground advantage, we understand that, we know you’re up against it from the start, but a couple of them [free kicks] weren’t there.”
Sloane said public commentary on umpires by club officials set a poor example for junior clubs and competitions struggling to get umpires to officiate in games.
He said Hardwick’s comments triggered further conversations in the media about the standard of umpiring which acted as a disincentive for people to umpire. Premiership coach Mick Malthouse was critical of the umpiring in Friday night’s game, telling ABC listeners on Saturday some decisions were “bloody terrible”.
Sloane called on the AFL to act on Hardwick’s comments to stop their officials from commenting on the umpires.
“The AFL have to stamp it out. They need to come down hard on this and make sure they set the right example,” Sloane told Nine’s The Sunday Footy Show.
“The AFL have to look at it. They come down hard on other things. This is one [case where] they certainly need to set the right example for our junior and our community footy.”
Hardwick’s displeasure was caused by two free kicks awarded to Geelong spearhead Jeremy Cameron when the game was still up for grabs in the second quarter.
AFL legend Jason Dunstall described both free kicks as “soft”. Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd said on Sunday “the umpires were really, really poor” in that game.
The Cats also kicked goals from dubious free kicks to Patrick Dangerfield in the first quarter and Ollie Wiltshire in the third quarter.
Geelong were also frustrated after they had a free kick paid against Ollie Dempsey after he marked in the goal square and Bailey Smith was unlucky to not be awarded a free kick for holding the ball against Brownlow Medallist Matt Rowell.
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