Live: Saints make huge sub call after comeback win for North Melbourne clash

A reminder, we are under the roof and yet the kicking for goal is poor.

Jacob Konstanty missed a relatively easy shot for North, then the Saints went almost coast-to-coast down the right wing, with Cooper Sharman taking a mark inside 50.

But his kick slid wide as well. It’s 2.3 to 1.3 for the Kangaroos right now.

The ball movement right now is like the old dance move – slow, slow, quick, quick, slow.

Both sides are probing for openings and then trying to go long or direct. The Saints nearly had a mark to Cooper Sharman there inside 50, but he couldn’t hold on.

Another great move from North – they force a stoppage with a throw in next to the goals.

It comes down and Harry Sheezel jumps on it and snaps a beauty from 25-30 out.

Another goal! The Kangaroos lead by seven halfway through the opening term.

North are right in this – they lead by a point, but aside from that they are competitive at the clearances, leading inside 50s and in particularly they are swamping the Saints with uncontested possessions – 57 to 15.

The Kangaroos are still going wide here, and it finally pays off!

They go to the right forward pocket and Cam Zurhaar breaks a tackle and gets it over the top to Luke Davies-Uniacke.

The North midfielder dances clear, cuts inside and hooks the ball home on the run! What a goal for the Kangas.

The key work was done by Zurhaar, but that was a great finish from LDU.

North Melbourne is trying to take control after some early Saints’ effort.

Not sure how successful it is, though. They are holding the ball up and aiming wide rather than the corridor.

They finally go for the square and it’s rushed through for their first point of the day.

The Saints’ new superstar is ON this afternoon.

He has five quick disposals in a few minutes, and he seems to be at the heart of everything for St Kilda.

It makes good viewing if you’re a Saints fan – now for a signature, eh?

And Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera is right into it from the start, he is sent the ball after the Kangaroos initially get hold of it, handballs clear to Hunter Clark, who kicks long and there’s a free for Max Heath.

The big man kicks the first from close in, and the Saints are away!

Who wants this more? Who gets the fast start under the roof?

Will Ross Lyon regret starting his captain on the bench? What will Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera produce after his heroics from last week?

There are plenty of questions to be answered in the next four quarters. Stick with us to find out.

Who wants this more? Who gets the fast start under the roof?

Will Ross Lyon regret starting his captain on the bench? What will Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera produce after his heroics from last week?

There are plenty of questions to be answered in the next four quarters. Stick with us to find out.

• Rd 8, 2024: St Kilda by 38 (Docklands)

• Rd 19, 2023: St Kilda by 8 (Docklands)

• Rd 8, 2023: St Kilda by 30 (Docklands)

• Rd 11, 2022: St Kilda by 53 (Docklands)

• Rd 11, 2021: St Kilda by 20 (Docklands)

• Rd 1, 2020: Nth Melbourne by 2 (Docklands)

The Saints have had the better of this match-up recently — the last time the Kangaroos came out on top was in the first COVID year of 2020, playing in front of no crowd at Docklands.

On the (sort of) plus side for North, before the current five-game winning streak for the Saints, the Shinboners had taken out the previous four matches.

Is one streak set to end and another to begin? Let’s wait and see.

A win today for the Kangaroos would mean a rise from 17th to 16th, while the Saints could close the gap between themselves and Carlton.

A win for the Blues would potentially put them up to 11th – and take some of the pressure off coach Michael Voss. A Fremantle victory would see them leapfrog at least the Hawks and Suns on the ladder, depending on Geelong’s result.

And a Geelong win would close the gap on the top three sides, and entrench the Cats’ position in the top four.

A week ago, St Kilda came into three quarter-time heading for a regulation thumping loss against Melbourne.

Then … chaos (and history) ensued.

A comeback from 46 points down to level, then win the game with the final kick from Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera.

For the first three quarters, Saint Marcus Windhager toiled after Melbourne’s Kysaiah Pickett. In the fourth, the most remarkable comeback in AFL history was completed.

For that last quarter, the Saints largely abandoned the tag and focused on attack. A 46-point deficit was wiped off the scoreboard in an instant.

That doesn’t mean that tagging doesn’t work — but it does speak to the situational value of the role.

To find out more, you can read Cody Atkinson and Sean Lawson’s analysis below:

The Saints have made two changes, with Hugo Garcia and Max Heath in for Arie Schoenmaker and Lance Collard.

The big announcement is the sub for the Saints – it’s skipper Jack Steele.

Apparently he is sore, which raises the question of whether he should have a late replacement. I’m sure we will hear more about this from coach Ross Lyon later on, depending on how this goes.

There are some big ins and outs for the Kangaroos for today’s game. Skipper Jy Simpkin misses the game due to a knee injury, while forward Finnbar Maley and Wil Dawson are omitted.

The ins are key forward Nick Larkey, young gun midfielder George Wardlaw and ‘son of a gun’ Cooper Harvey.

North’s sub is Robert Hansen Jr.

Hello, good afternoon and welcome to ABC’s live online coverage of round 21.

The round wraps up today with three games, starting at Docklands with St Kilda vs North Melbourne. The Saints, coming off the greatest three quarter-time escape in VFL/AFL history, will no doubt be looking to try to lead from the start against the Kangaroos.

Next up at 3:15pm AEST is Geelong hosting Port Adelaide at Kardinia Park. The Cats will want to close the gap to the top three after Collingwood’s loss to Brisbane, while the Power face a big challenge after last week’s humiliating Showdown loss to the Crows.

The last game of the week will begin at 5:10pm AEST, as Fremantle host Carlton at Perth Stadium. With the Dockers low percentage, they need to beat the Blues to stay two games clear of Western Bulldogs as they try to avoid being the one to miss out on September footy.

My name is Andrew McGarry, and I’ll be bringing you the early action this afternoon, and later I’ll be joined by blogger extraordinaire, Marnie Vinall.