St Kilda vs Geelong preview – AFL Second Qualifying Final

It’s that time of the year again when AFL Football Finals are back in town and the highly anticipated rematch of last year’s Grand Finalists St Kilda and Geelong on Friday night 3rd September has the city of Melbourne abuzz with a huge crowd expected at the MCG to witness the match.

St Kilda are still hurting from their narrow loss to Geelong in last year’s Grand Final and the players vowed to make amends this year if they got the chance and Friday night’s clash will see what kind of resolve the Saints have.

The Saints recall Stephen Baker who has missed the past nine games through suspension after his battle with Geelong’s Steve Johnson the last time these two teams met. Ironically, Baker might even end up on Johnson again for his return to football.

Stephen Milne and Adam Schneider also return for the Saints with David Armitage, Sean Dempster and Luke Miles out of the side.

Geelong brings back quality players in Joel Selwood, Corey Enright and Josh Hunt with Taylor Hunt, Simon Hogan and Daniel Menzel all making way.

This will be one of the biggest matches of the year and Friday night can’t come quick enough for footy fans.

St Kilda vs Geelong preview – Second Qualifying Final

	St Kilda	Geelong
	3.15	1.38

Friday, 3rd September MCG 7:45pm

Last Week

St Kilda went down to the Crows at AAMI Stadium to the tune of 28 points in a low scoring affair where Nick Dal Santo, Michael Gardiner, Sean Dempster, Justin Koschitzke and Jarryn Geary were the only goal scorers while Brendon Goddard had 35 touches and both Nick Dal Santo and Leigh Montagna had 34 possessions.

Geelong had a big second half over the Eagles which resulted in a 44 point victory thanks to 4 goals from Gary Ablett and 3 each from Cameron Mooney and Steve Johnson. Major ball winners were Gary Ablett and James Kelly with 33 while Darren Milburn had 31 of his own.

This Week

St Kilda In: Baker, Milne, Schneider Out: Dempster, Armitage, Miles

Geelong In: Selwood, Enright, J.Hunt Out: Menzel, T.Hunt, Hogan

Recent History

Geelong has won three of their past five games against the Saints and more importantly they have defeated St Kilda the last two times they have met in Finals in the past two seasons including the one that mattered most last September, the Grand Final.

St Kilda were too good for Geelong when they met earlier this season at the same venue and the Saints have matched up well against the Cats in recent times, with poor kicking for goal costing them in the biggest game of the year last season.

Last 5 Rounds for & against

Geelong are clearly better in attack over the past five rounds to the tune of four goals and they are marginally better in defence compared to the Saints. The significant figure is disposals per goal where Geelong score goals every 23 touches compared to St Kilda’s 29 and the Cats also average 12 more tackles a game.

Our Tip: Geelong

This game is set to be a typically tight defensive affair with goals likely to be at a premium as has been the case in their last three encounters.

Geelong enter the finals in excellent shape with all their stars fit and raring to go. The Cats have been in terrific form of late and will come out ready to play come Friday night.

St Kilda themselves are also going into this match with no major concerns and they managed to get the job done as expected in recent weeks but have not been as impressive as the top two teams for ours.

While we expect Geelong to win the match we don’t think it will be a high scoring affair and from a betting viewpoint the Cats are unders for ours.

Considering how well the Saints have performed against the Cats in recent matches then they are certainly worth entertaining if you pick your own line at Centrebet and take a points head start.

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