Twice,North had the chance to hit the front,as Ziebell and Paul Curtis both saw their set shots drift wide. But as the term went on,the Saints established the break they would hold for the rest of the afternoon.
If there was only one more St Kilda goal in the second quarter as David Noble put two extra men behind the ball,there was little chance that North’s configuration was going to provide much in the way of a scoring riposte.
Ziebell’s moment before the flood
During the week,North’s players and staff watched a tribute video to the indefatigable Ziebell,capturing multiple stories from within the club. He got the chance to celebrate with teammates after slotting a shot early in the third.
Ziebell might have hoped for a revival,but the goal served mainly to rouse the Saints into some of their most damaging passages of the day. Jade Gresham soon nailed a round-the-body shot from 45 metres as the ball curled away from Todd Goldstein’s attempt to touch it,and Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera’s bullet pass found King for another. Wanganeen-Milera’s contributions awed the Docklands crowd including Nicky Winmar,befittingly in Sir Doug Nicholls Round.
“It reflects the maturity of our group,to be a little it frustrated[at halftime] but they had a pretty good read on the game,” Saints coach Brett Ratten said. “We have taken a step as a team but we know how hard the competition is. We’re halfway and we’ve improved as a footy team,but we know there’s a lot of work to be done in the second half.”
When Mitch Owens capitalised on Kayne Turner’s dropped mark for his first league goal and then soccered his second inside 30 seconds,the margin was out past 50 points and the contest was over.
Goldstein glitters
Goldstein provided some of North’s few highlights,threading a boundary-line shot in the first and holding a towering mark in the third. But it said much about the club’s currently precarious on-field fortunes that it was Goldstein and Ziebell who provided the most succour – not exactly the future.
“Rebuilds are difficult. Growing high-performance environments is rigorous. It has to be,” Noble said. “We’ve had more of how we want to play in games over the last few weeks. We had small portions today,we had bigger chunks last week.
“I’ve got good support around me and I’ve been overwhelmed by the people - friends,colleagues,even enemies - who have reached out. I’m going pretty well.”
St Kilda,by contrast,basked in their gaggle of youthful and fleet-footed talents,given plenty of structure by the threat of King in attack. Jack Sinclair launched many an assault on North’s goal,contributing to a yawn gap in the teams’ respective inside-50 counts.
With the bye to follow,St Kilda are in fine fettle. North must travel to face the surging Suns on the Gold Coast,doubtless after another week of terse questions.
ST KILDA
5.2 6.5 12.7 16.7 (103)
NORTH MELBOURNE
2.2 2.3 4.4 7.8 (50)
GOALS
St Kilda: King 3,Membrey 2,Gresham 2,Owens 2,Hill,McKenzie,Ross,Windhager,Marshall,Ryder,Sharman.
North Melbourne: Goldstein 2,Anderson,Zurhaar,Ziebell,Simpkin,Curtis.
BEST
St Kilda: Sinclair,Hill,Wanganeen-Milera,Gresham,Crouch,Ryder.
North Melbourne: Goldstein,Simpkin,Anderson,McDonald,Davies-Uniacke.
UMPIRES
Fisher,Williamson,McGuinness
CROWD
23,464 at Marvel Stadium
VOTES
Sinclair (St Kilda)7
Hill (St Kilda)6
Ryder (St Kilda)6
Gresham (St Kilda)6
Wanganeen-Milera (St Kilda)6
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