Sunday’s first AFL Round 22 match is between St Kilda Saints and Gold Coast Suns. The opening bounce is set to commence at 1:10pm local time with the game to be played at Etihad Stadium. The St Kilda Saints team St Kilda Saints are the favourites for the match. View our preview and teams for the game between St Kilda Saints and Gold Coast Suns.

Round: Round 22 1:10 PM August 25, 2013
Stadium: Etihad Stadium
Weather: 18° Partly cloudy.

Featured Bookmakers:

St Kilda Saints $1.83 vs Gold Coast Suns $1.92 at Sportsbet Australia get a $250 FREE BET on this match

St Kilda Saints $1.75 vs Gold Coast Suns $2.08 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Odds Comparison by AFL Odds:

St Kilda Saints	1.83	1.77	1.75	1.77	1.83	1.85
Gold Coast Suns	1.97	2.05	2.08	2.05	1.97	1.98

Preview:

It’s been a tough month in terms of the draw for the Saints. They’ve had to face three of the top four teams (Hawthorne, Geelong and Sydney) and have lost each of the last four games by an average of 59 points.

They’ll appreciate the drop in quality of their opponents this week and have been installed slender favourites in early markets.

Sitting sixteenth on the ladder with three wins this season, compared to the Suns who have won seven and sit in fourteenth, it’s hard to be attracted to the $1.78 on offer, especially when the Suns lead Saints in a majority of season stats.

They last met in the opening round of this year where the Suns were victorious, their first win in four matches against St. Kilda, 90 – 77.

Gold Coast’s victories this year have been sparked by Gary Ablett who, in more recent weeks, has been well marked and had his involvement in the game limited.

This is the key for St. Kilda but you wonder how many “quiet” weeks Ablett has in him before he unleashes a performance that sees him worthy of his short priced Brownlow Medal favouritism.

Only two of Gold Coast’s wins have come away from Metricon Stadium this year and they were over GWS and Melbourne however, they were competitive enough against both West Coast and last week Port Adelaide in their two most recent away games, to suggest they’re a winning chance here.

Teams:

St Kilda Saints:
B: Jack Newnes, Jason Blake, Jarryn Geary
HB: Sean Dempster, Sam Gilbert, Farren Ray
C: David Armitage, Lenny Hayes, Leigh Montagna
HF: Sebastian Ross, Nick Riewoldt, Clinton Jones
F: Stephen Milne, Tom Lee, Tom Curren
Foll: Tom Hickey, Nick Dal Santo, Jack Steven
I/C: Josh Saunders, Darren Minchington, Ben McEvoy, Cameron Shenton, Tom Ledger, Brodie Murdoch, Adam Schneider

In: C.Shenton, T.Ledger, B.Murdoch, L.Hayes
Out: D.Roberton (rested)

Gold Coast Suns:
B: Trent McKenzie, Steven May, Luke Russell
HB: Greg Broughton, Rory Thompson, Tom Murphy
C: Harley Bennell, Gary Ablett, Jarrod Harbrow
HF: Jacob Gillbee, Jared Brennan, Andrew Boston
F: Timmy Sumner, Charlie Dixon, Aaron Hall
Foll: Daniel Gorringe, Danny Stanley, Dion Prestia
I/C: Leigh Osborne, Jackson Allen, Michael Rischitelli, Liam Patrick, Karmichael Hunt, Josh Hall, Jaeger O’Meara

In: J.Brennan, M.Rischitelli, L.Patrick, L.Osborne, J.Gillbee, K.Hunt
Out: J.Hutchins (hamstring), D.Swallow (knee), S.Tape (concussion)

Saints still fighting: Watters

St Kilda coach Scott Watters insists his AFL side will fight for every inch over the next fortnight as their ordinary 2013 campaign comes to an end.

The Saints have posted just three wins this season, putting them ahead of only Melbourne and Greater Western Sydney on the ladder.

Watters’ charges could be excused for thinking of off-season trips ahead, but showed plenty of first-half fight on Sunday in a 59-point loss to Sydney at the SCG.

St Kilda will have a great chance to etch a fourth victory for the year next Sunday when they host Gold Coast at Etihad Stadium.

The second-year coach was confident his rebuilding side would attack the match in the right mindset.

“The players want to grind out every inch. They want to play every minute right through to the final game,” Watters said.

“Last week it was three very competitive quarters against Hawthorn. This week it was a good half against a premiership side.

“Gold Coast are probably a side that’s a little similar to where we sit, so we look forward to that challenge, and then we’ll reload for Fremantle after that.”

Watters paid tribute to senior players Nick Riewoldt, Leigh Montagna and Adam Schneider – and the way they had helped ensure young players got as much as possible out of the many defeats.

“The support they’ve been giving them, the encouragement they’re giving them out on the field, I think they’ve been terrific,” he said.

“It’s been a tough year for them, there’s no doubt.

“But they’ll get through the next couple of games, freshen up and do a pre-season with a lot more depth at this club.”