Saturday first AFL Round 2 match is between St Kilda Saints and Greater Western Sydney Giants with the game to be played at Etihad Stadium. The opening bounce is set to commence at 1.40pm with home team Greater Western Sydney Giants currently holding favouritism. View our AFL live scores, odds and results for the game between St Kilda Saints and Greater Western Sydney Giants.
Round: Round 2, Saturday March 29, 1.40pm
Stadium: Etihad Stadium
Weather: 23° Shower or two.
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Odds Comparison:
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| St Kilda Saints | 1.95 | 1.95 | 1.88 | 1.95 | 1.95 | 1.93 |
| Greater Western Sydney Giants | 1.85 | 1.85 | 1.96 | 1.85 | 1.85 | 1.85 |
All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.
Preview:
This match kicks off on Saturday afternoon, 1.40pm at Etihad Stadium. In what is a very rare occurrence, the Giants will go into this match as slight favourites against the Saints. Their upset win in round 1 was a shock to everyone, and all eyes will be on the Giants this week to see if they can keep it up. While St Kilda did have a win in the first round against Melbourne, it was anything but a confident display.
Jeremy Cameron and Jonathon Patton kicked seven goals between them for the Giants last round, and they will play an important role again this weekend. St Kilda will be relying once again on skipper Nick Riewoldt, but will have to do without key backman Phil Davis, who is injured for this clash. This match could really go either way, and will probably come down to who wants it the most on the day.
Teams:
St Kilda Saints:
Backs: Dempster Delaney Geary
Half-backs: Wright Gwilt Roberton
Centres: Montagna Hayes Ray
Half-forwards: Jones Riewoldt Saunders
Forwards: Curren Maister Gilbert
Followers: Hickey Armitage Dunstan
Interchange: Stanley Newnes Templeton Savage
Emergencies: Dennis-Lane Billings Longer
In: Montagna Hayes
Out: Webster (groin) Billings
Greater Western Sydney Giants:
Backs: Plowman Frost Hampton
Half-backs: Hunt Haynes Shaw
Centres: Greene Treloar Scully
Half-forwards: Whitfield Patton Cameron
Forwards: Smith Giles Addison
Followers: Mumford Coniglio Ward
Interchange: Kelly Kennedy Townsend Bugg
Emergencies: Williams Tomlinson Hoskin-Elliott
In: Townsend Plowman Kelly
Out: Palmer (hamstring) Davis (kidney) Shiel (quad)
New: Joshua Kelly, 19, Sandringham U18
News:
Phil Davis, Rhys Palmer and Dylan Shiel have played a combined 168 AFL games – hardly Dustin Fletcher territory.
But for youthful Greater Western Sydney, losing that much experience hurts.
While Davis’ return home from hospital on Friday was good news for the Giants, they will miss him in defence on Saturday against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium.
Davis, who has played 54 games, is recovering from kidney damage that landed him in intensive care.
Palmer (80 games, hamstring) and Shiel (34 matches, quad) are also sidelined.
Last year’s No.2 draft pick, Josh Kelly, will make his AFL debut as Lachie Plowman and Jacob Townsend return.
Plowman has played six senior games and Townsend 19.
“It’s not just in terms of performance,” Giants assistant coach Alan McConnell said.
“For a reasonably inexperienced team to lose a couple, it’s not made it any easier.”
Contrast the GWS changes with St Kilda, who will regain veteran midfielders Lenny Hayes and Leigh Montagna from suspension.
Davis would also have been the Giants’ first choice to play on Saints captain Nick Riewoldt, who was enormous in their round-one win over Melbourne.
McConnell says Sam Frost and Nick Haynes are the main candidates to play on Riewoldt.
But he added the job of stopping the Saints star went a lot further than who played on him.
“St Kilda’s attack on the ball appears to be up significantly on last year and they’re certainly pretty good around the fall of the ball,” McConnell said.
“So a bit of nullifying Riewoldt’s influence will be to do with what pressure we can apply around the ball to the St Kilda mids and their defenders.”
Two-time Geelong premiership player Josh Hunt reaches 200 games on Saturday, and his experience will be vital for the Giants’ defence.
But for once, GWS are going into a game thinking about more than learning or trying to be competitive.
Their shock round-one win over Sydney has shown these kids are starting to realise their vast potential.
Saturday will show how well the Giants have dealt with their sudden success.
“It’s a little different but when you’re coming off winning one game in 12 months, I don’t think you take too much for granted,” McConnell said.
“The messages inside the club are no different to what they’ve been at any other time in our preparation for the season.
“But I guess you read the papers and the story’s a little bit different to what it’s been in recent times.
“One needs to be realistic about where we’re at.”