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From heraldsun.com.au

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IS JACK THE SAINTS’ UNLIKELY ALL-AUSTRALIAN HOPE?

By the end of Round 6 last year the two eventual All-Australian small forwards Toby Greene and Tom Papley had kicked 18 and 10 goals respectively.

After a first-round doughnut that had Nick Riewoldt and David King calling for his axing after a moment of “selfish” play, Jack Higgins might well be the best small forward at the moment with 14 goals from his five games.

He was already in the Herald Sun’s rolling All-Australian team last week but further staked his claim with yet another strong performance kicking 4.3 against the Giants.

It could have been five goals, but he selflessly handballed off to Matt Crouch who kicked the final goal in the dying moments.

Higgins had the cheek to poke some fun in Riewoldt’s direction on Fox Footy after the match: “I used to look up to Nick … not any more.”

Riewoldt and King questioned whether Higgins should have been sent back to the VFL after refusing to give a handball off to Jade Gresham at a key moment in the Round 1 loss to Collingwood.

Jack Higgins of the Saints might be the form small forward of the league right now.

Higgins said of the incident: “I learnt a lot after Round 1. I didn’t give that one off to Gresh, which I should have.

“I obviously got potted by you (Riewoldt) and David King … and that drove me even more. It’s not that I like it when people bag me but it gave me a lot of strength to carry on and try and prove you guys wrong. Obviously at St Kilda, we try to play a really unselfish game.

“Crouchy was running past me and I gave him the hands as I would expect anyone else to give it to me.”

In a funny exchange, Riewoldt was happy to “eat” his words, saying his sons had received Higgins’ signatures on their Saints’ jumpers at a recent clinic.

“They both came home with Jack Higgins’ signature on their jumpers and I said ‘I hope you didn’t say who your old man was … he might have told you to go and get stuffed’.”

Higgins added: “It’s all good mate.”

The former Tiger missed his first two shots, saying on Fox Footy: “I thought it was going to be like Sydney 2.0 (when he kicked 1.6 in Round 12 last year). I was having flashbacks to the SCG.

“But Benny Robbins, our psych guy, took me aside … I’ve done a lot of goalkicking practice and he said ‘Take a few deep breaths before you have a shot’ and I luckily got onto a few.”
THE MOTHERS’ DAY MATCH-UP THAT MIGHT FAST-TRACK RATT’S CONTRACT TALKS

Fast-forwarding a fortnight in footy is a dangerous proposition, but St Kilda’s Round 8 clash with reigning premiers Melbourne looms as an early game-of-the-season candidate.

It might also prove the catalyst for the Saints to kick off contract talks with coach Brett Ratten after the club’s 5-1 start to 2022 – their best opening to a season since 2010.

Only a clash with Port Adelaide in Cairns in between looms as an impediment to a potential 6-1 start.

The Saints and their popular coach have been steadfast in their messaging that there is no urgency surrounding a new deal for Ratten, who is into the last year of his current deal.

That makes absolute sense, even though St Kilda president Andrew Bassat told this journalist late last year that he and the board believe Ratten could be the club’s next premiership coach.

But a giant-killing win against the (so far) undefeated Demons – or even a positive showing against the flag favourites – could expedite a conversation sooner rather than later.

Make no mistake, the Saints believe they have the right man to lead them into the future.

BATTLE SCARS

Josh Battle confessed on Friday night he hates playing in the ruck, but if he hadn’t answered his coach’s call out of necessity, the Saints might not have won a fifth straight game in 2022.

With Jack Hayes going down with a suspected ACL injury and with Rowan Marshall having “a cork on a cork” thigh, Battle had to be conscripted out of his now familiar role in defence to take on the dangerous Braydon Preuss-Matt Flynn Giants’ ruck combination.

Never mind the fact the Giants won the hitouts 77 to 19, Battle played an important role for the Saints through the middle.

He almost acted as an extra mid around stoppages and the cut under his eye by the end of the game was testimony to the way he fought it out for the sake of his team.

Ratten said Battle’s efforts – and that of those around him – to overcome adversity had a bit of an Anzac feel to the effort."

SAINT STEAMROLLERS

Teams on a roll are always a dangerous proposition, as the clubs who have taken on St Kilda since their Round 1 slip up can attest.

Their ability to pile on successive goals has been a highlight.

They kicked five goals in a row in the Round 2 win over Fremantle; 10 straight in their Round 3 demolition of the Tigers; five on the trot in Round 4 against Hawthorn; and then another four in a row to get over the top of the Giants in Canberra.

Momentum is intoxicating … and the Saints are doing it as well as anyone right now."

AND DISLIKES:

"FIFTY INCONSISTENCY

Brad Scott told us on Tuesday there would be no grey areas this week – any questioning, demonstrative arm gestures or dissent would result in an instant 50m penalty.

But it took all of two minutes in Friday night’s Giants-Saints clash to puncture this thought and show the inconsistencies in what was meant to be a well-intentioned ump interpretation ruling.

Braydon Preuss started to gesticulate when he gave away a free kick to Rowan Marshall in the opening few moments of the game before wisely pulling up.

Then Ben Long stretched out his arms on either side of his body as he demonstratively complained to the umpire in a manner that Scott had indicated would be penalised.

He wasn’t and received no 50m penalty.

Where was the zero tolerance crackdown we were promised?

Daniel McKenzie was not so fortunate later in the game when he pleaded with the umpire that Callan Ward’s mark had actually hit the ground. The finger pointing motion to the ground was the catalyst for the 50m penalty.

The AFL’s attempts to eradicate dissent towards umpires is admirable, but the interpretation by different umpires isn’t helping their cause. It’s just confusing – and frustrating – people even more.

Foxsports00:35
Saint penalised for dissent after hand gesture
UP NEXT

AFL: Saint Dan McKenzie became the first player of the round to be pinged for umpire dissent, giving away a 50m penalty…
2022 FAIRYTALE OVER … A NEW CONTRACT LOOMS

Footy can be the greatest game in the world, but it can also be among the cruellest.

Jack Hayes never gave up on his footy dream, despite missing nine drafts until he finally got his chance this year for the Saints.

Then, in his fifth game, the 26-year-old former concreter went down in an innocuous marking contest on Friday, clutching his knee.

The mark of his commitment was that he still went over to try and man the mark, even though his knee was shot.

It wasn’t long after that the Saints media team tweeted it was a suspected ACL.

Was it any wonder that Saints coach Brett Ratten admitted after the match that there was a bittersweet element to the 17-point win.

Full marks to Ratten, though, for confirming in his press conference that Hayes will definitely get a new deal for 2023, given he was only on a one-year rookie arrangement.

“Jack has had a great introduction to our footy club,” Ratten said. “He will have the ACL (operation) and recovery and he will be at our footy club for a long time.”

“We will be there for him and will put our arms around him.”

That’s a footy club that cares for its people."