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Apart from being opponents last night, they have a link - both have battled hamstring problems for two years.
Lloyd suffered a "ham off the bone" in 2006, while last year Hudghton would twinge a hammy opening his fridge, so suspect had his soft tissues become.
Hudghton suffered another hamstring strain in the pre-season, prompting an observation that coach Ross Lyon had better start planning for a St Kilda backline without him.
The theory was Hudghton couldn't be trusted, that at 31, his legs could no longer carry his lion-sized heart, which has been the cornerstone of his 209-game career.
It was a wrong theory.
Hudghton was so good last night, he made Lloyd look so mediocre. ............>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Yea maxie was great! Really good spoils from passes to Llody.
I saw at one stage on the screen before half time i think- looked like he was going down to the rooms but maybe he didnt? Anyone else seen that on the screen?
maree wrote:"That is the most courageous player our game has seen..."
D Commetti, last night...
after he was hit in the head by Lovett-Murray's knee.
I think he said "One of the most courageous".....
Saying he's the most would be leaving out alot of great, courageous players
Yeah - but the point was that Commetti was in fullsome praise for the courage of Max and put him right up there with the most courageous.
People during the week were talking about "hard men" and we all had to harden up regarding the Trent West travesty.
Well there are tough football and courageous football. Max has never been "tough" in the Trent West sense, but his courage is something to be completely admired.
Courageous football is what we come to see and applaude, not off the ball snipes deemed to be "tough".
Lance or James??
There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, "Enough is enough." For me, that time is now. I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in <redacted>. Over the past three years, I have been subjected to a <redacted>investigation followed by <redacted> witch hunt. The toll this has taken on my family, and my work for <redacted>and on me leads me to where I am today – finished with this nonsense. (Oops just got a spontaneous errection <unredacted>)
i_luv_nick_riewoldt wrote:
I saw at one stage on the screen before half time i think- looked like he was going down to the rooms but maybe he didnt? Anyone else seen that on the screen?
Yea I saw that too I thought oh dear another hammy -but it must have been the knock to the head he got maybe?
i_luv_nick_riewoldt wrote:
I saw at one stage on the screen before half time i think- looked like he was going down to the rooms but maybe he didnt? Anyone else seen that on the screen?
Yea I saw that too I thought oh dear another hammy -but it must have been the knock to the head he got maybe?
yep i thought that straight away his body language didnt look good. Yes, hopefully it was just some high contract and should be right next week.
ST KILDA fans have long ridden a roller-coaster of emotions.
Last night was no different at Telstra Dome, as they watched their frustrating, but rarely boring, team rediscover at least some of their mojo following a jittery start to the year.
The Saints jumped out of the blocks against Essendon, which looked hesitant in the early stages last night and frequently turned over the football.
The final 36-point margin in favour of St Kilda was on the cards early, but there was little sign of the desperation that threatened to deliver the Bombers an unlikely win.
Essendon clawed back within 16 points after slipping 51 points behind, but the Bombers struggled to run out the match and St Kilda registered its third victory of the season.
The Saints, through Stephen Milne, Nick Riewoldt and David Armitage, kicked four goals to two in the final term, clinching a desperately needed triumph, but failing to convince their fans their premiership hopes are right on track.
Any nerves the Bombers felt in the early stages, when they made several costly turnovers, soon faded as Bachar Houli and then Andrew Lovett kicked important goals.
Suggestions during the week that the Saints simply needed to carry out some constructive tinkering, rather than a major overhaul, seemed accurate as their dominance at the stoppages turned to a significant advantage on the scoreboard.
The Saints had eight scoring shots in the opening term, with each of their five goals coming from midfielders.
Essendon kicked three goals straight in the first term and had 12.1 on the board at half-time, but accuracy alone was never going to be enough last night.
Bombers skipper Matthew Lloyd was well held by Max Hudghton in the first half and finished with only seven disposals and one behind for the night.
The Saints went into last night's contest desperate to restore credibility to the pre-season hype surrounding their flag chances.
In his second year at the helm, Ross Lyon's game plan has begun taking shape, but the results have not been coming anywhere near as quickly as he would have liked.
He remained calm in the wake of last week's loss to Geelong, saying the season was "well and truly alive" for his team.
As hinted after the Cats cruised to victory, forward Fraser Gehrig carried the can for the under-performing trio of tall timber in the Saints' forward line and was dropped.
In his third match back after one of the shortest retirements in VFL/AFL history, Gehrig's lack of defensive pressure was horribly exposed by the Cats.
If nothing else, the G-Train's axing turned up the heat on Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke, who had four touches between them in the opening term last night.
Armitage, in only his fourth game, former Geelong forward Charlie Gardiner and Swans reject Sean Dempster shone early, while the out-of-sorts Nick Dal Santo had nine valuable touches before quarter-time. Gardiner's simple chip kick to Lenny Hayes 11 minutes into the term was the first sign Essendon's defensive pressure was lacking, a flaw St Kilda was able to exploit early.
Hayes, who slotted a goal from just inside 50 metres, stretched the lead to 12 points before the Bombers answered with Andrew Lovett's blistering run and goal.
Livewire Alwyn Davey's tenacious tackling helped lock the ball inside Essendon's attacking zone, where Adam Ramanauskas goaled and cut the margin to one point just before the first break.
The tight arm-wrestle was broken just before the siren when Armitage drilled his first goal in league football with his seventh kick for the term.
Hudghton continued to hold sway over Lloyd in the second term, restricting the Essendon star to only two handballs and one mark for the quarter.
At the other end of the ground, Koschitzke worked his way into the game, goaling inside the opening minute of the term to give the Saints a 14-point buffer.
Last week, Xavier Clarke personified St Kilda's plight when he was carried from the field, but last night he was lively in attack for the Saints.
His lightning-quick handball to Milne helped set up Riewoldt's first goal and put St Kilda 28 points ahead.
The Saints piled on seven goals for the term, with Dal Santo, Hayes and veteran Robert Harvey gaining the ascendancy over their younger opponents.
Houli broke the drought for Essendon with his second after breaking clear of Milne at half-back and streaming up the ground, but it looked like too little, too late, for the Bombers.
Enter Adam McPhee.
Five minutes into the third term, the blond Bomber slotted his first goal, sparking a run of six unanswered Essendon goals that brought the Dons within 16 points.
As the Bombers lifted their work-rate through Lovett, Jason Laycock, Jay Nash and Patrick Ryder, St Kilda struggled to maintain its earlier midfield dominance and a stunning boilover was looming.
Dal Santo was forced off the ground clutching his shoulder, but returned to help stem the flow of goals and was among the Saints' best players.
Riewoldt's second goal, coming just before three-quarter-time, steadied the Saints and they went to the final break 23 points ahead.
ST KILDA 5.3 12.9 14.12 18.15 (123)
ESSENDON 3.0 6.1 12.1 14.3 (87)
GOALS: St Kilda: Riewoldt 3, Armitage 2, Koschitzke 2, C Gardiner 2, Ball 2, Montagna 2, Hayes, X Clarke, Dempster, King, Milne. Essendon: McPhee 2, Lovett 2, Houli 2, Stanton 2, Ramanauskas, Welsh, Pears, Nash, Laycock, Ryder.
BEST: St Kilda: Dal Santo, S Fisher, Riewoldt, Hayes, Harvey, Hudghton, Armitage. Essendon: Houli, Ryder, Hille, Watson, McPhee.
INJURIES St Kilda: King (hamstring/back spasm).
UMPIRES Vozzo, M Nicholls, Jeffery.
CROWD 46,792 at Telstra Dome.
....so i don 't know what you are on about....
.everybody still loves lenny....and we always will
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speaking of papers.
due to living in a state dominated by power failures and crows, our papers are obviously full of ú know what'.... so if i go to a decent newsagent, whats the best paper (obviously melb) to buy for a conclusive footy wrap up fpr the week and what day should i buy it?
i get the actually footy paper sometimes but its kinda pricey for a paper.
any help greatly appreciated
Living interstate I have found that we are sent the first edition. So if its a night game, you can buy a paper and there will be no wrap up of the game. I have given up and just check the Herald Sun, Age, Saintsational and Saints websites which covers everthing!
Regarding going into the rooms - I think it was because of his head.
It almost looked like it could have been snapped in half - his head was caught between two players and smashed straight into one Essendon player's leg as he was kicking. Ouch!
I must be looking at some other paper named "The Age".
Best: Dal Santo, S.Fisher, Riewoldt, Hayes, Harvey, HUDGHTON, Armitage.
And before you do your rag about votes, why not wait until they actually publish the damn things, on Monday.
Let's wait and see whether your favoured news medium, from the fine stable of Rupert's "Fair and Balanced" offerings, actually rate things as you have preemptively assumed they will, ahead of one of our sponsors.
Herald-Sun. What a heap of crap. Edited by a tosser that gives column inches to Andrew Freakin Bolt. The paper you can read in about a minute thirty, unless you have a morbid penchant for celeb's from the US, or Delta Freakin' Goodrem.
Blunden's the editor, isn't he? Ever heard him speak, particularly since he no longer has the option of spending his journalistic twilight hanging feet first out of Li'l Johnny's clacker.
And you accuse The Age of lazy journalism? What a joke.
Like I wrote - wait until Monday's votes before you condemn yourself to life in the Village of the Duped.
'I have no new illusions, and I have no old illusions' - Vladimir Putin, Geneva, June 2021