St Kilda will play finals for the first time since 2011, comfortably dispatching GWS at the Gabba.
Subsequently, the Giants’ 2020 rollercoaster is over, with last year’s runners up barely giving a yep after half time with their season on the line.
The Saints broke GWS in the third quarter with a string of goals and pushed away in the fourth to win by an enormous 52 points.
The Giants won roughly 60 more disposals than St Kilda and took 40 more marks, but that was indicative of the slow, indecisive ball movement that has plagued their 2020 season.
Paddy Ryder tripled Shane Mumford’s hit-outs and gave the Saints first-use, while St Kilda’s forward line looked dominant and got stronger as the night went on.
Here’s everything you need to know!
The Finals Implications: St Kilda is IN, the Giants are OUT
St Kilda will finish as high as sixth in Brett Ratten’s first year at the helm, with the Saints now locked into the top eight.
This leaves one spot in the eight up for grabs and only one team, Melbourne, capable of working their way in.
GWS needed to win and win comfortably tonight to play finals, but did not look on the same level as the Saints and got worse as the game went on.
A win over Essendon tomorrow will see Melbourne in the top eight, with the Bulldogs set to kick them back out if they beat Fremantle on Sunday night.
The Talking Point: Where do the Giants go from here?
GWS looked the team to beat after their Round 1 decimation of Geelong coming off their Grand Final disappointment, so to say missing the finals is a wasted year is an understatement.
AFL Nation’s Garry Lyon was particularly harsh on the Giants in the second half of the game, saying the belief “sapped” out of the side early in the third term.
“They have not looked urgent at all,” he added.
“They’re rudderless. That’s a fair description for mine.”
With Jeremy Cameron, Zac Williams, Aidan Corr and a number of young first round draft picks out of contract and Shane Mumford and Heath Shaw likely at the end of their respective careers, their list is suddenly at a crossroads.
— 7AFL (@7AFL) September 18, 2020
FULL SCORE
St Kilda: 3.3, 5.5, 8.9, 12.10. (82)
GWS Giants: 1.5, 3.8, 3.10, 3.12. (30)
GOALS
St Kilda: Lonie 2, Steele 2, King, Butler, Marshall, Membrey, Battle, Billings, Hill, Ryder
GWS Giants: Riccardi, Greene, Lloyd
BEST
St Kilda: Steele, Ryder, Coffield, Marshall, Long, Wilkie
GWS Giants: Whitfield, Kelly, Williams, Coniglio, Shaw, Hopper
Reports: Nil
Injuries
St Kilda: Nil
GWS Giants: Nil