Thursday Fallout: Too little, too late in “meaningless” dead rubber

There wasn’t a great deal on the line for both clubs on Thursday night.

Of course there was a significant milestone with St Kilda’s Brad Hill playing his 300th game and last hurrahs for retiring Saint Dougal Howard and Gold Coast’s Nick Holman.

But both the Saints and the Suns were out of Wildcard contention making this one a legitimate dead-rubber.

It seemed that way too.

End to end footy at the start, huge possession numbers and not quite as much defence as we’d normally see

It was a strong performance from Damien Hardwick’s Suns, who showed a bit of fight in the eventual 23-point win (103-80), but it was too little, too late according to Kane Cornes.

“I had to laugh with the fisticuffs when Gold Coast were throwing their weight around,” Cornes said on SEN’s Fireball.

“You’re 18th for clearance, 15th for tackles, 13th for pressure, 15th for defence, and now you want to start fighting? In the third quarter of a meaningless Round 24 game.

“I had to laugh at that. I thought that was quite hilarious. What is the story?”

David King added: “It was a bit of false bravado if I’ve ever seen it.”

There was some fallout in the form of Ben King’s comments relating to his future with a potential move to Hawthorn on the cards.

It might have been his final outing in Gold Coast colours which will be a key point of focus in the club’s review for what has been a disastrous season.

As for Ross Lyon’s Saints, this was a disappointing end to what has also been a underwhelming campaign.

10 wins after a big trade period probably missed the mark overall.

A long off-season of contemplation and preparation now on the cards for both underperforming clubs.

Andrew Slevison