ST KILDA’S finals dreams are well and truly alive with the Saints upsetting Brisbane by 32 points in a horror night for the Lions where they lost forward Eric Hipwood to a suspected ACL injury.
The Saints recorded a third straight win to spoil Lions captain Dayne Zorko’s 200th AFL game in the club’s best performance of the season.
A Brisbane comeback looked to be on early the third quarter in their home game, which was shifted from the Gabba to Metricon Stadium due to Queensland’s COVID-19 situation, but St Kilda quickly reclaimed the lead and stormed out winners 14.11 (95) to 8.15 (63).
The Saints move to 8-8, with only a poor percentage keeping them outside of the top-eight.
As joyous as the result was for St Kilda, the Lions’ (11-5) premiership hopes could be in tatters due to Hipwood likely missing the rest of the season.
It was just Brisbane’s second loss in their past 12 games.
After enjoying a relatively injury-free run during 2019 and 2020, Hipwood will become the second Lions ace to go down with an ACL this year.
Dynamic forward Cameron Rayner hurt his knee during a pre-season game at Metricon Stadium in March and was ruled out for the year.
Hipwood went off late in the first quarter, landing awkwardly after going up for a mark.
If scans confirm a season-ending knee injury, it would leave a giant hole in the Lions’ forward line with Hipwood having kicked 26 goals this season.
As deflating as Hipwood’s injury was for the Lions, St Kilda outplayed them in all areas as the Saints’ midfield group of Luke Dunstan (31 possessions), Jack Steele (29) and Zak Jones (26) dominated Brisbane’s onball brigade.
After trailing by two points at the first change, St Kilda powered ahead thanks to young forward Max King’s three second-quarter goals.
Zorko was Brisbane’s clear standout in his milestone game with three first-half goals and setting up another major.
The Lions have six days to recover before facing Richmond at the MCG on Friday night, while St Kilda is back at Marvel Stadium to tackle Port Adelaide.
(C) AAP 2021
ST KILDA 1.3 6.6 9.9 14.11 (95)
BRISBANE LIONS 1.5 4.8 7.8 8.15 (63)
Goals: St Kilda: M King 3 J Steele 2 R Byrnes 2 T Membrey 2 B Crouch B Long D McKenzie J Billings L Connolly. Brisbane Lions: D Zorko 3 C Ah Chee D McStay G Birchall J Daniher Z Bailey.
Umpires: Brendan Hosking, Andrew Stephens, Nick Brown.
Official Crowd: 9,075 at Metricon Stadium.
