AFL Team News | Round 14: St Kilda make 4 changes ahead of Brisbane Lions clash, Marcus Windhager eyeing team record
Ahead of Friday night’s clash with the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba, St Kilda have announced their team lineup for Round 14. Four recent changes were made and the list is headlined by debutant defender Arie Schoenmaker.
Cooper Sharman, Zaine Cordy, who has only just returned for the first time since Round 7, and Zak Jones would join Schoenmaker.
With Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera managed and Tim Membrey omitted, Cordy and Schoenmaker will take the place of the injured Jimmy Webster (calf) and Dougal Howard (hamstring).
Ben Paton, Ryan Byrnes and Tom Campbell have been named as emergencies.
Marcus Windhager and Callum Wilkie are set to hit milestones in the upcoming game. Windhager would be the first player from the St Kilda Next Generation Academy to hit the 50-game mark with the Saints, while Wilkie would hit 123 consecutive games, drawing level with Ian Synman and Jack Newnes as he makes club history.
St Kilda Saints and the Brisbane Lions will clash at the Gabba on Friday, June 14. The match will commence by 7:40pm AEST as the Saints go in the pursuit of a sixth win this season ahead of the bye.
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon speaks on the club's preparations ahead of Round 14
Pleased with St Kilda’s contested ball and the fight they put up at last weekend's game, coach Ross Lyon acknowledged that his team still has a lot to work to iron out some inconsistencies, to ensure they win better.
Looking forward to Friday night's game against the Brisbane Lions, coach Lyon is determined to work the team towards maximizing their scoring abilities. In a press conference on Wednesday, June 12, he spoke about the Saints' lack of clearance scores, which he deemed a necessary development. He said:
“We took their game off them, and we got the job done last week … but we need to improve our scoring from clearances. We want sizzle, we haven’t had a great season, and we want to improve in all phases of our game. We don’t have the luxury of looking back, our biggest issue is scoring from clearances, and we know that … the bottom line is we need to score more, and there’s a lot of work to do.”
Despite the commendable players Brisbane currently have, coach Lyon believes his team's midfield and backline - who have improved rapidly in the last few weeks - a worthy opponent. He said:
“Lachie Neale looks in pretty good nick and Eric Hipwood and Oscar McInerney have hit form. But Josh Battle and Callum Wilkie are in good form, and our running backs in Riley Bonner and Jack Sinclair too. When our backmen are running it’s really exciting, but it’s at home for them so Brisbane will be looking to make it a fortress again… we know it’ll be a challenge.”
Marcus Windhager has helped revive the facet in the past few weeks, notably against Touk Miller and Harley Reid. He kept them to 14 disposals and 20 disposals, respectively. For Friday's game, the coach looks to adopt the art of the tag. On this, he said:
“We’ll run a tag and figure out who it is, but it could be a real focus for Marcus Windhager. We always ran a tag at Fremantle and Saints. You can definitely play team defense and run a tag. (Marcus) is very disciplined, it’d be a good role for him and a lot of players who tag, end up becoming a very good player themselves. It’s a win-win for us, it’s a good way to learn.”