North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson has taken a swipe at critics’ “hysteria of expectation” after the Kangaroos’ last-gasp comeback against St Kilda fell short on Sunday.

Clarkson’s team, which suffered a 101-point thumping from Geelong a week earlier, went down by nine points to the Saints, in what was their fourth single-digit defeat this season.

Alastair Clarkson after North Melbourne’s loss to St Kilda.

North Melbourne also drew with reigning premiers Brisbane Lions, while three of their four victories – over Richmond, West Coast and Carlton – were decided by 11 points or fewer.

The Roos have also lost seven matches by 45 points or more, and two others by five goals-plus, but Clarkson said their competitiveness in many games was “a step in the right direction”.

North may need to beat the Tigers in round 23 to avoid finishing in the bottom two for a sixth straight season, with matches against GWS and Adelaide either side of that.

“It’s a tough grind. We’re making progress, but we’d like the progress to be more, in terms of wins,” Clarkson said.

Max Hall breaks free for St Kilda.

“We’re not quite there at the moment, but the mood and morale within the four walls of the footy club [is positive]. It just becomes the hysteria of expectation outside.

“But it’s a tough caper. We’ve known all along [that] to take sides from near the bottom of the ladder to the top is really hard work. But there seems to be a lot of people who think that they can do it a little bit better, who have never even tried it.”

The length of rebuilds is a hot topic this year as Adelaide storm to the top of the ladder in their pursuit of a first finals berth since the 2017 grand final.

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon also highlighted his old side Fremantle’s rise into the top eight after qualifying for finals just once in the past nine years.

However, neither of those clubs dipped as low, or stayed there for as long, as the Kangaroos.

The Saints have turned over 27 players across the past three off-seasons as they try to engineer their own rise up the ladder.

Lyon said rebuilds were hard, before doubling down on his crusade to convince the AFL to make the draft less compromised.

“We don’t want to get into the politics of it, but the elite talent is compromised in the first round. So that’s on the agenda,” Lyon said.

Jack Steele leads the Saints out for Sunday’s game before starting as his team’s substitute.

“It would be great if all first-rounders were on the table [and there were] no father-son, no NGA, no northern academies. But then after the first round, you can have everyone who you’ve developed … let’s see how badly you want to do it then.”

St Kilda benefited from another strong performance from Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera to hold off North Melbourne, who kicked the first three goals of the last term to close within three points.

The Roos led by 19 points early in the second term, but trailed by a point at half-time, with the Saints’ four-goal run leading into three-quarter-time proving crucial in the final result.

St Kilda midfielder Jack Steele, who managed only 13 disposals in last week’s historic comeback over the Demons, became just the fourth AFL captain to start as the substitute, behind Melbourne’s Brad Green and Giants Stephen Coniglio and Luke Power.

Steele, who is due to play his 200th game next week against Richmond, entered the contest midway through the third quarter after Mitch Owens (hamstring) exited the game.

He explained post-game that he had battled injuries throughout the season, particularly a neck issue that Lyon said had affected his performance, and that the coach spoke to him after Thursday’s training session about being the sub.

“I suppose initially I was a bit like, ‘Oh, what’s going on here?’,” Steele said.

“I know I haven’t been setting the world on fire, so initially, I thought, ‘Shit, it might be the end’, which is only natural and only human to have those sorts of thoughts. But he just spoke to the reasons why, and by the time the conversation finished, I was happy to keep my head up and buy into it.”

Lyon guaranteed that Steele would be back in the team from the start next week, but part of the decision-making was for younger midfielders to receive more exposure.

There has been speculation about Steele’s future at the club despite him being contracted until the end of the 2027 season, but he said he wanted to stay at the Saints.

“I’m happy here. Obviously, you can see what we’re building – it’s pretty special and exciting,” Steele said.

“I’m just trying to get through the year first, too. I’m a little bit banged up, and I have been for the majority of the season, so it seems to be going relatively slow, especially when you’re not winning, [but the] last two weeks have been great.

“[But] I’ve deleted social media. I don’t watch any footy, so I couldn’t give a rat’s arse about [trade speculation], to be honest. I’m happy at the club, and I just want to see this team do well, and see the boys do well. That’s my primary concern for the rest of the season.”

Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera had another outstanding game for the Saints.

Wanganeen-Milera, who remains unsigned beyond this year as Adelaide and Port Adelaide try to woo him home, reached 30 disposals before three-quarter-time, and finished with 36, to go with nine clearances, seven inside 50s and 10 turnovers.

St Kilda fans brought signs professing their love for last week’s match winner, but a decision on his future appears unlikely until the season ends.

“If it’s me, I’ve got no heart, so it doesn’t affect [me], but hopefully ‘Nas’ has got a heart, and hopefully [the signs have] an effect,” Lyon said.

“I get the passion. We love the passion. It’s great to have a player like this, who’s out of contract and we’re excited about and the comp’s excited about.

“Good luck to him, and good luck to us. We’ll just work our way through it, in the fullness of time.

“I’m sure there’ll be an answer at some point, somewhere, at some point in time.”

Scott confident Stewart will avoid suspension

Peter Ryan

Geelong coach Chris Scott is confident defender Tom Stewart will not miss matches for colliding with Port Adelaide midfielder Ollie Wines when attempting to smother the ball in the Cats’ emphatic win on Sunday.

However, Scott admitted the case may have been different if Wines had been concussed in the incident. As it turned out, the Brownlow medallist played the rest of the match.

Stewart crashed awkwardly into Wines in the second quarter at GMHBA Stadium, replays showing he left the ground and his hip made contact with Wines’ head. Wines immediately went to the ground.

Luckily for Stewart, the Port Adelaide midfielder was quickly on his feet, which suggests that even if the incident draws the attention of the match review officer, the impact of the collision is likely to be graded as low. It also appeared as though Stewart tried to mitigate the force of the contact while he was in the air, an act which might mean he avoids the contact being graded as careless.

Jeremy Cameron kicked six goals for Geelong.

The rule was changed after Collingwood’s Brayden Maynard was cleared of rough conduct when he knocked out Angus Brayshaw in an attempted smother in a 2023 qualifying final.

“You do have to mitigate the damage to the other player if you can, and I thought he just fell on top of him,” Scott said. “I’m very confident he’d be OK.”

Scott said that, in the current environment “if anyone gets concussed, we’re looking for someone to pay, so that’s why you have to be so careful”.

His take received support from Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley, who said he did not see any intent to hurt Wines in the way Stewart attacked the ball.

Shannon Neale gave Port a headache in the third quarter.

“It was just some bloke trying to do what he should be trying to do from what I saw. I don’t get involved in any of those footy decisions players have to make. It’s really hard,” Hinkley said.

That nervous moment for Stewart and Jeremy Cameron’s goal count were the only matters of intrigue as Geelong suffocated Port Adelaide on Sunday to win a ho-hum contest by 88 points.

The win to continue Geelong’s march towards another top-four finish was inevitable – football’s most common cut-and-paste job.

Then Chris Scott decided to bring his substitute Jack Martin on the ground to replace ruckman Rhys Stanley just after half-time.

Jack Martin had a purple patch in the third quarter, kicking four quick goals.

The game was already decided, but few were prepared for Martin’s goalscoring blitz as he kicked four goals in 5 minutes and 17 seconds to show why he could be the X-factor who propels the Cats in this year’s finals

His skill has never been in doubt, and the Cats have been able to time his preparation to have the former Gold Coast and Carlton utility primed for September, his skill and versatility making him the perfect sub.

While Martin kicked four of Geelong’s nine goals for the quarter, Cameron was unable to add to his half-time tally, being the only Cat held touchless for the quarter as Port Adelaide’s Lachie Jones locked down on him. Port had obviously made it clear he was to be given no space in the second half, but the byproduct was that Cameron’s key-forward partner Shannon Neale overshadowed him with three goals of his own for the term.

Dasher Max Holmes was best afield.

Port Adelaide are limping to the end of the season, particularly Jase Burgoyne, who left the ground in the third quarter with an ankle injury.

They were already without Connor Rozee, who was a late withdrawal due to illness, although he is also carrying a hand injury, and Jason Horne-Francis with a foot fracture.

It made life difficult, particularly with Oisin Mullin’s blanket job restricting Zak Butters to just 10 disposals, and denying him his usual spread and influence. Ollie Wines was Port Adelaide’s best contributor.

The Irishman was outstanding, persisting at his job until the end, not yielding to the temptation to kick the first goal of his career when the chance arose in the final quarter. Instead, he chipped the ball to Tyson Stengle, who was clear in the goal square.

Unfortunately for Port Adelaide, Willem Drew was unable to curb Geelong’s Max Holmes in the same fashion. The Cats’ speedster took him apart to be the best player on the ground. His running goal to start the game was pure Holmes, and set the tone for his afternoon.

Cameron finished with six goals, leaving him with 25 goals required to reach the ton from three home-and-away matches and potentially two or more finals, as the Cats crushed Port Adelaide, scoring more than 100 points for the 11th time this season.

And Stewart waits to see if he will be available for Friday’s night’s clash against Essendon. Scott said he wasn’t sure if he would rest players for that clash, given the five-day break. But there is a strong chance veteran Patrick Dangerfield will miss as the Cats prepare for the finals.

Scott confident Stewart will avoid suspension

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