St Kilda will play finals football this season, ensuring the nightmare of a nine-year drought outside of the AFL's top eight will be broken with a resounding 52-point victory over Greater Western Sydney on Friday night.
SAINTS v GIANTS Full match coverage and stats
Nervous tension had bubbled away throughout the early stages of the side's 12.10 (82) to 3.12 (30) victory at the Gabba, but the Saints controlled the contest after half-time to notch one of their most important wins of the last decade.
The loss put an end to a four-year run of finals for the GIANTS, who are the only club to have won at least one final in that time and who made it all the way to last year's Grand Final.
The GIANTS were unable to make the most of their early opportunities to score and place the Saints under pressure, inaccurate in front of goal as the Saints made their chances count.
St Kilda captain Jarryn Geary is the only remaining member of St Kilda's last finals side, but it will be a new breed of Saint that will guide the club into an elimination final in a fortnight's time.
Emerging midfielder Jack Steele (19 disposals, 10 clearances, two goals) was again instrumental in the contest, while developing forward Rowan Marshall (16 disposals, six marks, one goal) was dominant in attack.
Their influence was particularly prominent in a barnstorming second half, where St Kilda shed the pressure of the 'final before the finals' to kick seven unanswered goals that stretched a slender half-time lead into an unassailable one.
Greater Western Sydney was powerless to respond. Needing victory – and a significant one at that – to keep any chance of a finals push alive, the GIANTS wilted after the break and couldn't halt the momentum of the Saints.
Stephen Coniglio shrugged off the ignominy of last week's axing to win 23 disposals and six marks, but his efforts in attempting to inspire an unlikely surge into the top eight were ultimately in vein.
Instead, a third straight defeat means there will be no repeat of the GIANTS' stunning run to the Grand Final from last year. This time, the chance to re-write history come finals time will be St Kilda's responsibility.
