{"id":478829,"date":"2026-02-14T05:19:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T05:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/478829\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T05:19:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T05:19:18","slug":"track-watch-st-kilda-recruit-richmond-leader-dominate-practice-matches-afl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/478829\/","title":{"rendered":"Track watch: St Kilda recruit, Richmond leader dominate practice matches – AFL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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St Kilda fans will be excited by the acquisition of Jack Silvagni<\/a> after a dominant performance in Friday’s intra-club.<\/p>\n

Silvagni was stationed in defence alongside Callum Wilkie<\/a>, Alix Tauru and Anthony Caminiti<\/a>, providing a hint as to how Ross Lyon’s backline will start in 2026.<\/p>\n

The former Blue was strong in the air, taking control of the intercept marks.<\/p>\n

High-priced recruit Tom De Koning<\/a> spent the majority of his time in the ruck, while Rowan Marshall<\/a> was placed in the front half as the Saints look to fill the Max King-sized void, with the star tall likely to miss the start of the season with a calf injury.<\/p>\n

Richmond gun midfielder Tim Taranto<\/a> showed his versatility in match simulation, booting four goals as he prepares for more time up forward.<\/p>\n

Taranto has expressed a willingness of the Tigers to see Sam Lalor<\/a>, Taj Hotton<\/a> and Kane McAuliffe<\/a> in the midfield, meaning the ex-Giant will be pushed inside 50.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the two-time Jack Dyer medallist slotted four goals in three 20-minute, plus time-on, quarters.<\/p>\n

Hotton was arguably best afield for the Tigers, showcasing his craft in traffic and clean ball use.<\/p>\n

Emerging gun forward Harry Armstrong<\/a> bested Taranto with five majors, as fellow key tall Mykelti Lefua slotted four.<\/p>\n

North Melbourne’s Matt Whitlock<\/a> was a significant scoreboard contributor at Arden Street Oval, kicking five goals.<\/p>\n

Whitlock played exclusively in defence in 2025, but a switch up forward reaped rewards for the Kangaroos.<\/p>\n

Top draftee Lachy Dovaston<\/a> increased his Round 1 debut chances with another impressive performance, adding three majors to his tally in 15 minutes.<\/p>\n

GWS ruck-forward Nick Madden<\/a> shun also by kicking five goals in the intra-club clash, and will be looking to rival Kieren Briggs<\/a> for the Giants’ top spot.<\/p>\n

Giant recruit Clayton Oliver<\/a> showed glimpses of his immense talent in the absence of the Origin crew.<\/p>\n

Oliver’s inside-midfield role set the tone on the day, and will be pivotal to the club’s 2026 chances following Tom Green’s suspected ACL injury.<\/p>\n

Brent Daniels<\/a> also returned from a wretched run with injury, displaying his trademark zip and creativity in the forward half.<\/p>\n

Keen observers will notice a few key positional changes over the pre-season.<\/p>\n

Finn O’Sullivan<\/a> (North Melbourne), Josh Rachele<\/a> (Adelaide) and Murphy Reid<\/a> (Fremantle) all produced stellar outings as starting midfielders for their sides.<\/p>\n

More from Friday’s match simulations<\/p>\n

Get set for the footy with the FREE Zero Hanger 2026 AFL Season Guide!<\/a> Packed with 150+ pages of player profiles, team previews, insights and analysis, the 2026 AFL Season Guide<\/a> is built for fans who want the full picture. Download your free Season Guide HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"St Kilda fans will be excited by the acquisition of Jack Silvagni after a dominant performance in Friday’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":478830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-478829","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}