Full match coverage and stats<\/a><\/p>\nThe 17.13 (115) to 10.12 (72) win over Essendon in Ballarat may have just been a pre-season match, but\u00a0Wanganeen-Milera\u00a0looked a class above, kicking four goals \u2013 including three in the first half \u2013 while playing predominantly in the midfield, also racking up 28 disposals and 805 metres gained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His connection with new Saint\u00a0Liam\u00a0Ryan\u00a0was also notable when Wanganeen-Milera rested at full-forward, making the most of the former Eagle’s relentless pressure and silky skills.<\/p>\n
Fellow recruit\u00a0Tom De Koning\u00a0had a harder day in the Ballarat humidity, battling against an impressive\u00a0Lachie Blakiston\u00a0in the ruck, while Rowan\u00a0Marshall\u00a0played predominantly up forward after requesting a trade to Geelong during the off-season.<\/p>\n
After a tumultuous off-season where he wanted a trade to Hawthorn, former Essendon captain\u00a0Zach Merrett spent plenty of time forward and later in the defence, while young Bombers forward Nate\u00a0Caddy\u00a0showed his skills both in the air and at ground level, crumbing and snapping truly through traffic to get the Bombers’ second goal of the game.<\/p>\n
Hugh\u00a0Boxshall\u00a0took the mark of the pre-season with a stunning grab on the wing during the second term.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After losing Brad Hill to illness before the game, the Saints lost another in the first quarter with new co-captain and defensive pillar\u00a0Callum Wilkie\u00a0ruled out with a calf cork, which stretched the Saints’ backline in the first half. Kyle\u00a0Langford\u00a0and\u00a0Peter\u00a0Wright\u00a0capitalised, with the latter also rotating through the ruck.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zak\u00a0Johnson\u00a0impressed early with his foot skills, while\u00a0Archie\u00a0Roberts\u00a0got plenty of the footy throughout the contest.<\/p>\n
An even contest early gave way after the main change, with the Saints pulling ahead and finding multiple avenues to goal.<\/p>\n
New faces
After a busy off-season, plenty of big-name recruits strutted their stuff in the red, white and black. New ruck\u00a0Tom De Koning\u00a0took the bulk of centre ball-ups, with former Sun\u00a0Sam\u00a0Flanders\u00a0regularly in attendance as part of the Saints’ apparent first-choice onball brigade alongside Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera and Mattaes Phillipou.\u00a0Liam Ryan brought pressure at both ends of the ground, including a goal-saving tackle in the second quarter. Draftee Charlie\u00a0Banfield\u00a0only took the field in the second half, and kicked the Saints’ first goal of the final term after lining up on the wing.<\/p>\n
For the Bombers,\u00a0Hussien El Achkar\u00a0was busy, kicking a nice goal in the second quarter, while\u00a0Brayden Fiorini\u00a0covered plenty of ground on the wing and popped up for a goal.\u00a0\u00a0Jacob Farrow\u00a0had 11 touches in the backline, while\u00a0Dyson Sharp\u00a0got 14.<\/p>\n
Round one chance
Lock\u00a0Ryan\u00a0in for the Saints, with his pressure around the ground and ability to set up goals proving hugely beneficial for the Saints in the clash.\u00a0Flanders\u00a0is also clearly a lock, while\u00a0Boxshall’s\u00a0willingness to put his body on the line will have him in the frame for selection.<\/p>\n
One of the Bombers’ top draft picks,\u00a0Sharp\u00a0had plenty of run and gun and should be in the frame for a round one berth. Expect\u00a0Fiorini\u00a0to slot straight into a role on the wing, while\u00a0Johnson’s\u00a0elite delivery was on full show in the slippery conditions in Ballarat.\u00a0Jayden\u00a0Nguyen\u00a0had his work cut out for him against St Kilda goalsneak Jack Higgins but battled well, while\u00a0Hussien El Achkar’s\u00a0attack on the contest was admirable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Medical room
Injury woes for the Saints began before the first ball-up, with\u00a0Brad\u00a0Hill\u00a0withdrawn prior to the game due to illness.\u00a0Callum Wilkie\u00a0is in danger of missing the first AFL game of his career next week after being ruled out of the practice match in the first quarter with a corked calf.\u00a0De\u00a0Koning\u00a0copped an elbow to the cheek in a ruck contest with Blakiston in the second quarter and left the field with blood streaming from a cut on his cheekbone, but later returned to the field all patched up. Re-drafted winger\u00a0Ryan\u00a0Byrnes\u00a0also left the field in the third quarter with a right ankle issue, later looking distraught in the rooms.<\/p>\n
Fantasy watch
The Saints were big on the Fantasy scoreboard as\u00a0Jack Sinclair (DEF, $1,057,000) racked up 39 disposals and 10 marks, scoring 149 points in the friendly role he has made his own behind the ball.\u00a0Marcus Windhager (MID, $860,000)\u00a0might be a nice late selection in draft if he can gather the Sherrin as he did against the Dons. He finished with 136 thanks to 41 disposals and nine marks. But it was\u00a0Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (DEF, $1,163,000)\u00a0that did as he pleased in the midfield and playing up forward. He booted four goals and scored 120.\u00a0Sam Flanders (FWD, $716,000)\u00a0ticked the boxes and\u00a0Mattaes Phillipou (FWD, $610,000)\u00a0enjoyed a 55-point second half with plenty of midfield time, making him a worthy value forward selection. Essendon’s ruck,\u00a0Lachie Blakiston (DEF, $399,000), had 41 points at quarter-time. If there was any doubt on him as a starting option, his performance \u2013 finishing with 86 points \u2013 should make him a must-start. Archie Roberts (DEF, $901,000) enjoyed his extra run through the midfield as the only Bomber to reach triple figures while\u00a0Dyson Sharp (MID, $302,000)\u00a0has put his hand up for a round one debut. He scored 48.\u00a0– Warnie from The Traders<\/p>\n
ST KILDA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a04.4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 7.8\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a012.10\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 17.13 (115)
ESSENDON\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a03.3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 6.6\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 8.10\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a010.12 (72)<\/p>\n
GOALS
St Kilda: Wanganeen-Milera 4, Higgins 3, Marshall 2, Owens 2, Stocker, Macrae, Garcia, Sharman, Ryan, Banfield
Essendon: Wright 2, Langford 2, May 2, Caddy, El Achkar, Clarke, Fiorini<\/p>\n
BEST
St Kilda: Wanganeen-Milera, Windhager, Sinclair, Boxshall, Ryan
Essendon: Roberts, Blakiston, Johnson, Langford, Fiorini<\/p>\n
INJURIES
St Kilda: Hill (illness), Wilkie (corked calf), Byrnes (ankle)
Essendon: Nil<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera celebrates a goal during St Kilda’s AAMI Community Series clash against Essendon on February 28, 2026.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509773,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85,83],"class_list":["post-509772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports","tag-text"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509772","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=509772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}