{"id":780358,"date":"2026-07-05T10:09:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T10:09:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/780358\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T10:09:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T10:09:56","slug":"afl-2026-st-kilda-saints-vs-essendon-bombers-round-17-2026-scores-results-odds-stats-and-start-time-from-marvel-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/780358\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL 2026: St Kilda Saints vs Essendon Bombers round 17 2026, scores, results, odds, stats and start time from Marvel Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Essendon\u2019s season of struggle continued as St Kilda, particularly Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, gave them a school-holidays lesson, winning by 67 points at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.<\/p>\n

With the crowd of 34,713 bolstered by families due to the winter school holidays, Wanganeen-Milera dominated the hapless, coachless Dons, shedding two taggers and showing yet again the gulf between the current best Essendon players and the AFL\u2019s elite.<\/p>\n

\"NasiahNasiah Wanganeen-Milera of the Saints marks the ball.AFL Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Wanganeen-Milera finished one possession shy Leigh Montagna\u2019s St Kilda club record of 47 in 2013. But he wasn\u2019t the only Saint to feast on the Bombers. Bradley Hill and Max Hall got their piece of the action as their side kicked 10 goals in a row in the second term while building a lead of the same margin.<\/p>\n

Together, Wanganeen-Milera (24), Hill (24) and Hall (21) had more disposals at half-time than the whole Bombers team had in the first term (66). And all three Saints went on to finish with career-high disposal tallies.<\/p>\n

Wanganeen-Milera also kicked a goal and gained 906 metres, while Hill amassed 42 disposals, and Hall\u2019s disposals numbered 33, leaving the umpires with three clear candidates to share the votes on Brownlow Medal night.<\/p>\n

There were few positives for interim Dons coach Dean Solomon beyond Sam Durham\u2019s relentless drive and effort and the burgeoning partnership between young forwards Isaac Kako and Nate Caddy (three goals).<\/p>\n

\"MattaesMattaes Phillipou is tackled by Sam Durham.Getty Images<\/p>\n

While his shots for goal were off the mark, Caddy twice kicked goals from Kako passes, the second goal a soccer volley of a handball \u2013 even the easy goals were hard work for the Dons.<\/p>\n

Solomon said his side\u2019s second term wasn\u2019t good enough but they improved in the second half.<\/p>\n

He agreed that watching Wanganeen-Milera reminded the Dons how important it was that they find superstar talents in the drafts to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s critically important that you always nail the draft, especially where we are at [and] with a young list,\u201d Solomon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he is a superstar. We tried different options on him. Setters [Will Setterfield] started on him, he got away to a good start and then Archer Day-Wicks goes to him, he\u2019s 20, and that\u2019s great experience for him and he learns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe won\u2019t shy away from exposing these young guys to be big challenges because that is going to hold them in good stead in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saints coach Ross Lyon said, while he expected Wanganeen-Milera, Hall and Hill to perform, the performances of Hugo Garcia and Rowan Marshall were pleasing ahead next round\u2019s match against Port Adelaide.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be a top-four AFL team, you need a lot of people that can execute their role consistently,\u201d Lyon said.<\/p>\n

\"MaxMax Hall (No.40) of the Saints celebrates with Bradley Hill of the Saints after kicking a goal.Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are 7-9 [win-loss for the season] and we haven\u2019t been able to do that well enough for long enough. There are clearly bigger challenges than Essendon at the moment, with the greatest respect, but you can only do what you did.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou aim for that weight-of-numbers performance, you need that. But you also need your top-flight players playing well, which we got today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Essendon were closer to the Saints on the scoreboard in the second half, but it meant little after they were so thoroughly dominated in the first half.<\/p>\n

For the briefest of opening moments of the game, it seemed like the Bombers might be ready to pounce on the Saints.<\/p>\n

In the opening minute, the Saints won the footy and Wanganeen-Milera streamed into the forward 50m arc with eyes for the goals, but close behind was Bombers veteran Zach Merrett dived and almost brought down the Saints superstar.<\/p>\n

But Wanganeen-Milera got a toe to the ball and no one from Essendon was quick enough to grab the footy, allowing the Saints to regain it and work it to Darcy Wilson, who snapped the opening goal.<\/p>\n

From that point the man known as \u201cNas\u201d dominated and the Saints never trailed.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Wanganeen-Milera had 13 disposals and a goal in the opening term as first Will Setterfield and later Archer Day-Wicks failed to curtail his impact. In truth, the only thing limiting the Saints was their wasteful kicking for goal, and that improved once ruckman Rowan Marshall threaded the needle with a shot from the right boundary after the quarter-time siren.<\/p>\n

Anthony Caminiti, Hill and Mitch Owens kicked goals early in the second term \u2013 Hill\u2019s came after a 50m penalty against Day-Wicks for flooring Wanganeen-Milera off the ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least he is showing some fight, sticking to his task,\u201d former Saint Nick Dal Santo said on Kayo Sports. It was that kind of day for the Dons.<\/p>\n

Roos fade against Power, squander top-eight chance<\/p>\n

Steve Larkin<\/p>\n

Port Adelaide attacking duo Mitch Georgiades and Jack Whitlock kicked three goals each in a comeback 21-point victory over North Melbourne.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Kangaroos trudge off Adelaide Oval, which has become an unhappy hunting ground for them.Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Power kicked the last four goals of the game for a plucky 10.13 (73) to 7.10 (52) win at Adelaide Oval on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

North blew an opportunity to take eighth spot on the ladder thus they remain 11th with eight wins and eight losses.<\/p>\n

After leading by a goal late in the third quarter, the Kangaroos added just one point in the last term for another miserable trip to Adelaide Oval, where they have lost 14 from 14 games.<\/p>\n

The Power, with three wins from their past five matches and six from the past 10, are 15th.<\/p>\n

But first-year coach Josh Carr\u2019s defensive code again proved too hard for their opposition to crack. Despite Port\u2019s lowly ladder status, they\u2019re second-best for scores against.<\/p>\n

Port\u2019s Jason Horne-Francis (24 disposals, nine clearances) was a standout against his former club, while acting captain Zak Butters (26 touches) was again busy.<\/p>\n

Georgiades controlled the Power\u2019s attack alongside his emerging sidekick Whitlock, while veteran Darcy Byrne-Jones (24) was influential at half-back.<\/p>\n

\"HarryHarry Sheezel\u2019s star showing wasn\u2019t enough for the Kangaroos to get a win.AFL Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n

North\u2019s Harry Sheezel, a week after collecting 43 disposals, gathered 40 and a goal.<\/p>\n

Sheezel\u2019s midfield mates Luke Davies-Uniacke (21, one goal) and Colby McKercher (28, one goal) were also dynamic.<\/p>\n

\"JackJack Whitlock is emerging as another prong in the Port Adelaide attack.AFL Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Veterans Luke Parker (27 touches) and Jack Darling (two goals) proved their worth, but the Roos were overwhelmed late by a fast-finishing Port.<\/p>\n

Both clubs scored just one goal in a dour opening term highlighted by the ball-winning of North duo Davies-Uniacke (14 disposals) and Sheezel (12).<\/p>\n

Rising tall forward Whitlock kicked the opening two goals of the second term before the tide continued Port\u2019s way with a deliberate rushed behind call.<\/p>\n

North\u2019s Cooper Harvey stopped near the goal line and assessed his options before taking backward steps when Port\u2019s Georgiades approached.<\/p>\n

The umpire deemed it deliberate and the Power spearhead converted for an 18-point break. His side held that margin until half-time, 5.5 to 2.5.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Brayden<\/a><\/p>\n

Port skipped 25 points clear when Georgiades snared his third just two minutes into the third term.<\/p>\n

But just when the Kangaroos appeared down and out, they responded with an unheralded scoring spree of five consecutive goals.<\/p>\n

Livewires Sheezel and McKercher were among the scorers in the burst as the visitors hit the front, only for Port\u2019s Horne-Francis to goal with a 55m bomb on the run to level scores at three-quarter time, 7.9 apiece.<\/p>\n

A desperate, but goalless, dozen minutes opened the final quarter before Port\u2019s Corey Durdin bounced through an accurate snap to create a seven-point buffer.<\/p>\n

Georgiades then capped his eye-catching display with a 45m set shot before Jackson Mead converted to seal victory before 33,105 spectators.
AAP<\/p>\n

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\"RoyRoy Ward<\/a> is a sports writer, live blogger and breaking news journalist. He’s been writing for The Age since 2010.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":780359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-780358","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"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780358","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=780358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/780359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}