Both coaches backed their players in one-on-one from the first bounce with the mouth-watering match-ups many expected falling into place. Clint Jones went to Brownlow Medallist Gary Ablett, while Cats tagger Cameron Ling sidled up to creative Saint Nick Dal Santo. Joel Corey started on Lenny Hayes and Corey Enright went with Leigh Montagna. Harry Taylor went straight to Nick Riewoldt and Matthew Scarlett to Justin Koschtizke while at the other end Zac Dawson was left standing Cameron Mooney.
FOUR QUARTERS
Q1: St Kilda 3.2 (20) v Geelong 3.0 (18)
Max Rooke foreshadowed his great performance with a super chase down of Raphael Clarke to kick the opener. The Cats were in lower and harder early but as the quarter settled, the Saints started to get on top through Hayes. The key Saint was allowed to run relatively free, with Cat Joel Selwood afforded a similar luxury at times. Both booted goals within a couple of minutes of each other, but it was Hayes' 11 first-quarter possessions and five clearances that looked like shaping the match.
Q2: St Kilda 7.7 (49) v Geelong 7.1 (43)
Sean Dempster kicked the first, but the Saints will rue a wasteful opening to a term they dominated early. They had 18 inside-50s to eight, but poor misses from Stephen Milne and Andrew McQualter meant they had little to show for it. Bartel had now moved onto Hayes and kept the star Saint to two possessions for the term. Steve Johnson was yet to register a possession to half time due to Steven Baker's checking.
Q3: St Kilda 9.11 (65) v Geelong 9.4 (58)
Jason Gram tied with Paul Chapman in Norm Smith Medal voting and it was the third term in which he asserted himself with 11 of his 30 possessions. Nick Riewoldt also had his best term, kicking a goal and presenting tirelessly in the arm wrestle. In the midfield it was contest after contest, with the Saints winning the contested possession count 38-37. They laid 36 tackles to Geelong's 35.
Q4: St Kilda 9.14 (68) v Geelong 12.8 (80)
Desperate and memorable individual acts at every contest defined the last term. The Cats had more of the footy and more inside-50s, but the scores were not levelled until 21 minutes in. Selwood's contested work was awe-inspiring, Baker's dive to save a goal was desperate and Scarlett's toe-poke to Ablett decisive. Ablett sent the ball forward, Travis Varcoe handballed out of the pack and Chapman kicked the winning goal 24 minutes in.
KEY MATCH-UPS
Gary Ablett v Clint Jones
The Brownlow Medallist didn’t take this game by the scruff of the neck and make it his own, but his 10 contested possessions, six clearances and second-quarter goal could not have been replaced. He took the midfield points opposed to Jones and provided the forward thrust in the final quarter to set up the match-winning major.
Lenny Hayes v Jimmy Bartel
With Ling sent to Dal Danto, Hayes dominated the first term with 11 possessions and five clearances. Bartel was charged with negating the inspirational Saint from the second quarter on and held him to 13 possessions in three quarters, winning 10 himself. Hayes, who finished with a record 18 contested possessions, was still enormous for the Saints. Without Bartel by his side he could have been a premiership player.
THE COACHES
Mark Thompson
Bomber Thompson said coaching in yesterday's grand final was easy and, with the side he has sculpted, it is little wonder. He deserves credit for grooming a team full of leaders that knew how to win Saturday's epic. Taylor had the belief to take on the game's dominate forward and the decision to keep an unchanged line-up was a winner with Shannon Byrnes' turn of speed critical at times.
Ross Lyon
Lyon led a side that statistically was the best in the club's history after a 22-3 season and they performed on the biggest stage. The coach maintained that if his player's held firm to their trademarks – tackling hard, forcing the ball forward, winning contested possession – they would give themselves the best chance of winning. They won the tackle count and the inside-50s, but had less contested ball.
HOW THE GAME WAS LOST
Inaccuracy cost Geelong in 2008 and St Kilda, which booted 9.14 for the match, will be haunted by the same mistakes. It was a wet, slippery day that didn’t suit key forwards Riewoldt and Koschitzke.
HOW THE GAME WAS WON
Thompson reminded his players at quarter time, half time and three-quarter time about the pain his club felt after last year's lost grand final. The Cats knew what it takes to win a premiership after their 2007 cakewalk. But, more importantly, they knew the pain of letting one slip.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
