V 
Carlton V St Kilda
Sunday 26 May 2019 @ 3.20pm
Marvel Stadium
Head to Head:
Played 219 – Carlton 162 wins, St Kilda 55 wins, 2 draws
Last Time They Met: St Kilda 16.20.116 def Carlton 7.10.52
Last Round: Carlton Belted severely
St Kilda 10.11.71 def by Collingwood 17.10.112
The eagerly anticipated Carlton v St Kilda clash (there has to be someone eagerly anticipating this clash). Carlton still holds a huge advantage in the overall head to head battle between the 2 teams however the Saints have held sway for much of the last 15 years. Carlton have a clear picture of where they are heading with the accent being on getting games into the youngsters on the list whereas St Kilda look to be torn between looking towards the future & staying competitive in the present.
Key Players
Carlton
Paddy Cripps – Has now taken his game to a whole new level with many indicators pointing to him being the best player in the competition.
Jacob Weitering & Liam Jones – The 2 KPDs have developed a very good understanding & complement each other really well. With Membrey & Bruce both capable of kicking a bag, the Carlton duo will need to be at their best.
Sam Petrevski-Seton – As he demonstrated against the Bulldogs, if he gets huge numbers his impact on the game is massive. A fantastic user of the ball who the Carlton forwards will be hoping can give them pinpoint delivery
Matty Kreuzer – When Kreuzer is fit & healthy, chances are Carlton is up & running. His work in the ruck against an undermanned St Kilda ruck division could go a long way towards deciding the result.
Harry McKay – Despite the Carlton forward line also containing Charlie Curnow & Mitch McGovern, Harry is the forward who is really capable of worrying the opposition. When he is in a good headspace he is extremely hard to stop.
St Kilda
Jack Billings – The Carlton faithful witnessed first hand in 2017 the match winning capabilities of Billings when he had 30 disposals, took 12 marks & kicked 5 goals. He will need to be checked closely to prevent a repeat of this sort of game.
Tim Membrey – Has been an important cog in the Saints’ forward line over the last few seasons & has kicked 18 goals so far this season. He also has performed well against Carlton in the past so he must not be allowed too many looks at the goals.
Shane Savage – Continues to be a consistent accumulator & provides plenty of run for the Saints. He is the type of player who can break the lines, making defences nervous as he delivers inside 50.
Jack Steele – In the absence of Jack Steven, who has hurt Carlton in the past, Steele will need to find a lot of the ball, along with the aforementioned Billings & Luke Dunstan.
Josh Bruce – Another Saint who is capable of kicking multiple goals. He is the type of player who is inclined to bring their best against Carlton.
Who Will Win & Why
St Kilda defied expectations at the start of the season, winning 4 of their first 5 games, the only loss being a 5 point defeat by Fremantle. They have subsequently lost their last 4 games by an average of 33 points. The absence of key players is really testing their depth.
Carlton has been in winning positions in 4 games, but has only managed to bring home the bacon in one of these games. Inconsistency of effort within some games has been a significant contributing factor to the overall win/loss results.
After being smashed by the Giants, Carlton must come out & make it very clear that in no way is such a performance acceptable at any level. With this in mind, I am expecting Carlton to get over the line in a closely fought battle by 12 points.
