The Saints will kick off the five game Saturday slate in Round 11 of the AFL as they host the Hawks from 1.45pm at Marvel Stadium. As always, we have you covered with a full preview and betting tips for the clash below.
AFL Round 11 Preview & Betting Tips
St Kilda vs Hawthorn
Marvel Stadium, Saturday 1:45pm (AEST)
The Saints bounced back from a few down weeks in Round 10 as they travelled to Sydney and claimed a 12 point win over the Giants. In a back and forth game, the Saints kicked away half way through the third quarter and iced the game in the last, keeping the Giants to just one goal after three quarter time to come away winners.
Max King looked like he hadn’t missed a beat as he made his season debut, booting four goals for the Saints while Jack Higgins continued his impressive form with three goals. Jack Sinclair was far and away the best player on the ground though, racking up a career high 37 touches and kicking two goals to continue his already dominant season.
The Saints will be without Mitch Owens on Saturday as the young star suffered a concussion in the win over the Giants. Ben Paton, who was the sub on the weekend, will come into the starting line-up with Tim Membrey a possibility to wear the vest this Saturday.
The Hawks were labouring at the wrong end of the ladder but recorded a confidence and percentage boosting win over the West Coast Eagles in Round 10. The Hawks kicked seven goals to two in the first quarter and never looked back, running out 116 point winners over the Eagles, holding them goalless for the entire 2nd half.
Mitch Lewis was impressive in the win, booting six goals on the back of eight marks, but will have his hands full this week as he takes on the best defence in the league statistically in the Saints.
The Hawks won’t make any changes to their line-up from the Round 10 win over the Eagles, but they are still without some key players including Changkouth Jiath (calf) and Chad Wingard (calf).
The Saints start as 26.5 point favourites here, which I think is a touch high given the way they have been winning games this season. They play an extremely defensive game style that promotes closer margins even when they have complete control of the game.
At no stage during the fourth quarter of their win over the Giants in Round 10 would you have thought that the Saints were going to lose, but they still only managed to win by a margin of 12 points.
Under the roof and with a little boost of confidence after their win last week, I think the Hawks will stay in this contest.
Hawthorn +26.5
$1.90 (1 Unit)
Same Game Multi
Dan Butler 1+ Goal - After a bit of a slower start to the season, Butler has been back in the goals over the last month. He has kicked nine goals in his last five games, kicking at least one in each of them.
Jack Sinclair 25+ Disposals - Sinclair is in All Australian form at the moment and has been taking on an increased role in the midfield over the last few weeks. Had 37 in Round 10 and should cruise past 25 this week, as he has done in eight of his 10 games this season.
Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera 20+ Disposals - Wanganeen-Milera has taken over the Brad Hill role as the QB off half back for the Saints and is even getting a little bit more of that ball given Sinclair’s move into the midfield. Had 29 in the win over the Giants and has cleared the 20 mark in five of his last seven.
Same Game Multi Odds: $2.65
