Friday’s AFL 2018 Round 18 match is between St Kilda Saints and Richmond Tigers. The opening kick is set to commence at 19:50 local time with the game to be played at Etihad Stadium. The away team Richmond Tigers are the favourites for the match.
View our preview and teams for the game between St Kilda Saints and Richmond Tigers.
When: 19:50 | Friday 20/07/2018
Where: Etihad Stadium
Preview:
A win is a win for the Saints albeit against the worst team in the competition last week.
The key for the Saints will be trying to replicate what the Giants did against Richmond.
The Giants had some success playing a kicking game with less handball.
Despite their loss to the Giants, I thought the Tigers were still pretty good and will take great confidence out of their form in Melbourne this year.
KEY BATTLE: Alex Rance v Tim Membrey
Membrey has got his goal kicking boots back on in the last month or so and is the Saints’ most dangerous forward
The Verdict
Richmond won’t lose two in a row and will win comfortably.
Jason Castagna has been the first goal-scorer in two of Richmond’s last three matches at Etihad Stadium.
Unibet Odds:
St Kilda Saints at $6.50
Richmond Tigers at $1.12
Odds:
Tip: Richmond Tigers at $1.13
Value Bet: First Goal Scorer: Jack Riewoldt at $7.00
More Info:
Teams:
St Kilda Saints: 
B: Geary, Carlisle, Savage
HB: McKenzie, Gilbert, Newnes
C: Phillips, Steele, Sinclair
HF: Battle, Membrey, Billings
F: Gresham, Marshall, Weller
FOLL: Hickey, Ross, Steven
I/C: Dunstan, Clark, Armitage, Rice
EMG: Acres, Longer, Coffield, Paton
IN: Battle, Ross
OUT: Webster, Lonie
Richmond Tigers: 
B: Astbury, Rance, Grimes
HB: Short, Vlastuin, Broad
C: Grigg, Cotchin, Prestia
HF: Rioli, Lambert, Castagna
F: Moore, Riewoldt, Caddy
FOLL: Nankervis, Edwards, Martin
I/C: Higgins, B. Ellis, Menadue, McIntosh
EMG: Townsend, Garthwaite, Baker, Stengle
IN: Broad, Menadue, McIntosh
OUT: Houli, Bolton, C. Ellis
AFL News:
Richmond have revisited last year’s nightmare AFL loss to St Kilda in a bid to avoid being jumped by the Saints in the annual Maddie’s Match.
The Tigers were powerless to stop the rampant Saints in a stunning 67-point upset at Etihad Stadium in round 17 last season.
Richmond went on to win nine of their next 10 games on the way to the flag while St Kilda faded to an 11th-placed finish.
The Tigers nonetheless need no reminding of the threat posed by the Saints ahead of Friday night’s third annual Maddie’s Match to raise awareness of bone marrow failure syndrome.
Maddie Riewoldt, the younger sister of Saints great Nick and cousin of Richmond forward Jack, died in 2015 aged 26.
Tigers backmen Alex Rance, Dylan Grimes and David Astbury lowered their colours during last year’s game with Riewoldt, Tim Membrey and Josh Bruce, who will miss the remainder of the season with a broken leg, running riot for the Saints.
Astbury appeared alongside Bruce and the Riewoldts at a promotional event on Monday and admitted the Tigers had been powerless to stop the onslaught.
“I’m sort of happy to see Joshie on crutches to be honest,” Astbury joked.
“Nick gave us absolute nightmares in that game as well – we thought he was going to play for another five years after that.
“I think they were 90-something points at halftime and we felt like we’d just been chucked in a hurricane.
“We did review the game and we were just out-muscled at the contest. I think if you ask anyone at St Kilda, that’s probably the best game of footy they’ve played for a while.
“We’re hoping we don’t come up against the same thing but we’ll be prepared for it and we hope that we give the fans a better showing than we did last time.”
The Tigers have remained a force to be reckoned with this season and sit top of the ladder with six rounds remaining.
St Kilda are stuck in the bottom four but have looked much-improved over the past month, winning three of their past four games.
“I think it’s probably more of an attitudinal type of thing,” Bruce said of the Saints’ turnaround.
“I think we went away from our one-wood which is our pressure and our ferocious tackling intensity. We’ve been really focusing on that and reviewing that really strongly at training and at games so I think that’ll be the main difference.”