Demon's outlook unclear after clash with Blue
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Perth Now
30 minutes ago
- Perth Now
The 'humble freak' St Kilda love and want to keep
St Kilda want Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera to stay "forever" but Saints teammate Hunter Clark says there will be no hard feelings if the matchwinning star returns to South Australia. Wanganeen-Milera wrote himself into St Kilda folklore at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, lifting the Saints to the biggest three-quarter-time comeback - 46 points - in VFL/AFL history. The silky 22-year-old kicked the final two goals in just 14 seconds of game time as St Kilda pinched a remarkable six-point victory over Melbourne. Wanganeen-Milera's soaring mark over Demons forward Bayley Fritsch to set up the game-equalling goal even prompted an emotional reaction of disbelief from usually solemn Saints coach Ross Lyon. Clark, who also produced some important moments late against Melbourne, was in awe at what Wanganeen-Milera achieved. "He's obviously got a really big decision, and he'll do what's best for himself, and there'll be no hard feelings either way," Clark told AAP. "Obviously we'd love him to stay forever; he's going to be, if he's not already, up there for one of the best players in the competition. "He's only 22 so I think his future is going to be so bright and he deserves everything that comes his way." Wanganeen-Milera remains unsigned for next season as he contemplates massive offers from Adelaide and Port Adelaide to play back in his home state. He was drafted with pick 11 out of Glenelg in 2021, playing 82 games for the Saints. St Kilda have also thrown a big contract in front of him as arguably the key player in the club's rebuild and bid for an elusive second premiership. Wanganeen-Milera, who had a game-high 34 disposals alongside his match-winning four goals, was in doubt to play against the Demons due to a stye in his eye. The club doctor called Lyon early on Sunday morning to let him know his best player was in doubt, but Wanganeen-Milera reassured his coach he would be fine. "He's an absolute freak," Clark said of his teammate's skill. "But he's such a good man. "The way he plays, almost you'd expect him to just be this real out there character, like he probably has every right to just strut around. "But he's the most humble bloke you'll come across. "He's an absolute freak of a talent, but he works as hard as anyone. It's not all just what you see on the field. "He's absolute star, and I think he's made for those moments." After just their second win since the start of May, St Kilda can take confidence out of their Marvel miracle into 2026. "If we can just finish the year strong, just keep getting experience into everyone and keep growing," Clark said. "Then just get to work over the summer. "It's not just going to happen in a day. "I see a lot of the teams over the last few years, it can take five or six years until you have gone through s**t, until you get there."
Daily Telegraph
4 hours ago
- Daily Telegraph
Melbourne Vixens stun NSW Swifts in preliminary final comeback, grand final vs West Coast Fever
Don't miss out on the headlines from Netball. Followed categories will be added to My News. Melbourne Vixens are riding high after a last ditch effort to beat the NSW Swifts by 66 to 65 points, to book their place in the 2025 Super Netball grand final. They came from behind in the dying seconds of the game, having trailed 51-41 after the third quarter, and will go into next week's match full of confidence having won eight of their last ten games. Watch every game of the 2025 Suncorp Super Netball season, LIVE on Kayo. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. Standing in their way however, will be the formidable West Coast Fever, who demolished the Swifts by 32 points in last weekend's major semi-final. Speaking post match captain and MVP Kate Moloney said, 'I'm exhausted but I'm so bloody proud. We were down by ten goals and we found something in that last quarter and they just never stopped fighting.' Coaching her second last match with the Vixens, Simone McKinnis, added, 'We weren't going to walk away from here afraid to take risks. They saw a glimpse and a hope and away they went.' It was the greatest preliminary final comeback in Super Netball history, beating the nine-goal market the Vixens set in 2022 against the Giants. It was a dismal end to the season for Swifts, despite the return of inspirational captain Paige Hadley who has missed the last two rounds with a foot injury. While she provided a calm head and safe pair of hands, the Swifts have been bundled out of the finals in straight sets, after looking untouchable as they went undefeated through the first eight rounds. Melbourne Vixens players celebrate. (Photo by) Simone McKinnis inspired her players. (Photo by) There was immense pressure from the opening whistle, causing fumbles, stray passes and uncharacteristic missed shots. The Swifts were first to take advantage of those errors, going long and high to Grace Nweke in the circle. Despite her athleticism, some balls were sprayed over her head or swatted away by goal keeper Rudi Ellis who finished with six gains, allowing the Vixens to shift gears and take a three point lead into the first break. The Swifts hit the front in the second quarter as their confidence grew, with Helen Housby raising the bar after a quiet few weeks. Passes started going in more smoothly to the circle, with Nweke lifting her shooting from a subpar 77 percent in the first quarter to a total of 53/58 at 91 percent across the match. With the Swifts' Sharni Lambden applying enormous pressure at wing defence, Vixens' skipper Moloney did everything she could to pull her side over the line. She had a strong connection with Sophie Garbin under the post, who picked up the slack while the hero of so many victories, Kiera Austin, struggled for influence early on. The Swifts couldn't believe it. (Photo by Mark) The Vixens seemed down and out of the contest with the deficit sitting at 11 points and their penalties twice their opponents, until Lily Graham sank consecutive supershots to bring the margin back to single digits. In an inspirational last quarter Austin finally switched on her radar when it counted, firing in three long range shots to finish with 12/16 including four from five supershots, while her partner Garbin had a solid 46/47. The Vixens found another gear and rolled over the Swifts in highly emotional scenes. MCKINNIS MAGIC Simone McKinnis will make her final appearance as Vixens' coach in next weekend's grand final, after 212 games in charge of the club. Across 13 years, she's taken them to two titles, three minor premierships and a further three grand final appearances, and will leave massive shoes to fill. It looked like it was going to be McKinnis' final game in charge at the end of the third quarter but an inspiration and emotional final address helped inspire the Vixens to life. 'We have nothing to lose here! Except for throwing our best selves as this contest,' McKinnis said. PAIN FOLLOWS A POINT Remarkably, the previous three Super Netball preliminary finals have been decided by a solitary point, with the Vixens taking out two of those wins, and the Swifts the other. Despite moving on into the grand final, neither side was then able to steal the ultimate victory. Originally published as Super Netball stunner as emotional speech sparks all-time Vixens comeback
News.com.au
6 hours ago
- News.com.au
Roos' identity crisis amid Clarko question as ‘sickening' loss lays bare failed draft trade gamble
Questions continue to be asked of North Melbourne's on-field identity after a 'sickening' 101-point loss to Geelong on Saturday night amid more evidence of a failed draft gamble. The Kangaroos finished a staggering -41 for inside-50s, -10 for clearances, -16 for contested possessions, and -18 for marks inside 50 on a night they couldn't come close to halving the territory battle nor begin to contain the Cats' purring forward line, with superstar Jeremy Cameron running riot for 11 majors. It was North Melbourne's 14th-straight defeat at the hands of Geelong and its fifth-straight loss as it remains with a measly four wins to its name for the season. FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer. 'For North Melbourne fans, that would've been a sickening watch; incredibly frustrating. You feel sorry for the Kangaroos fans, who have watched this for six years,' the Herald Sun's Jay Clark told Fox Footy's Super Saturday Live post-match coverage. Dual All-Australian and two-time Kangaroos premiership player David King pondered the machinations of the club's game plan and lamented its inability to adequately defend. 'This (the North Melbourne rooms) would be an awful place to be, at the moment. It's a tough one, because when you watch them play, it's kind of difficult to work out what they're trying to execute,' he began. 'Are they handballing when the options are available, and then run and gun? Or is it take territory and get numbers to drop of ball? Is it a mix of both? I don't know what they're doing defensively; that's just not working at all — 40 (Geelong) scores tonight.' The Cats scored 27 times from 58 intercepts on Saturday night, exemplifying the ease of which they were able to transition and punish the Roos on the counter. 'They just smashed them; they walked through them. The amount of times Jeremy Cameron was out the back by himself, and it'd be uncontested possession, uncontested possession, goal,' King continued. 'I'd love to ask Alastair Clarkson 'what are you trying to achieve?' Show us what it should look like, and then we can at least enjoy the ride. Because we just go from week to week and not see it. We have seen it in patches throughout the year, but we're not seeing it now. 'I know the ruckman's (Tristan Xerri) not there, I know Nick Larkey's not there, but that shouldn't have as big an effect as what it does on their ability to stop the opposition moving the ball full length of the ground.' Patrick Dangerfield was tactically substituted out of the game, his 200th for Geelong, and the sight of the veteran sitting on the bench munching on a kebab while the game was still going on would have rubbed salt into the wound for North fans. Serious questions continue to be asked of the Roos' direction under Alastair Clarkson in the third year of the four-time premiership coach's reign, with the club benefitting from top picks for the better part of the past six years. In 55 games under Clarkson, North Melbourne is 10-44-1. The club has finished 17th on the ladder in consecutive seasons and currently sits 17th with four games left to go this season. Asked when the pressure on Clarkson genuinely gets turned up, King answered: 'It's a great question; it's hard to answer. I think you have a blind faith in the club that the decision-makers will get it right. 'Words are cheap; it's really hard to just listen to the same conversation over and over and over. It's a tough place to be, there's no doubt about that ... third year in, a penny for his thoughts, is he able to do what he once thought he could do with this group? Are there any doubts there? 'You walk off the ground tonight, you have to doubt your own plan. You've got (Jack) Darling, (Luke) Parker and (Caleb) Daniel to the club to try and stiffen up with a bit of seniority; that doesn't look like it's working as well as it probably should.' North Melbourne fielded eight former top-12 draft picks against Geelong, as King declared the club's issues didn't revolve around an absence of talented players. 'It's not a talent issue; it's a system problem,' he said. 'You can be really brutal and say 'it's coaching', right, but it's also performance of that system. 'Where's the disconnect? Are the players not understanding? Are they not prepared to work hard enough to ensure the system works? I think they're good enough, and I don't think they're that young that they can't compete defensively. That's not really a talent issue. 'I'm the same as all those people in the room and all those watching on, I don't understand the system, because I see so many flaws in it, so many holes in it. 'I don't see it; it's not consistent enough to say 'this is their identifiable brand'. And I think when you see 150 points against, I think even they'd say 'you wouldn't be able to see it tonight'.' Speaking post-game on Saturday night, Clarkson, who lamented glaringly obvious deficiencies in contest, clearance and territory, made it a point to highlight the discrepancy in experience between the sides. 'The Geelong forward line versus the North Melbourne backline, just see the void that sits there in terms of just experience and exposure,' he said. 'And I don't want to make excuses for our players, but it's where we're at, though. 'And we're giving these young players some exposure and opportunity, and in our back end in particular, we're going to be left very, very vulnerable down there against a formidable forward line if we couldn't control the middle of the ground as well as we'd like. And Geelong was too good in that space.' The Roos fielded the second-youngest team in the competition in Round 20, with eight-game key defender Wil Dawson among those in royal blue and white tortured by Cameron and the Cats, who licked their lips each time they entered forward 50. 'Everyone will look at win-loss and all that sort of stuff, and making progress — and even if it is just win-loss, we have made some progress,' said Clarkson in his press conference. 'But we've had three performances that were well below our best, which (were) the Carlton game in Round 6 here, the Hawthorn game about a month ago down in Tassie, and tonight. 'But outside of that, we've been much more competitive than what we were last year, winning more quarters and being in more games at three-quarter-time than we had last year.' But while Clarkson continues to preach that non-linear progress continues to be made at Arden Street, the Roos' list management's choice to trade away the club's first-round pick this year has come back to bite hard. Last November, North Melbourne — banking on a significant uptick this season — traded its future first-round pick to Richmond to secure the No.27 selection, key-position utility Matt Whitlock, who has played just one senior game in his debut season. That future choice is currently slated to wind up as the second overall pick. Injecting young talent isn't as urgent for the Roos as it has been in previous seasons, but given the stagnancy of this season, it's premium draft capital they'd absolutely love to have this off-season. 'I think they thought they would be further progressed, because they did trade that pick away,' Clark said on Fox Footy. 'Would they have traded that No.2 pick away if they thought they were going to finish second-last on the ladder? No way. They thought they would be up the ladder; they thought they would improve, that's why they gave that pick away. 'So, it tells you that they thought they would be better than they're at; that's really clear.' The Roos are currently slated to make their first draft choice this November at No.20, holding a pair of picks at the top of the second round.
