1. Courage under fire
St Kilda's 22 was under the watchful eye of the club's last premiership team on Saturday, and 'Cowboy' Neale and Co. surely could not have been prouder in one of coach Alan Richardson's best wins in charge. The injury-hit Saints played much of the second half with one man on the bench, and the midfielders particularly struggled without rotations (they used 72 of their 90). To honour that 1966 team, which defeated Collingwood 50 years ago in the club's only Grand Final victory, the Saints' premiership heroes were met with a guard of honour from Richardson's men. Barry Breen and Neale carried the premiership cup onto the MCG before Nick Riewoldt gathered his troops and ran through the banner, which simply read: 'Honour the 1966 premiership team'. They were simple directions that the players followed to a tee.
2. "A mark like that could be the making of this kid"
It was unfortunate that a mark that earned such high praise from a champion forward eventually ended Paddy McCartin's day. The young Saint ran back with the flight of the ball in the second quarter and took the sort of breathtaking grab St Kilda fans have been waiting to see from their No.1 draft pick. "That's as strong as you get; that's Nick Riewoldt-like," AFL legend Wayne Carey said on Triple M radio. "A mark like that could be the making of this kid." McCartin was forced to leave the ground and failed a subsequent concussion test.
3. Riewoldt cut down in his prime
Nick Riewoldt was running like a 25-year-old in the first half on Saturday, lining up on the wing and winning the ball at both ends of the grounds. By quarter-time he had nine disposals and six marks, taking four of those in space after extended gut running. It was an incredible half for a 33-year-old who played his 300th game one week ago. He kicked on to slot his second goal half way through the second quarter after being collected by Levi Greenwood, but that was his last involvement, coming to the bench and failing a concussion test.
4. Pendlebury sore and sorry
For the second week running, Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury was played off half-back for the majority of the match, but it was the third quarter when his absence from the centre square was most puzzling. The star onballer, who took a rib injury into last week's win over Richmond, had just four possessions for the third term as the Saints dominated out of the middle and kicked six goals to one. St Kilda won four centre clearances to two in the quarter to get momentum going their way in what proved to be the match-winning term. Pendlebury was still among his team's better players, winning 12 of his 27 possessions in the last quarter.
5. Jeremy Howe quiet on debut
It is inevitable that Collingwood recruit Jeremy Howe will be compared to the two players the Magpies gave up to land him, and so far the deal is not looking good. Ben Kennedy and Paul Seedsman have made bright starts at Melbourne and Adelaide, and Howe was unsighted for much of Saturday's debut. The high-flying former Demon had an interrupted pre-season with foot and hand injuries, and he returned through the VFL before Saturday's debut. It was underwhelming first showing, with Howe winning his first touch nine minutes into the second quarter and finishing with eight possessions and one goal.
