Saints skipper has eye on flag - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Saints skipper has eye on flag

By Adam Cooper 19/09/2009 03:25:20 PM Comments (0)

Two hours to go is how St Kilda skipper Nick Riewoldt is approaching Saturday's AFL grand final.

Immediately after the Saints' win over the Western Bulldogs in Friday night's preliminary final at the MCG, they stressed they would try to keep things as low-key as they could during the biggest week of the season.

Riewoldt was outstanding in the second half against the Doggies with four goals, including the last two of the match - one which put his side in front and the other that sealed a seven-point win.

But he made it clear the Saints were not yet finished.

"It's what you play footy for, to find yourself in this situation," he said after the 9.6 (60) to 7.11 (53) victory.

"We've been working hard for a long time to get to this situation and now it's about getting out and performing for two hours.

"There's much bigger stakes, but at the end of the day it's another game of football."

Riewoldt, who declared his right knee fine despite another jarring, said he and his team-mates knew not to panic despite them slipping behind the Doggies early in the game.

"We took a lot out of Collingwood's performance last week, the way they ground out a solid win over four quarters (against Adelaide in the semi-final)," he said.

"It was similar for us ... behind early and not playing as well as we could have, but we ground it out and played for the full 120 minutes, which is something we've tried to practise all year.

"If you keep persevering and grinding it out then you give yourself the best opportunity to come out on top."

Team-mate Brendon Goddard also ran with the "business as usual" theme, but admitted he would aim to stay busy to keep his mind occupied.

"I don't know what to expect next week, having a few things to do outside the footy club," he said.

"But training's going to be as normal, we're going to go through the preparation, look at the game, analyse it and put it into training."

St Kilda's opponents will be determined by the outcome of Saturday night's Geelong-Collingwood clash at the MCG.

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