Saints seek payback for suffering

Sportal ©

St Kilda might be on a club record nine-match winning streak against Carlton but vice-captain Lenny Hayes knows the Saints haven't even come close to paying back the Blues for all the suffering they have received at their hands over their years.

Hayes said Saints' supporters have been reminding him all week - in the lead-up to Saturday night's Round 2 clash at Telstra Dome - that now is not the time to ease up on a Blues' side that is confident it is about to emerge out of the darkest period in its history.

The Blues, the AFL's equal most successful club with 16 premierships, have finished in the bottom two in five of the past six seasons at a time when St Kilda - the AFL's least successful club historically with just one premiership - has been a top eight team for most of that time.

As a result the Saints find themselves in the rare position of having won their past nine matches against the Blues - by an average of 56 points - dating back to 2002 yet such has been Carlton's dominance over the Saints for more than a century that the Saints' recent winning streak has barely made a dent on the overall head-to-head record.

"Talking to the supporters they have all been saying they have been supporting the club for a long time and Carlton has given us a few beatings in their time," Hayes said.

"But we have had a pretty good run against them lately and we want to keep it going."

In the 111 year history of the competition no team has dominated another like Carlton has over St Kilda winning 156 of 202 meetings - a winning percentage of almost 78.

Before their current streak the Saints previous best run of success against Carlton was just five wins between 1963-66 while in contrast the Blues wracked up 15 wins in a row against the Saints between 1929-36, 13 in a row from 1902-06, 11 in a row from 1979-84 and ten in a row from 1944-49 and 1966-71.

In fact the Saints beat the Blues just six times in a 25-year period between 1967-91 so is it any wonder the fans are lapping up the club's current dominance against Carlton.

But Hayes knows the Blues are getting closer to breaking their rare drought against the Saints, given they ran them to ten points in their last meeting late last year and are now bolstered not only by the return of vice-captain Nick Stevens from a neck injury but the addition of former West Coast captain Chris Judd.

"With Nick Stevens coming back and obviously Judd coming in there has been a lot of hype about them," he said.

"They have got a lot of talent and their younger players have got a lot more games behind them now so we are definitely not going to underestimate them because they had a very game against us last year and almost got over the top of us."

The Saints meanwhile are set to be boosted this week by the return of spearhead Fraser Gehrig, who missed the opening round due to a calf strain sustained in the pre-season, while Jason Blake - a late withdrawal last week due to illness - should also be available

And long-term casualties Matt Maguire (foot) and Brendon Goddard (knee) are also expected to resume in the seniors within the next two to three matches.