Ross Lyon’s second-coming at St Kilda has begun with a famous fighting 15-point win over his former side Fremantle on Sunday.

Despite being “undermanned” and the underdogs for the clash at Marvel Stadium, it was the Saints who found another gear in the final quarter to record a 10.7 (67) to 7.10 (52) win.

St Kilda’s victory was made more impressive by the fact their makeshift forward line found avenues to goal despite Docker Brennan Cox’s equal club record of 20 marks in defence.

“They came with a plan and wanted to disrupt the way Fremantle played the game,” commentator Dwayne Russell said.

“It’s worked a treat, all based on hard work.”

Brad Crouch (30 disposals) finished the Saints’ leading disposal getter while Mason Wood and Mitch Owens finished the only multiple goal scorers for the home side.

For Fremantle, it was a disappointing day with just Lachie Schultz kicking multiple goals.

Nat Fyfe forward didn’t pay off as he failed to hit the scoreboard and had no impact on the match. Matt Taberner (nine disposals) was subbed off in the final quarter while Josh Treacy had just three touches.

Quarter-by-quarter match report

There were questions pre-game over how Fremantle’s forward line would work with Luke Jackson and Nat Fyfe slotting in.

But it took less than a minute for Jackson to show his forward craft, dishing out quick hands to Michael Frederick who slotted the first goal of the night on the run from 45m.

“That is the strength of Luke Jackson to be clean with the footy. Understand where the runners are and where the outs are,” Fox Footy’s Jordan Lewis praised.

“St Kilda have sent a half forward up to the stoppage, lose the stoppage and allow the quick kick.

“Those chaos balls are really hard to defend.”

Dan Butler had two chances to put the Saints on the board, but missed with his first attempt and had Brennan Cox get back on the goal line to stop his second shot.

Saints coach Ross Lyon would have been pleased with the effort of his players around the ground, with high-pressure applied in the early stages.

And when Jade Gresham found himself alone out the back, he was able to put St Kilda on the board.

“Clever ball movement,” Lewis said.

“The kick out of half back goes sideways and that just allows everyone to catch up.

“Really smartly done.”

Jack Higgins got his first goal for 2023 to give the Saints the lead, before Cox was once again left to dive on the goal line to prevent another St Kilda score.

Bad hands from big men Sean Darcy and Josh Treacy both cost Fremantle opportunities in attack, while Caleb Serong was guilty of a soft turnover.

“It really seems at the movement because Fremantle aren’t challenging St Kilda with their ball movement, (the Saints) are conserving energy,” Fox Footy’s Nick Dal Santo said.

“When they get the chance to turn the ball over, (St Kilda) just explode.

“Fremantle are trying really hard but just can’t stop them or keep up with their running ability.”

Ruckman Rowan Marshall exploited opponent Sean Darcy by pushing forward to help link up with Mitch Owens who kicked the Saints’ third.

“Marshall took off,” Lewis praised.

“That has been the Achilles heel of Darcy on occasions where he just gets lost in traffic and doesn’t hit back as hard as he can.”

Luke Jackson butchered his first shot on goal, when he opted to go around the body off one-step.

But ill-discipline cost the Saints dearly in the second term, as they coughed up two goals for umpire dissent.

When Matt Taberner was paid a free kick, Callum Wilkie couldn’t believe it as he opted to gesture to the big screen as he spoke to the umpire.

“You can’t look at the screen and then have a go at me. That’s considered umpire dissent,” the explanation was heard from the umpire’s mic.

“You can’t let it get inside your head to give away a 50-metre,” commentator Gerard Healy said.

“You can see why he’s filthy because he had his jumper grabbed. But you don’t win by giving away 50 metres.”

Captain Jack Steele then made the same mistake just a minute later when he pointed to the replay of James Aish’s mark, with both Dockers’ players walked to the goal line as a result.

“Oh another one! They’ve got to be really careful here St Kilda,” Lewis said.

“You can’t reference the screen or question the decision the umpire’s made.”

“They’ve had it explained to them twice,” Russell added.

“A third explanation would come from Ross at half time.”

Goals to Jack Bytel and debutant Mattaes Phillipou gave the Saints an edge before Treacy slotted his first for the night to level scores at halftime.

The Dockers “dodged a bullet” when Jade Gresham didn’t see Mason Wood streaming forward, and instead coughed the footy up to Docker Heath Chapman.

“It’s a poor kick!” Russell said.

“You’ve got to think he didn’t see Mason Wood, but Wood ran 150 metres to provide an option. All he had to do was weight the kick over his head. Easy shot at goal,” Lewis lamented.

And on the rebound it was Lachie Schultz who completed the 12-point turnaround.

But when Nat Fyfe finally got his hands on the ball, he was quickly run down as the Saints scored on their own rebound.

“Fremantle clearly had the chance to go inside 50 but Nat Fyfe didn’t have any options,” Lewis said.

The Saints injected Ben Paton into the game late in the third, before Jimmy Webster limped off after a heavy clash with Docker Ethan Hughes.

The decision to sub Dan Butler off left the Saints a man short on the bench heading into the final term.

But it did little to stop their run as St Kilda reeled off three-straight goals to open up an 11-point lead.

Nat Fyfe’s first shot on goal dropped short while Will Brodie and Luke Jackson had chances to bring Fremantle back into the contest but couldn’t split the middle.

When Hayden Young was caught holding the ball, the Saints cashed in through Zaine Cordy and the match was theirs to lose from that point.

Matt Taberner was subbed off for Bailey Banfield as the Dockers suddenly found themselves in “desperate times”.

But St Kilda maintained their composure and held on for a famous victory.

THE 3-2-1 …

3. SAINTS FIND FIRE WHEN MATCH GETS ‘DESPERATE’

The Saints were “undermanned” and the underdogs coming up against last year’s semi finalists Fremantle.

And down by six at the final change, against a side unbeaten when leading at three quarter time last year winning 14 from 14 games, it was going to take something special to get the four points.

“A little bit like Tiger Woods going into the fourth round when he’s in the lead,” Nick Dal Santo said of Fremantle’s ability to hold a final quarter lead.

“They know how to close out games.”

But it was the Saints who found another gear in the last quarter.

Despite being a man down on the bench, Mason Wood kicked two goals in six minutes, while Jade Gresham added his second to blow the game open.

The Saints were able to keep Docker Brennan Cox stranded on 20 marks in the final term – after he had a club record equalling 20 marks to three quarter time – in a tremendous final term.

“Talk about their injury list – about eight of their best players out of this line up. No Max King, Membrey, Ross, Billings, Zak Jones, Windhager all not available,” commentator Dwayne Russell said.

“Ross Lyon the master coach is back.

“The dawn of a new Saints era under Ross Lyon, the foundation set up for 2023 and beyond.

“Unfinished business Ross Lyon said when he returned and they’ve started with a win.”

2. WHY ‘RUSTY’ FYFE FORWARD ISN’T FREO’S SOLUTION

There’s no reason why Nat Fyfe, the competition’s only current two-time Brownlow Medallist, should be ignored in a one-on-one contest. But against the Saints on Sunday, teammates just couldn’t find their former skipper.

In the past decade, Fyfe sits second to only three-time Norm Smith medallist and three-time premiership Tiger Dustin Martin (49 per cent) for his 1 v 1 win rate at 42 per cent – beating the likes of Patrick Dangerfield and Tom Hawkins.

But playing forward Fyfe just couldn’t get into the contest.

He had just three touches to quarter time, and just three more in the next half of footy – putting a kick out on the full going forward in the second term.

“Seems like he’s a bit rusty doesn’t he Fyfe? Just trying to get the hang of it, certainly further up the field,” Fox Footy’s Jordan Lewis said.

“A couple of skills errors we don’t normally see.

“Sometimes further down the field if you’ve played there for a period of time, you know where you teammates are, where your outs are. Doesn’t seem to come automatic at the moment (to Fyfe).”

Fyfe’s night only got worse in the third term when he was chased down at half forward.

“He couldn’t turn back the clock there Nat Fyfe,” commentator Dwayne Russell said.

His set shot on goal dropped short from just inside 50m in the fourth term – when his team desperately needed a score as the Saints kicked four-straight.

Lewis said Fremantle needed to find the right balance for Fyfe, given he had no impact on the contest.

“It’s a balance, he’s had to deal with a lot of injuries over the back end of his career,” he said.

“So where do you play him one, where he’s most dominant and two, where you can actually preserve Nat Fyfe and hopefully extend his career.

“He’s an unbelievable one-on-one player.

“They certainly need to find different options.

“You see Nat Fyfe in the forward 50 … There’s no reason why you wouldn’t kick to him in confidence.”

1. DISSENT RULE FLARES IN DOUBLE DOSE

Ross Lyon has been vocal in wanting maximum effort and pressure from his players in 2023. But he wouldn’t have been pleased with what he saw from his leaders in the second term.

When vice-captain Callum Wilkie thought he’d been unfairly pinged for holding Matt Taberner, he couldn’t help himself as he watched the replay on the big Marvel Stadium screen.

Wilkie then gestured repeatedly at the screen as he spoke to the umpire, resulting in a 50m penalty that walked Taberner to the goal line.

The umpire was heard telling Wilkie: “You can’t look at the screen and then have a go at me. That’s considered umpire dissent.”

But bizarrely Saints skipper Jack Steele made the identical mistake just one minute later when he tried to argue against a mark paid to Docker James Aish.

“(Ross Lyon) will not be pleased. That’s the bottom line,” Fox Footy’s Nick Dal Santo said.

“The one thing you don’t want from any team is 50s. It’s not to say they would’ve kicked these goals.

“But when Callum Wilkie, your vice-captain gives away a 50 and then moments later your skipper in Jack Steele does almost the same thing, it’s extremely disappointing.

“You can maybe cop once, but not two in the space of a minute.”

Dal Santo said it was clear umpires were stamping out the behaviour which drew plenty of ire last season.

“There’s no doubt that you can now have a conversation in the right manner. But where that line is, we’re still probably learning,” he said.

“What we’ve just learnt from this (second) quarter is you can’t watch the replay on the big screens and then turn around and debate it once again with the umpire.

“We heard it clear in the umpire’s mic – ‘you can’t argue with me after the fact’ and I think there’s probably a valid point there.

“You have to show respect in the right way.

“They did it twice in a row so that’s unacceptable.”