Serious questions are being asked about top-of-the-ladder St Kilda after it suffered its third loss in four weeks at York Park this afternoon. Adelaide new-boy Neil Craig is the toast of the town steering his team to a 72-point win over Melbourne in his first game at the helm. They were two of the highlights of Round 14 AFL action.

St Kilda looked a shadow of the side that strung together 10 wins to kick off the season going down to a committed Port Adelaide by 46-points. The Saints again looked like a fish out of water away from The Dome, fumbling the ball and continually turning it over. Chad Cornes was the star for the winners collecting 34 possessions at centre half back. Dean Brogan and Brendan Lade handled the difficult conditions with aplomb. Nick Reiwoldt was best for the Saints.

Scott Welsh kicked eight goals as Adelaide took an out-of-sorts Melbourne to the cleaners at AAMI Stadium. Rhett Biglands was superb in the ruck for the winners while Andrew McLeod was at his best in the midfield. It was an exciting start for new coach Neil Craig. Adem Yze was the best for the Demons in a disappointing performance.

Richmond played some of its best football for the season but it still wasn’t enough to get over the Lions at the Gabba, the Tigers going down by 18 points. Jay Schulz starred for Richmond kicking six goals but the Tigers’ fate was sealed at the other end of the ground with Alastair Lynch (four goals) and Blake Caracella (three goals) playing good football.

Collingwood thumped the bottom-of-the-ladder Hawthorn by 65-points at the MCG to keep alive their slim hopes of getting among the September action. Alan Didak kicked four goals and was among the Magpies’ best. Josh Fraser and Nathan Buckley also produced outstanding games.

West Coast and Geelong slogged it out in difficult conditions at Subiaco Oval with the Eagles prevailing by just two points. The news got worse for Geelong with star young midfield James Kelly sidelined for the rest of the season after breaking his leg. Chris Judd was the best player on the ground with Ben Cousins and Chad Fletcher providing valuable support. David Wojcinski and Tom Harley were the best for the Cats.

In other games Fremantle cleaned up the Western Bulldogs by 41-points at The Dome and Sydney showed tremendous courage to kick the last five goals of the game at Optus Oval to run out 11-point winners over the Blues.