AFL results 2026, Sydney Swans def St Kilda Saints Round 13

Jai Serong snapped the winning goal with 15 seconds left as Sydney pulled off a stunning heist against St Kilda on Sunday afternoon.

The Swans trailed by as many as 33 points in the second quarter before steadily chipping away at the Saints’ lead to eventually prevail 15.14 (104) to 15.12 (102) in dramatic fashion.

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St Kilda led by 10 points late in the final term before Chad Warner goaled at the 23-minute mark to ensure a thrilling finish was on the cards.

Serong’s goal at the 28-minute mark was his 28th disposal, along with eight marks and nine intercepts.

“He’s been brilliant all year, and that’s his finest moment,” Brownlow medallist Gerard Healy said on Fox Footy.

The gallant Saints looked like winners for most of the day, playing a high-pressure front-half game to keep the hosts on the back foot for a considerable period, before falling agonisingly.

“That was incredible; until that final second, I thought (the Swans) were done and dusted,” Healy said.

“They just found something with about 10 minutes of play remaining.”

THE 3-2-1 (what we learned) …

3. ‘HE HAS THE FINAL SAY’: SWANS SUPERSTARS LIFT – AGAIN – TO CLINCH EPIC HEIST

Whatever it takes. It’s what the best teams do, and there’s just a special feeling about the Swans this year – claiming their 10th win of the year in remarkable fashion.

Dean Cox’s side probably didn’t deserve the four points on Sunday, but the competition’s elite find a way to get up and over the line in the biggest moments.

And stop us if you’ve heard this before – but their big stars stepped up in the last quarter to put the team on their back.

Chad Warner and Isaac Heeney combined for 17 last-term disposals, with Warner’s second goal of the night at the 23-minute mark shaping the grandstand finish.

Warner and Heeney kicked two goals apiece; the former finishing with 29 disposals and eight score involvements, and the latter with 30 possessions and 10 score involvements.

“Warner was one of the main men – his absolute brilliance when it counted … his two big goals really brought them back,” Healy said after the final siren.

But it was Heeney who, with Saints tagger Marcus Windhager draped all over him all day, broke free at that fateful stoppage to win the ball after Brodie Grundy’s tap and feed it to match-winner Serong.

“Look at Heeney – he has the final say in an amazing battle … he did everything right all day, Windhager, (but) let him go (at that stoppage),” Healy added.

Sydney’s handball game was limited early by the Saints, whose front-half pressure – particularly early in the game – proved decisive in the visitors building their lead.

The Swans trailed by as many as 33 points in the first half, kicking their first goal of the second quarter at the 10-minute mark to snap a run of four-straight Saints majors.

“Psychologically, they are not invested in this game,” Healy remarked as the Swans looked sluggish.

But soon, they were.

Despite the Saints kicking seven first-half goals from turnover alone, the Swans kicked five of their own, which came off the back of a strong end to the half as the Saints began to fatigue.

The hosts piled on five goals from the defensive half – four of which came from their defensive-50 in the second quarter, in a late spurt to undo a lot of the Saints’ good work.

“Once they were getting out, they were scoring,” Alastair Lynch said of the finish to the half.

And that trend continued into the second half as the Saints progressively wore down.

2. ‘HAVEN’T SEEN THIS ALL YEAR’: SAINTS DEVASTATION AFTER SHOULD’VE-BEEN SCALP

Entering Sunday, the Saints hadn’t beaten a top-eight team, with their only win against a top-10 side coming over the Giants early in the year.

And, really, they should be walking out of the SCG with their first, in what shaped for most of the afternoon as a season-defining Swans scalp.

Instead, second-placed Sydney sent a dagger through Ross Lyon’s side – which led for 112 minutes – in the dying stages.

Jack Silvagni’s goal-saving mark on the line to prevent a go-ahead Nick Blakey major seemed the result-sealing moment with two minutes left, before Jai Serong capitalised from a dishing Isaac Heeney handball at stoppage.

“The big recruits have stood up for the Saints in this – De Koning’s been awesome, Silvagni’s been amazing, and Ryan’s taken mark of the century,” Fox Footy caller Dwayne Russell said after Silvagni’s mark.

And he wasn’t wrong. De Koning was crashing packs everywhere and kicked two goals, Silvagni had a game-high 10 intercepts, and Ryan bagged five goals and took a screamer.

St Kilda started brightly at the SCG, kicking six of the game’s first nine goals and taking a 17-point quarter-time lead to give the Swans something to think about.

“This is as clean as I’ve seen the Saints play — this could be a banana peel game for the Swans, if they don’t lift their work rate,” Gerard Healy said in the first quarter on Fox Footy.

At quarter-time, the Saints were +3 for clearances and +5 for contested possessions, and were able to play a forward-half game by forcing repeat entries.

The Saints have averaged 15 points in scores from centre-bounce, but by quarter-time, they’d already kicked 2.1 from the source.

The visitors also kicked the first two goals of the second term to open up a shock 26-point lead.

“Haven’t seen this all year from the Saints, and they are demolishing the second-best team in the competition early,” Fox Footy caller Dwayne Russell said.

At that stage, the Saints had kicked five of their eight goals from Sydney turnovers.

St Kilda led by 32 points early in the second term after three-straight goals to open the period.

“They’ve got to keep going hard now, the Saints. The Swans are off; just put them to the sword now,” Healy said.

Fatigue, though, was always going to be a concern as the game went on, with the Saints pouring so much effort into their high-pressure game.

They took just an eight-point lead into the main break after the Swans sizzled with four-straight goals to close the half.

“They played with pure intent – they closed up, they had speed on the ball, and their gun players were showing great agility,” Brad Johnson said.

“Scoring from turnover was what it was about in the first half for the Saints, but in particular the first quarter.

“That’s what I liked about it – the heat’s on in the game, they were the ones standing up and being able to put the right pressure on to get the ball back and then nail it on the scoreboard.”

Healy added: “It just came off the back of so much pressure, both inside the forward 50 and up the ground.

“They’ve spent a lot of tickets; they need the break, they’re going to have to come back out and apply that same unrelenting pressure if they’re going to (win).”

All in all, in the first half, St Kilda kicked 7.2 (44) from turnovers to Sydney’s 5.5 (35).

The Saints came in averaging 48 points from turnover per game this season, which told the tale of their first-half performance.

But the Swans were always going to come. And while the Saints were +12 for inside-50s at the 26-minute mark of the third term, the hosts kicked three goals to two to narrow the deficit to six points at the last change.

“They didn’t capitalise as much as they should have,” Lynch said of the Saints at three-quarter-time.

1. SWANS DOUBLE BLOW AS CRUCIAL PAIR STRUCK DOWN

In a blow to the Swans, midfielder Justin McInerney and key defender Tom McCartin were both ruled out on Sunday with respective injuries, while two running defenders were also in the wars.

McInerney was ruled out at half-time with hamstring tightness following an incident late in the second quarter, while McCartin was concussed in a brutal marking contest.

Racing to pick up the footy on the boundary line, McInerney immediately grabbed at the back of his right leg after disposing of the ball.

“That’s the end of the day, and possibly the end of a few weeks there for Justin McInerney,” Brad Johnson said on Fox Footy.

McCartin, meanwhile, suffered a concussion after going back with the flight in a marking contest and copping an incidental knock from St Kilda’s Liam Ryan.

The star stopper has a history with head knocks, having sustained a concussion in Round 19 last year, seeing him miss two weeks.

He’ll miss Sydney’s clash with Port Adelaide in six days’ time, before the club’s mid-season bye in Round 15.

Meanwhile, Nick Blakey played through a sore foot, while Riley Bice was also ginger at stages.

Re-live Sydney vs St Kilda in our blog below!