AFL LIVE: Saints’ gun recruits try to drag them back after early injury nightmare, Hawks’ flying start

Liam Henry received a 50m penalty from centre wing after the Hawks didn’t stay on the mark.

Henry got a call from Darcy Wilson for a quick pass and he obliged with Wilson booting the running goal.

But just after the restart, the Hawks went forward and Watson kicked a goal. They didn’t take that one off him.

Hawks 67, Saints 23 with with 13 mins to go in Q3.

Mabior Chol has responded for the Hawks with a goal soon after the centre ball-up.

Ginnivan passed long to Gunston, he knocked the ball down, Nick Watson won the footy and dished it to Chol and he snapped the goal.

Tom De Koning added another goal for the Saints.

It’s an open start to the third term.

Hawks 61, Saints 17 with 17 mins to go in Q3.

Jack Silvagni has gone forward and made an impact, winning a free kick and booting a goal.

The Saints tackled better and forced a turnover in the lead-up to the goal.

Hawks 55, Saints 11 with 18 mins to go in Q3.

The only way St Kilda could dream of winning from this situation is through a Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera masterclass. The problem is, he’s sitting in the stands injured. In other words, the Saints are done.

They have failed to kick a goal in the opening half, and their defence has crumbled under relentless Hawthorn pressure, giving up nine goals – four of them to Jack Gunston.

Adding to their woes, defender Sam Flanders hobbled from the field during the second term with what looked like an Achilles injury. Ross Lyon can move the magnets all he likes during this half-time break, but with there is no coming back from here.

It turns out Nick Watson’s goal after the siren was ruled out because he ran off his line.

So the Hawks are on 55, not 61.

Here is the video; you be the judge:

The Saints have suffered a nightmare half with no goals, one possibly serious injury and a rampant Hawks running up a big score.

Sam Flanders look in big trouble after leaving the ground with a suspected achilles injury, if it is not an achilles, it must be a foot or ankle issue as he couldn’t walk.

Nick Watson finished the half with a goal after the siren.

There was video from the VFL a few weeks ago of players running sprints after a poor game, will Ross make the Saints do this at half-time? Or just give them an old time bake - the Marvel Stadium painter better be on call tomorrow as the paint could be peeling off the walls before half-time is done.

Not only has Sam Flanders left the ground, and most likely this game, with what appears to be an Achilles injury, but the Saints cannot score.

Flanders hobbled from the ground at the 20-minute mark of the second term after stopping suddenly with the ball. He then fell to his haunches and appeared to clutch at the back of his right ankle in pain.

“It just might be [an achilles],” David King said on Fox Footy. “It looked like that mechanism. What a blow. He had just found a good spot for himself at half-back.”

There are more headaches for St Kilda, too – a major one being Jack Gunston.

Just like they were told not to do, the Saints went long into attack, were intercepted and the Hawks bolted down the field where Gunston marked on the goal line.

He booted his fourth goal and then jogged to the bench.

“Instinctive footy from the Hawks, that’s contrary to the Saints,” King said on Kayo Sports as Mitch Lewis booted his second goal.

“Oh to be a fly on the wall in the Saints rooms at half-time,” Riewoldt said on Kayo.

“He’ll be asking the same question - where is the defence?”

Hawks 54, Saints 4 with two mins to go in Q2.

Saints utility Sam Flanders has left Marvel Stadium at a hush after appearing to injure his Achilles.

Flanders, who arrived at the Saints from the Suns as a high-profile recruit in the off-season, has become a fixture on half-back and he was in full flight when he leapt for the ball, landed and immediately appeared in discomfort.

He dished a handball off but then crashed to the ground and couldn’t walk off – needing trainers to almost carry him.

Everyone hopes it is not an Achilles, but it certainly looks like one.

It was all from the impact of his landing.

Hawks 42, Saints 3 with eight mins to go in Q2.