Monday night AFL match a hit with television audiences St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt in action against Carlton last night. THE AFL's Monday night football experiment received a boost attracting a bumper crowd and solid television ratings. Channel Seven's broadcast averaged 371,000 viewers in Melbourne, up on 327,000 last year. More than 34,000 people were in the stands last night as a defiant St Kilda held off an injury-stricken Carlton by nine points at Etihad Stadium. Meanwhile, Friday night's Geelong-Essendon clash was the fifth highest watched home-and-away match ever, drawing 1.54m viewers nationally, across free to air and subscription television. The top four is made up of Anzac Day blockbusters, the 2012 edition the pick of the bunch, with a national audience of 1.736m viewers. The Monday night concept was also well by received by social-media savvy AFL players from rival clubs. Richmond forward Ricky Petterd found himself caught up in commentator Brian Taylor's "Big Boy" frenzy. But Geelong forward Allen Christensen had a more light-hearted view of the match. As did Western Bulldogs veteran Robert Murphy, who threw in a Jerry McGuire reference comparing Saint Nick Riewoldt's best on ground performance to 'Show me the Money!' Rod Tidwell.