AFL 2021: St Kilda doing its homework on how to get jump on opponents under new man on the mark rule
A new rule clamping down on the man on the mark could cost teams 50m penalties and goals. That's why the Saints are determined to be one step ahead.
AFL
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Newly re-signed St Kilda backman Callum Wilkie says players will have to fight their natural instincts on the mark to prevent conceding soft 50m penalties and easy goals early this season.
The Herald Sun can reveal Wilkie, who was this week elevated into the leadership group, has signed a two-year contract extension after his excellent start to his career at the Saints.
The 24-year-old said the Saints have prioritised their defence over summer after conceding the second-most points of the top-eight teams last season.
The new rule to prevent any movement from the man on the mark poses a huge challenge for players, who Wilkie said would naturally want to move laterally to close down angles for the opposition.
Wilkie, who has been a revelation playing 41 games in his first two seasons, said the Saints have been going to work on the new rule to try to limit any early-season infringements.
“It is tough because your natural instinct is (to move) to close down the inside 45 (degree kick),” Wilkie said.
“Or just move around when you are on the mark when someone is having a set shot because you are really just trying to put them off somehow.
“We are really trying to train to stand (still) there like they are saying, (because) they (umpires) are giving 50m away which is going to cost goals, so it is going to be hard.
“We have been trying to drill it in for the past month, and obviously trying to find ways around it.”
Umpires have been instructed to clamp down on any lateral movement from the players on the mark in a bid to encourage quicker and more free-flowing play from the team in possession.
St Kilda co-captain Jack Steele says the teams who make the adjustment quickly will stand to benefit in the new season.
“It is a bit difficult to start with, but we have all embraced it and the teams which adapt best to that are going to be best-placed, especially early in the season,” Steele said.
Wilkie, who was overlooked at four national drafts and worked as an accountant before he was rookie-listed by the Saints, said he was thrilled to receive the leadership nod from his peers.
“It is a huge honour to get the endorsement from my peers and all the staff in the football department,” he said.
“It is a really exciting group going forward hopefully over the next 10 years and I’m excited to be a part of it.
“I feel like I see the game well, I think that is one of my biggest strengths, and I may not be the quick or powerful athlete that a lot of other players are.
“But being able to see the game well and helping people get to the right spots I think has helped me come a long way.”
St Kilda list chief James Gallagher said Wilkie had thoroughly deserved a two-year contract extension.
“Since he’s come into the side, he’s become an integral part of our backline and that will no doubt continue moving forward,” Gallagher said.
“Last season we saw Cal really accelerate his leadership. Alongside fellow backman Dougal Howard, he has been enormous when it comes to setting the standards for the entire group.
“It’s testament to Cal’s work ethic and professionalism that he’s been able to achieve what he has from starting out as a mature-age rookie.”
FORMER HAWK LAYS DOWN THE LAW TO SAINTS
Newly re-signed St Kilda backman Callum Wilkie says players will have to fight their natural instincts on the mark to prevent conceding soft 50m penalties and easy goals early this season.
Callum Wilkie said Frawley, who was part of Hawthorn’s 2015 premiership side, has made an instant impact at Moorabbin dishing out some blunt feedback at training at his third club.
“He has been massive for us with his experience,” Wilkie said.
“He just says it how it is. There’s no bullsh--, and that is what you love as a defender I think.
“’Chip’ is hard on the players and we need that down there so he is going to be awesome for us.”
Wilkie said the Saints wanted to become an ever tighter back line unit in 2021 and lauded mature-age recruit Tom Highmore for his impressive summer campaign.
Highmore, 22, could press for selection early in the season after showcasing his stellar intercept marking at training in recent months.
“It (defence) is an area we have pinpointed we need to improve on from last year,” Wilkie said.
“But we have brought in ‘Chip” and Tom Highmore as well is tracking really well, he is a really courageous player.
“So there is a lot of competition for spots and it puts probably all of us on notice in defence and that is what we need.”
SAINTS STEELED FOR ANOTHER YEAR ON THE ROAD
St Kilda co-captain Jarryn Geary says his troops must be ready to play for extended periods on the road for a second-straight season if required in the wake of Melbourne’s latest lockdown.
The AFL told Victorian clubs on Friday that they would be limited to training groups of 10 during the coming five-day lockdown.
The restrictions, which fall under the state government guidelines for “professional athletes”, would remain in place until at least midnight next Wednesday.
Geary said the news of the new restrictions spread quickly amid the team on Friday shortly before the club announced Geary and Jack Steele would be joint skippers in 2021.
Brad Hill and Dylan Roberton, who is weighing up retirement, were left out of the seven-man leadership group featuring new vice-captains Tim Membrey and Dougal Howard, and Callum Wilkie, Seb Ross and Jack Billings.
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While the AFL is hopeful interstate hubs won’t be required this year, Geary said the Saints would embrace any restrictions imposed on them before the vaccination rollout.
“There is always murmurings and conversations about what it might look like, and last year we were really good at just trying to control what we can control,” Geary said.
“Again, we are going to have that mindset and be ready for anything.
“Today is a day where we are in the locker room asking what tomorrow will look like, and yesterday we weren’t doing that.
“But last year really matured our group, and hopefully we don’t have to spend time away from our families, but if we do we will be ready for that.”
Geary, who will captain the club for a fifth season, said he remained hopeful of playing in the first half of the season after breaking his left leg at training in a marking contest last month.
It was the same leg he broke in China in 2019.
Geary joked that he got quite high in the latest incident, which is set to cost him months on the sidelines.
“A lot of people were reporting it was an attempted mark, but it was actually hanger, and I don’t take too many,” he said.
“So I was a bit disappointed it was made out to be a clumsy attempt.
“But it (leg) feels good, and it has only been a couple of weeks so I’ve got a bit of a journey still to go, but hopefully I can push for the first part of the season.”
Steele said it was “honour and a privilege” to be appointed co-captain after the hard nut midfielder’s excellent breakout season last year winning the best -and-fairest and All-Australian honours.
Steele said the pair “lead differently”.
“We have spoken about it to the playing group that we complement each other pretty well,” Steele said.
“There is definitely areas of growth in my leadership that I can learn from Gears.”
Geary, who endured an eight-year drought in between finals campaigns between 2012 and 2020, said it was an exciting time for Steele to step up as co-captain.
“I am probably a bit envious of Jack that he is starting his journey as captain of the footy club now,” Geary said.
“The expectation on us, internally and externally, is that we keep progressing and keep improving on from what we did last year.
“When I took over we were probably in more of a holding, development pattern, so I’m really excited to be a part of the group still and hopefully while I am still here we can have some success.
“We are capable of matching it with the best. It is about being really consistent now and I think our best football is as good as anyone’s.”
Saints surprise packet impresses star mid
Earlier Steele said he was ready to step up and lead the Saints if he was appointed the club’s next captain.
The tough-nut established his captaincy credentials during a phenomenal 2020 season when Steele claimed All-Australian and best and fairest honours as well as 20 Brownlow Medal votes to catapult the Saints into the semi-final.
Steele, 25, said he had confidence he could do the job if endorsed by his peers.
“I feel like I had a lot of responsibility last year being one of the leaders in the midfield and with that weight on my shoulders I feel like my game got better,” Steele said as part of Kayo’s 2021 Sport Lives Here launch.
“It would be tough, no doubt. But I feel like I would deal with the pressure well and play with a bit of anger and heart out on the field.
“I’m driven, and the expectations of myself and the team are pretty high, so I think I’m one who leads by example and puts a lot out there on the field.”
After coming across from GWS Giants in late 2016, Steele said Moorabbin “definitely feels like home now” and lauded his teammates, ruckmen and new coach Brett Ratten for helping elevate his game.
“I feel like I have cemented my spot in the (best) 22 and I feel as comfortable as I have ever been on an AFL list and St Kilda is where I want to be for the rest of my career,” he said.
The Saints will be even stronger in the midfield this season after picking up ex-Adelaide clearance winner Brad Crouch who had settled nicely into the engine room.
But Steele said mature-age defender Tom Highmore, 22, was the one who had turned heads over the pre-season with his courageous intercept marking.
“In terms of his courage and ball use, you wonder how he hasn’t already been on an AFL list,” Steele said.
“It is great to have him and good to get those sort of surprise packets from the draft.”
St Kilda shocked the Western Bulldogs in the elimination final last year to help cap a fairytale rise under Ratten in his first full season in charge.
Steele, who stamped himself as an elite AFL midfielder averaging 22 possessions and five tackles a game last year, said the Saints were determined to go even deeper into September in 2021.
“We are very capable of doing that,” he said.
“We would be pretty upset if we didn’t do what we did last year plus more.
“It is definitely a goal to back it up and see what else we can do.”
Steele said the Saints’ bolstered midfield unit should be a strength in the new season.
“This time of the year is a bit of a tease playing pre-season games, but I can’t wait to get stuck into it,” he said.
“Now that we have got a bit of depth in the midfield it should make us a real contender and we are all looking forward to the year ahead.”
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Originally published as AFL 2021: St Kilda doing its homework on how to get jump on opponents under new man on the mark rule
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