St Kilda defender Callum Wilkie is excited by the knowledge new recruits can bring to the Saints
New teammate Callum Wilkie has lauded the arrival of James Frawley at St Kilda and provided an insight into what the veteran defender will add to the Saints.
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Durable and ever consistent St Kilda defender Callum Wilkie is eager to milk the “wealth of knowledge” the club’s ready-made acquisitions can bring to the club as the Saints look to push even deeper into the finals next season.
Wilkie said the inclusion of Hawthorn premiership defender James Frawley to the already solid Saints’ defence as well as former Crow Brad Crouch, ex-Tiger Jack Higgins and former Bomber Shaun McKernan had further strengthened the playing stocks after the club this year made the finals for the first time since 2011.
The Saints knocked off the Western Bulldogs in the elimination final before being defeated in a semi-final by eventual premiers Richmond.
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“Look at the quality of players they have brought in and they all have a fair amount of experience or have come from clubs who have achieved success,” Wilkie said.
“There is a wealth of knowledge that has come into the club in the last few years, which is huge.”
The addition of Frawley, Crouch, Higgins and McKernan – and the new draftees – adds to the swag of big trade inclusions from last year, which included Paddy Ryder, Dan Butler, Dougal Howard, Zak Jones and Brad Hill.
Wilkie, who has been a bargain rookie selection for the Saints after not missing a senior game since being recruited ahead of the 2019 season, said he was looking forward to learning from Frawley, who came out of retirement to join the club.
“It’s an awesome feel-good story,” the 24-year-old said of Frawley who joined the club where his late uncle Danny was such a key player for many years.
“He is an amazing player … he has won a premiership and played more than 200 games. He will add so much to us and he has already been to one training session. You can hear from the way he talks that he is going to be invaluable to us.”
Wilkie, who was one of the best one-on-one defenders in the AFL this year, said coach Brett Ratten had instilled into the players the belief that while it was good to make finals, it meant nothing more than experience for 2021.
“Ratts has spoken about it, we haven’t really achieved anything yet, but we have taken a step in the right direction,” he said.
“We played finals for the first time in a long while and that was good for the supporters. It was good for us too from an experience point of view.
“But we know we have got a lot of improvement left in us.
“Next year is a different year and it will present a different set of circumstances. Everyone has put last year behind us and we are looking forward to next year.”
He said the players are desperately to reward the fans who stayed loyal and remained members in 2020 – even though they couldn’t attend matches – with the chance to come and see the team play finals footy next year.
The native South Australian, who will return home for Christmas, said it was good to be back training at Moorabbin after spending so much time in the Queensland hub due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s good to be back,” he said. “We’ve had a nice break and now we are back into the swing of things again, and it is exciting with the new players.”
He said the biggest lesson he learnt this year was to control the things you can control and not to sweat about the things you can’t.
That has clearly worked as Wilkie has become one of the most underrated and consistent defenders in the AFL, who has had to play on some of the best players in the game and yet is rarely beaten.
He says he still has improvement left in him as he has built up his strength and his experience and can’t wait to get stuck into another season with the club.
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Gawn impressed as key Dees return early
Melbourne captain Max Gawn says the presence of senior players at the club’s first two training sessions this week for first-to-four year players would prove “contagious” as the Demons begin their quest to return to the finals next year.
Gawn was one of a number of senior players to hit the track with the younger players on Monday and Wednesday, with the likes of Christian Petracca, Jake Lever, Clayton Oliver and Jake Melksham all making appearances ahead of schedule at Casey Fields.
The 28-year-old said it was an indication of the depth of feeling among the group after another frustrating season.
“I think it does send a strong message,” Gawn said. “To have that many (senior guys) there … it’s contagious.”
Gawn thankfully dodged post-season surgery on his troublesome knee after playing in discomfort for the last five matches of 2020.
He consulted leading surgeon Julian Feller post-season and was given the green light to start training this week, saying he is eager to get started on next year’s preparations.
“The break came at a good time for me … to be able to rest up my knee (was good),” he said.
Gawn comes out of contract at the end of next season, but has already indicated he intends to remain a Demon and won’t be tempted by free agency.
He learnt so much in his debut season as Melbourne captain, and will benefit from the experience.
“I learnt a hell of lot captaining this year … I am excited to step up (even more) in the role this year,” he said.
New Demons assistant coach Adem Yze started in his role a month ago with Gawn excited by the chance to work with the one-time Demons star.
STAR REVEALS TOLL OF LOSING MATES IN LIST CULL
North Melbourne star Jy Simpkin says the pain of losing some of his “best mates” in the post-season player cull and the departure of coach Rhyce Shaw impacted on him and saw him seek reassurance from footy boss Brady Rawlings.
But Simpkin, who finished runner-up to Luke McDonald in the Kangaroos’ best-and-fairest award, is now looking enthusiastically to 2021 after talks with new coach David Noble and blitzing the club’s time-trial on Monday.
“It was pretty tough at times,” Simpkin said on RSN.
“You give your heart and soul all through the season and in previous years. (Then) to see some of your best mates getting cut and I had a really good relationship with Shawry, and obviously all that stuff happening with him.
“(It was tough) … no doubt about it.
“I had a few chats with Brady Rawlings and he was really good, just reassuring me and I guess the rest of the players to stick together and (stressing) we will get through it and I think we have done (that) really well.
“We all stuck together, we all stayed in contact. Now we are looking in good stead with Nobes leading the charge.”
North Melbourne slumped to second bottom in 2020 with only three wins and the club axed 11 players just a day after the final round, with another player delisted later on, and Shaun Higgins and Ben Brown traded to Geelong and Melbourne respectively.
Then Shaw stepped aside from the senior coaching role for personal reasons with Noble appointed after a swift but thorough process.
Simpkin said the club’s tough season and the painful end to it made him more determined than ever to have a clean break from the game in his off-season.
“I just got out of there and got away from the whole footy environment, and took my mind off it,” Simpkin said.
Now he is focused on how the club’s young group can springboard the Kangaroos back to a competitive force again, after a few encouraging chats with Noble.
“It is definitely up to the younger boys to step up,” he said.
“There’s around 20 of us from the one-to-four-year (bracket) and when we get our new draftees, there will be five or six of them. That makes up the majority of the group. Going into the next couple of years, it really is on us younger boys to step up on and off the field to lead this club to where we belong and that up in finals footy.”
Simpkin has been impressed with his initial discussions with Noble, saying he can’t wait to start learning more off him and the rest of the coaching group.
“He has had a good chat with all the boys (about) the direction we want to go in,” he said. “It’s really exciting.”
“We have all the new coaches, we are going to have about 10 new players all up once the draft is done. Everyone is really excited to crack in and see how we go.
“I don’t think we can go much worse than last year … we can only go up from here.”
KANGAS COACH’S MANTRA: GET SH-T DONE
– Jon Ralph
New North Melbourne coach David Noble kicked off his club’s pre-season training block keen to hone Jared Polec’s defensive edge and even trial captain Jack Ziebell off half-back.
The club’s one-to-four-year players will train until Christmas before the entire list resumes in January, but on Monday the older players were still desperate to impress.
Ziebell, Luke McDonald and Robbie Tarrant were among the older players on deck as the Roos attempt to bounce back from a torrid 2020 season.
Jy Simpkin kickstarted his fifth pre-season by winning the club’s time-trial ahead of former Bulldog Lachie Young, Luke Davies-Uniacke, Bailey Scott and Curtis Taylor.
Ziebell battled hamstring issues mid-season after calf issues through the pre-season but plans a methodical build-up that will see him avoid those soft-tissue dramas.
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The Roos have the No. 2 overall selection — their highest since recruiting Daniel Wells — in Wednesday’s national draft and might have to make a decision on Jamar Ugle-Hagan if Adelaide ignores the talented star forward.
But at the very least they will add another wildly talented player like key tall Logan McDonald or Victorian midfielder Elijah Hollands to add to a group including Nick Larkey, Tarryn Thomas, Scott, Davies-Uniacke and Simpkin.
Noble told a fan Q and A last week he resonated with the Roos’ down-and-dirty ethos of just “getting shit done”.
“That really resonates with me. A no-nonsense, roll your sleeves up, excuse the French, but get shit done. I’m a doer and we want to get that stuff done.”
The Roos’ determination to play a down-the-line style close to the boundary line made Ben Brown obsolete, but Noble wants to attack through the corridor when he can.
“I’d like to try to kick more goals. That’s got to be built in the back end, with good defence. We will not ignore our defence and have shootouts, but the long down the line plays or the longer kicks unfortunately sort of stifles your angles of your entry, and your forwards tend to just have one pocket to tend to go to.”
Noble said he was open to Ziebell playing multiple positions including more midfield time and even pushing to half-back.
The Roos never considered trading Polec, who has two seasons on his deal, with Noble keen to maximise his offence but not at the expense of two-way run and tackling after he was dropped in 2020.
“I’ve had a good conversation with Jared. He does have to work on his defence, there’s no doubt about it, but let’s not forget about the strength and the weapon that he’s got with his running capacity. Maybe he hasn’t quite hit that mark that I see him getting to, but if we can readjust his defence in a sense of where he might start his offence from, that will actually help us.
“He’s a really knowledgeable young man. He has good football knowledge. I’m going to be encouraging him to have that voice out on the field. So I’m excited to work with Jared. I think he’s got some big upside in regards to the things that he’s actually really good at, his run, his ball carry, his delivery inside 50. He can really help us. But I agree in that his defence has got to be tweaked up a bit.“
YOUNG HAWK READY TO GO TO NEXT LEVEL
— Russell Gould
Breakout Hawthorn defender Will Day has vowed to take his game “to the next level” after making his return to training on Monday.
The 19-year-old, who played 11 games in 2020 and emerged as one of the finds of the season, had to make a hasty exit from his short return home to South Australia last month when borders began to shut again.
A coronavirus cluster emerged, forcing Day to jump in the back of teammate Chad Wingard’s car to get out in time.
“Chad was driving back so I got in the back of his car with his dog. We got in here pretty late, but we got across the border,” Day said on Monday before a 2km time-trial.
Finn Maginness, son of Hawthorn premiership player Scott Maginness, won the time-trial, with Changkuoth Jiath finished second as the first and fourth-year players returned to training.
Day said despite the shortened off-season he was “hungry” to get back to training after only playing in two wins in his debut season.
“It was good for me to get an opportunity as we weren’t doing that well and it helped my development,” he said.
“But just to play in two wins out of the 11 I played, it probably makes me a bit hungrier to win more this season.”
With backline stalwarts Ben Stratton and James Frawley no longer with the Hawks, Day, who finished 10th in the best-and-fairest, wants to step up.
“I think last year I showed myself that I was comfortable at the level,” Day said.
“So I think this year I‘m going to try and take that next step and try to be almost one of the senior guys back there and really take my game to the next level.”
While only the younger players were required at training, 2019 Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell started his pre-season too.
And Day said he also harboured ambitions to join Mitchell in the midfield.
“I think at the moment I’m probably most comfortable in the backline.
“But as my body matures a bit more, I‘d probably like to see myself get up into the midfield.”
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