Why St Kilda young gun Jade Gresham is channelling a Port Adelaide star in his quest to become an elite midfielder
St Kilda young gun Jade Gresham is desperate to prove himself as an elite midfielder when he returns to football. And he watches one opposition star very closely as he looks to improve his game.
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St Kilda young gun Jade Gresham plans to channel Port Adelaide star Robbie Gray in his quest to balance his midfield ambitions with short bursts in attack.
Gresham is currently sidelined due to a knee injury suffered in the Saints' opening round loss to North Melbourne, but he hopes to be back playing by the time the coronavirus AFL shutdown ends later in the year.
But he told the Herald Sun he is desperate to prove himself as an elite midfielder when football resumes.
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"I want to be a midfielder, not a forward who goes through the midfield," Gresham said. "That's my main goal throughout my career, I want to play as a full-time mid who maybe goes forward a little bit too."
The 22-year-old has played 82 goals across his five seasons with the Saints, playing mainly as a forward with small bursts through the midfield to aid his development.
But he spent far more time in the midfield in his 19 games last season, and had planned to crank that up even further in 2020.
Gresham, who represented Victoria in the Bushfire relief game in late February, says he keeps a close eye on the elite players of the competition in an effort to learn as much as he can from the way they play the game.
"You look at all the guns, but I love watching Robbie Gray and the way he goes about it," he said.
"He is so smart. With the way he plays, he is someone I look at very closely. He plays a little bit similar, so I love watching him to see if I can learn from him."
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Gresham has spoken at length with St Kilda coach Brett Ratten about their shared desire for him to spend as much time in the midfield as possible, but there will still be a few forward cameos near goal.
"Ratts is an awesome bloke, he has got a really good connection to all of the guys," he said.
"He has taught up a lot about footy and about life. We've loved working with him and hopefully he can drive us for the coming years."
Gresham is confident he won't lose too much of his residual fitness due to his knee layoff - which would normally have kept him out of the game for 10 to 12 weeks - as he plots a rehabilitation pathway back.
"I won't lose too much as I had a big preseason," he said. "Hopefully, I'll be right (when footy starts again)."
Originally published as Why St Kilda young gun Jade Gresham is channelling a Port Adelaide star in his quest to become an elite midfielder