St Kilda needs Jack Billings, Jade Gresham and Paddy McCartin to become gamebreakers in 2018

WITH Nick Riewoldt gone, St Kilda desperately needs new gamebreakers to avoid another season of mediocrity. These are the three men who can do it.

ST KILDA will knock on the door of the top eight come the business end of the season, just like they have over the past two years, but it is time the Saints went barging through it.

The time for tapping has to be over.

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I listened to St Kilda coach Alan Richardson during the week and he spoke about how his team had won more games than it had lost in the past two seasons.

That is right — the Saints have won 23 and lost 21 in that period — but unless the

experience of those wins and losses catapults them into the finals this year, that ratio stands for nothing but mediocrity.

Jack Billings is capable of taking his game to another level in 2018.

What is St Kilda Football Club’s point of difference in 2018?

Who are St Kilda’s gamebreakers, players who can, now that Nick Riewoldt has retired, turn a game on its head?

So many questions, yet so few answers. St Kilda begins its season with so much uncertainty at a time when it should be ready to strike.

When St Kilda beat Richmond by 11 goals in Round 16 last year, the Saints sat a game

and percentage inside the top eight and looked very much September-bound.

That was until the Saints lost five of their last seven, including the heartbreak of the Paddy Ryder to Robbie Gray hitout against Port Adelaide.

I asked the question, what is St Kilda’s point of difference?

If you look purely at 2017’s numbers, you would say nothing.

The Saints were ranked 12th for scoring, 11th for points conceded, 10th for inside-50s, ninth for contested possession and 10th for uncontested possession.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that their final ladder position was 11th. The Saints are OK in most areas, but are not elite in any.

St Kilda can be a strong clearance side with the likes of Jack Steven, Seb Ross, Jack Steele,

Luke Dunstan, Koby Stevens and David Armitage.

David Armitage will bring a hard edge to the Saints midfield.

It is not the most dynamic and skilful midfield brigade but what those players don’t lack is courage or commitment.

The Saints’ midfield needs to become even harder, nastier and more ruthless than ever. Contested ball and clearance kings who wear down the opposition with relentless pressure.

If ever there was a game to watch that symbolises what I am talking about, it was the Saints’

Round 7 victory over the Giants at Etihad Stadium on a Friday night last year.

The game was in the balance at three-quarter time with the Giants leading by seven points when St Kilda’s midfield, led by Steven, rolled up its sleeves and overpowered the Giants’ star-studded midfield to kick six goals to one in the last term.

Etihad Stadium was abuzz that night with just how good a win that was. People believed it could be the start of something very special.

It wasn’t, but that is the type of football the Saints are capable of.

It’s time for some consistency of effort and the Saints couldn’t have got a more generous start to the season with games against the Brisbane Lions and North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium in Rounds 1 and 2.

Jade Gresham has star potential. Picture: Michael Klein

With the great Riewoldt gone, enter Paddy McCartin, Jack Billings and Jade Gresham.

They are the Saints’ future along with boom recruits Hunter Clark and Nick Coffield.

Clark and Coffield will show glimpses this year but won’t be the difference between the

Saints making the finals and not in their first season of AFL football.

You know what you are going to get out of Josh Bruce and Tim Membrey.

Both are good players and capable of kicking 40 goals each, but McCartin, Billings and Gresham need to become the driving forces St Kilda envisioned they would when they were drafted at picks 1, 3 and 18 respectively.

Billings and Gresham can be serious players for St Kilda, potential All-Australians.

Gresham kicked 30.30 last year while Billings booted 23.36.

Finding the footy isn’t the problem for those two, execution is, but if St Kilda can get 60 goals out of that pair plus an ability to create forward 50m pressure at Richmond-like

levels, that makes St Kilda a very different proposition to the side that currently looks a little ho hum on paper.

Paddy McCartin’s time is now. Picture: Michael Klein

McCartin has played just 22 games of AFL football after having six concussions since

the start of 2015.

Some will say that McCartin is playing AFL football in the wrong era, but he can have an impact this season with his aerial ability and attack on the contest.

From the outside, he doesn’t look to have an AFL-hardened, match-fit body, which does

worry me a little after four years in the system.

Though neither does Eagle Jeremy McGovern and he has become arguably the game’s best defender behind Alex Rance.

This will be the year we find out so much about McCartin and his worth.

The St Kilda army is growing tired of the stock standard meat and potatoes football their team

serves up. This has to be the year we see some gravy on top.

Originally published as St Kilda needs Jack Billings, Jade Gresham and Paddy McCartin to become gamebreakers in 2018