gt on hamill

[bigcarl]

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/ ... 42,00.html

Former coach Grant Thomas said Hamill, 30, would be devastated to end his fierce playing career in such a tame fashion.

"He was a great asset to the club and it would be gut-wrenching for him that he couldn't finish in a manner that more befitted his career," Thomas said yesterday.

"To miss the last couple of years and dwindle off into the sunset isn't really what Aaron deserves.

"Unfortunately that's life. We all can't write our own scripts."

Hamill joined the Saints in 2001 after five seasons with the Blues.

He finished third in the best-and-fairest in his first year at Moorabbin and captained St Kilda in 2003.

Thomas said Hamill was the prototype for today's breed of power forward. "I don't think there was a better forward pressure player than Aaron Hamill," Thomas said.

"He was a real warrior who intimidated opposition defences. I think he epitomised what most clubs were trying to do and he set the tone in that regard."

Thomas credited Hamill with introducing a confident and winning attitude to a club that finished the 2000 season with only two wins to its name.

"Guys like (Nick) Riewoldt, (Justin) Koschitzke, (Luke) Ball and (Nick) Dal Santo had a great role model to pit themselves against," Thomas said.

"He came from a successful club and St Kilda hasn't really had a lot of success.

"I used him as a sounding board on many occasions from a coaching perspective to get a feel for how the playing group was (feeling).

"I'd be very disappointed if his impact was underestimated because I would suspect the playing group would hold him in the upper echelon."

[Dan Warna]

concur on hamills influence on the field.

a lot of players looked up to him and tbh we walked taller.

i was one hoping against the odds the big fella could come back from injury.

even honest supporters reckon the archer/hamill kray/hamill barneys were worth the price of admission alone.

[Megamaguire]

Aaron was a very timely inclusion to the new Saints side under G.T. and his tenacity certainly contributed to the Saints charge towards finals contention. I hope we can follow up with an inclusion that equals or approaches the impact of Hamill when he first arrived at Moorabbin.

G O S A I N T S !

[Quixote]

"He was a great asset to the club and it would be gut-wrenching for him that he couldn't finish in a manner that more befitted his career," Thomas said yesterday.

"To miss the last couple of years and dwindle off into the sunset isn't really what Aaron deserves.

"Unfortunately that's life. We all can't write our own scripts."

Huge leader for the boys was Aaron.

An inspiration I'm sure.

Let's hope he's left a mode of operation for them to follow.

PS GT summed it up well above