2013 Player Ratings

[bergholt]

A long read, but an interesting exercise. Tell me where I'm wrong.


Jack Steven: 10
Hard to imagine how his year could have been better. Jumped up a couple of tiers to become A-grade, playing every game, averaging 27 touches and kicking 16 goals. He'll finish top two in the B&F and looks like being the X-factor in our midfield for years to come. A star, simple as that.

Leigh Montagna: 10
He's been a very good player for a long time, but this was probably his best season. Averaged 30 touches, and his last 7 games were: 35, 34, 28, 35, 32, 33, 47. Kicked goals and kept running all day, every day. Great example for the kids of the work-rate required and the impact you can have on a game at 178cm. Could be AA, could be captain next year - could play another three or four, if we're lucky.

Nick Riewoldt: 9
It's only the last couple of years that I've realised exactly how good this guy is. As the team gets worse around him, and as he ages past 30 into the great unknown, he's still almost impossible to stop. Kicked goals in every game - accuracy the only obvious black mark - and ended up with 50 for the year, eighth in the comp. The biggest question for St Kilda in the next year or two is how we build a forward line without him.

Dylan Roberton: 8
A revelation in the first half of the season, dropped off a bit in the second with injuries and being forced to play on key forwards a bit. Still, a great season for a guy who wandered into the club for very little cost. If all goes well we'll be cheering this kid on for ten years yet.

Jarryn Geary: 8
Very solid in defence and did a bit more work in the midfield this year. Not sure how much more improvement he has in him, but his combative nature and willingness to take the game on a bit mean that he should be our number one small defender for years to come.

Tom Curren (r): 8
Banged the door down for a season and a half before finally getting a run. In response, he reeled off four games of 20 or more disposals. Pretty good start, surely he's a monty to be promoted next year and then he should be aiming to play 20 games. The most promising young mid we unearthed this year, which is a long way from what I expected at the start of the year!

Jack Newnes: 7
I couldn't really tell you what this kid's best attributes are, but he looks like he'll be a solid AFL player at worst, and hopefully he develops into a really good mid/half-back. Will be 21 with 25 games at the start of next year, should be planning to take the next step and cement his spot in the side.

Tom Lee: 7
Kicked a couple of goals a game and looked good in patches before going missing for extended periods. 17 goals in 10 games is an OK start, if he can play 15+ games next year and get over 30 goals then he'll be well on the way. Another pre-season should help.

David Armitage: 7
I was hoping Armo would take the next step and become truly A-grade in 2013. It didn't happen, but he was still very solid. Kicked 10 goals, but none after round 13. Gives our midfield a bit of steel, and even if he only improves incrementally for the rest of his career, he'll still be a very handy bloke to have around. Still hoping he can lift to another level though!

Clinton Jones: 7
Another really solid year for CJ. Didn't win all his duels but was always working hard and has set an interesting challenge to the list managers - logically he should be delisted because he's not the future, but he hasn't done anything at all to deserve that fate.

Ben McEvoy: 6
Not a great one for Big Mac. Less impact on the game than either of his last two years - fewer hitouts, fewer disposals, fewer marks. And still not enough goals. Because he's not dominant in ruck duels, he needs to have influence around the ground, but that wasn't happening as much this year. Still, 24 and 90 games is a great platform to build from.

Adam Schneider: 6
Injuries obviously destroyed his year, but showed enough to suggest that he'll be a valuable player for us for a while yet. His smarts and tricks around the forward 50 will be invaluable with Milney gone, so let's hope he can get over his injury problems.

Seb Ross: 6
Dunno how to rate Seb's year. Positives: he got out on the park a fair bit, and seems to know how to find the ball. Negatives: I only remember him influencing one game (Carlton), he seems to have a lot of little handballs which look OK on the stat sheet but don't add up to much. Obviously a work in progress, only 20 though so heaps of time on his side.

Sean Dempster: 6
Still looks very solid, but it was tough down back this year. Roberton took his floating role, which made it harder for Dempster to shine. Let's hope we can get a bit more continuity into a back six next year and that gives him a better platform to play from.

Lenny Hayes: 6
Nowhere near as dominant as we've seen him in the past, but fair to say those days are behind him. Still an amazing heart and soul player, and that makes him invaluable in his "playing mentor" role. Keep him on the list for as long as he's up for it.

Sam Gilbert: 6
Looked OK before getting injured, then came back and gave us some really promising cameos. It's too soon to tell for sure, but if he can legitimately play on key forwards then our defence suddenly starts to get a much better balance to it. Fingers crossed for more of that in 2014.

Farren Ray: 6
Contentious one. He tries hard, and I love that, but I don't know what his best position is, by and large his possessions are wasted. Not necessarily because he misses targets - though he does that - but he generally lacks any innate creativity. Faz will give good honest service for the next couple of years as younger guys develop, but I can't see him improving much so that gives him limited shelf-life.

Nick Dal Santo: 6
Hard to rate because we know how sublimely good he can be, but what opposition coach would allow him the freedom to cut them up? Still got a fair bit of the ball but the real disappointment with him this year was lack of goals - 5 is too few for a guy of his skill. He'll be 30 when next season starts and isn't improving any more, so let's just hope he can stay solid while bringing through some good kids. If he's still with the club...

Stevie Milne: 6
Obviously not his best season but still very serviceable - if we get 28 goals from any forward pocket next year then we'll be pretty happy. I love him but I reckon it was good timing on the decision to go, a worse year next year would have really started to hurt all of us.

Jimmy Webster: 6
I'd forgotten he existed, so I reckon 11 games is a pretty good return. Hard to tell what he'll be at this point, but certainly he doesn't look out of place at AFL level. Good size for a midfielder so that's what I'd be aiming for, 15+ games averaging 15+ disposals would be an excellent next step for him.

Nathan Wright: 6
Probably my favourite of the first-year players so far, showed a lot early before injuries dropped him out of the side. Huge upside on this guy, his eight games will give him a real good idea of where he needs to improve over the next year or two.

Josh Saunders: 6
Another promising first-year kid, has pace and uses it to take the game on. As with the rest, it's not clear where his ceiling is, or how fast he can improve, but starting with 10 games in your first year is a perfect launching pad.

Jason Blake: 5
Honest, hard-working and humble, what more could you ask for from any player? I reckon he could have gone around again because his polyfilla capabilities are pretty valuable, but he's given us 14 years so it's probably time to let him go to bigger and better things. JB's one I'll really miss.

Sam Fisher: 5
Sacrificed his own game to play as a key defender, and then injury finished his season before halfway. I suspect we've seen the best of Chips - he's 31 now - but hopefully he can get back into some sparkling form next year and prove me wrong.

Rhys Stanley: 5
Played some OK games in defence and one or two reasonable games in attack. Showing signs but isn't there yet. If we're still saying that at the end of next year then there'll be some hard questions to answer - let's hope he has a good pre-season and finds his groove next year, because he's an impressive physical specimen.

Beau Maister: 5
Injuries obviously disappointing but he looks solid when he's out there. No world beater and won't be in our next premiership side - is 28 at the start of next season - but as a Jason Blake-style gap filler you could do a whole lot worse. (Adam Pattison.)

Brodie Murdoch: 5
Didn't do much but is a big bastard and looks like he has great potential. Eight games should give him a really good idea of what he needs to do to get himself up to the next level as a player. Looking forward to more from him in 2014.

Tom Hickey: 5
A development year. Played 12 games but only two or three were actually AFL standard. That said, he showed enough to suggest that he's a more natural tap ruckman than McEvoy, and a bit more strength and endurance could turn him into a good player. Lack of goal-kicking ability is a worry.

Darren Minchington (r): 5
Was injured for a long time and eventually came back well enough to get a couple of AFL games, where he didn't look completely at sea. Definitely worth persisting with for mine, especially given Milne and Saad are gone - and with luck he might even turn out to be a bit more than just a small forward.

Tom Ledger: 4
The forgotten man appeared from nowhere and didn't look out of place in one and a half games at AFL level. 16 VFL games in a season is a worrying sign for a 21 year old - hence the low rating - but from the outside I reckon he looks promising enough to stay on the list. Who knows, though?

Terry Milera: 4
Let's hope this was just second year blues, because Terry was mostly anonymous - especially in losses - and his body language is horrible when he's not going well. Has all the talent but might not have the workrate for AFL footy. 2014 needs to be a big year for him.

Jimmy Gwilt: 4
I thought Jimmy was a waste of space as a half-forward, and then loved him as a revelation in our dominant defence. Unfortunately, he's been the one most affected by our short-staffed defence in the last couple of years - he's just not big enough or quick enough to play on the quality forwards. I don't honestly know where he fits in, but hopefully we find a spot for him. Could he go back to the forward line?

Arryn Siposs: 3
Had a shocking year vs expectations, thrown around the park and never really got going, before ending it in surgery. Hopefully this was the second-year blues he had to have. Next year they need to find him a position - medium forward - and stick to it until he either makes the grade or is dumped.

Trent Dennis-Lane: 3
Showed only glimpses, and has a long way to go to justify even the low price we paid for him. But he's 25 - how long do we persist? Personally I reckon he's not going to make it, but they signed him for a reason and with Milney and Saad gone, maybe he'll get one more go at it.

Justin Koschitzke: 3
Unfortunately trailed off at the end of a very solid career. Great clubman who gave his heart for the side - but at this point I'm happy to see him wander off into the sunset.

Sam Dunell: 3
He was supposed to take the next step, but ended up playing only four games and didn't do a whole heap in any of them. Should probably survive another year, but he doesn't really have an obvious position so it's hard to see what his future is.

Jackson Ferguson (r): 3
Made his debut but it got messy fast, and apart from that he was injured a lot - only played six VFL games. Very unlucky to be injured frequently in a year where we were short of tall defenders. Not sure if he's shown enough to get another year, I hope so because that could mean we're one step closer to having a solid home-grown key back. Still not yet 21.

Tom Simpkin: 2
Injuries and suspension disrupted his season, but he played 8 games for Sandy so a lot of the time he just didn't make the AFL side - in a year where our defence was lacking talls. We all love his attack on the ball, and hopefully that translates into him being a good player, but maybe he's just not quite the right size. Make or break year in 2014.

Cameron Shenton (r): 2
Made his debut and looked OK when he had the ball, but his lack of tank has to be a serious concern. Would seem to be lucky to get another season at this rate - especially as a specialist half-back flanker - but stranger things have happened.

Ahmed Saad: 1
On-field, not great. Played the first 11 straight, and while he kicked some goals, he was pretty invisible when not getting on the end of it. And of course, off-field it was a disaster. I'd be happy to re-sign him as a rookie when he can play again, but unfortunately he has to go at this point. I feel sorry for the kid.

Spencer White: 1
Kicked a couple of excellent goals in the VFL, got injured, fin. Next stop 2014 for The New Buddy.

Jay Lever: 0
No idea. He's tall so might get another year? But he doesn't seem to be showing a heap at VFL level, so maybe it's time for a trip to the woodshed.

Jordan Staley (r): 0
No games, not close to a game, been on the rookie list for a couple of years. Seems to be going OK in the VFL. Who knows what happens next?

Lewis Pierce: 0
He's 202cm and still only 18 - not much expected for a good couple more years yet.

Daniel Markworth: n/a
Did an ACL at the best possible time - if you have to do an ACL - so hopefully he'll be ready for a real good crack at 2014.

[borderbarry]

Not much I can fault with that summary. Excellent work Bergholt.

[skeptic]

All in all, thought ur player rating scales were tilted a grade or two too high for a team that finished near last. Schneider, Jones, Curren, Roberton, McEvoy, Fisher, Armitage, Dempster all a point or two too high

Gilbert maybe did better. Looked like a player for the first time in years

[Con Gorozidis]

Great review Bergholt.
Cant disagree on much of that.

[falka]

Big effort, nice work

Spencer white 1???

Showed he can be a player, no pre season, only 18. Bit low?
Compare with Ferg a 3?
I know who promised more this year

[bergholt]

All in all, thought ur player rating scales were tilted a grade or two too high for a team that finished near last. Schneider, Jones, Curren, Roberton, McEvoy, Fisher, Armitage, Dempster all a point or two too high

Yeah, I reckon you're right, a lot of 6s which could probably be 5s. I guess yesterday was an emotional day, too much love for these boys still flowing.

[bergholt]

Big effort, nice work

Spencer white 1???

Showed he can be a player, no pre season, only 18. Bit low?
Compare with Ferg a 3?
I know who promised more this year

I reckon White has a long, long way to go, so 1 is about right. He didn't play a senior game and went missing for large portions of VFL games (reportedly).

But you're right on Ferg. Played a senior game so is slightly higher rated but probably a 2 is more fair.

[older saint]

Good job I am guessing though the ratings are relative to the rest of the 42 on the list? Curren seems a little high I we take this over the whole season. Milne also a bit high but great exercise

[whiskers3614]

^ a bit harsh on Dal
Reckon he was clearly better than Hayes.

[dragit]

Good work Bergs…

Probably disagree with your Milne & Saad ratings… (probably Schneider too but not enough games to even worry about)

Milne 6 & Saad 1 ?

We're talking about a 250+ game player, coming off back to back All Australian's vs a guy coming into the season with 16 matches experience…

Their stats are so close it's not funny… Milne kicked a few more goals, but Saad laid 3 times as many tackles… Milne had a few more disposals & marks per game…

http://tinyurl.com/n4nk8m4

I think they were both pretty ordinary to be honest, but I would be cutting Saad more slack than Milne. They both played 1 really good match each this year, but struggled outside of that.

I'd probably have Milne as a 4, Saad as a 3… Milera around the same area, TDL behind all 3…

I thought the footy Schneider played was brilliant, if he had done that over 20 games it would be a 8+ from me… nearly every touch setting something up.

[bergholt]

Probably disagree with your Milne & Saad ratings… (probably Schneider too but not enough games to even worry about)

Milne 6 & Saad 1 ?

I think what I was going for was more an overall rating of their season. So Saad's mistake with the energy drink detracts hugely from his ranking, because it means we most likely won't have his services to call on in the future. On the other hand, Milney's dignified and well-timed retirement probably bumps his grade up one or two, and maybe there's a contribution in there as well for being an all-time champion of the club.

Yeah, I mean, you're probably still right that the ratings are a bit unbalanced. That said, I did think that Saad felt toothless this year. He kicked some goals but barely got into games, and while Milney didn't by any means have a vintage season, there were very few games where he didn't feel like he was at least thereabouts.

It's all kinda a moot point, I guess, since we won't have either of them next year!