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He really is just some straight goalkicking away from arriving in a big way. If he had kicked 12 goals 4 behinds instead of 4-12 he'd be going at 20.5 disposals, 4.5 marks, 3 tackles and 1.7 goals per game which is pretty much as good as you could hope for from a 21 year old small forward/part-time mid. Just needs to keep working and actually develop belief that he can be the man to influence games.
For what it's worth, my humble opinion is that JB was: "a very good part of a superb whole", team performance-wise. Yes, all players can (at times) be brilliant and frustrating within a matter of minutes during four quarters of footy. Witness the unfortunate turnover by Jimmy Webster, for an example of that. However, good sides, REALLY GOOD sides, have the capacity to (for want of a better expression) "carry" the odd error in execution. We are still in transition toward that goal. Personally, I'm loving the way JB and the rest of the boys are going about their business!
You can tell that jack billings has been working really hard on his physicality and attack on the ball if you are watching him closely. He tackles more and does some nice bumps as well as linking up into the forward line. He keeps doing this and he will be a fine player in the future
Fortius quo Fidelius means Strength through Loyalty. . . I think
Proph3t of egan wrote:You can tell that jack billings has been working really hard on his physicality and attack on the ball if you are watching him closely. He tackles more and does some nice bumps as well as linking up into the forward line. He keeps doing this and he will be a fine player in the future
Agree. He just looks a lot more focused now.
Flying the World in comfort thanks to FF Points....
Was very good tonight, but we need to see far more of it consistently before we can start the f.ck you threads I reckon. Bont still a far better player but so what? I would say that 99.9% of us that are frustrated with him would be more than happy to eat humble pie if JB explodes from here on end. To be a premiership team in the next few years we need ALL our top draftees to come through and live up to their potential
freely wrote:He plays better for Sinclair being in the team - there's a fair bit of trust between the two of them. And a lot of class!
I have noticed this too and even in the first year they played together. They always seen to look for each other, some real synergy that must take years to build. Look out when the whole team has this!
JB does some really amazing field kicks. Particularly those to Roo or Paddy on a lead. As others have said, his defensive game is the biggest difference this year. He also seemed to be running a bit quicker this week? I'm confident it will all come together in the next few years for him. We went a bit early and my son got the number 15 on his AusKick jumper a few years ago. Looks like my son made a good choice
saintsRrising wrote:Main thing we need Billings to sort now is his goal kicking accuracy.
He has kicked 4 goals 12 behinds this year.
I think he is well on his way - 2-9 before Friday
But - 2-3 on Friday night
One point - toe poke from the pack - could have gone anywhere
One point - hit the post
One point - an around the body on his right - no way of getting to the left.
Not too bad - I am backing him in to get more comfortable in front of the sticks.
“Youth ages, immaturity is outgrown, ignorance can be educated, and drunkenness sobered, but stupid lasts forever.”
― Aristophanes
If you have a Bee in your Bonnet - I can assist you with that - but it WILL involve some smacking upside the head!
freely wrote:He plays better for Sinclair being in the team - there's a fair bit of trust between the two of them. And a lot of class!
That's an excellent point - I've thought similarly for a couple of weeks now too. Played a lot of footy together at junior level. And - it was JB that recomended JS to the Saints as a rookie choice.
Sincs is the outside run linkup player in the last two weeks that's allowed our forwards - all of them incl. Billings - to become more effective. He's an excellent kick and makes good decisions. On Friday night - he took a little while to get into it but, he was very noticeable in the 3rd and 4th when the game opened up as he had a little more time to execute his excellent kicking skills.
Different players/roles I know but - consider Sincs' impact and effectiveness vs. Dunstan (whom he's replaced) over the past two weeks.
What puzzles me about Jack's goal kicking, is that it seemed quite good at first and has steadily deteriorated. 4.12 this year from a player of his undoubted ability and class smacks of a lack of confidence. He's even laid off a couple inside 50 this year, when he was in a good position himself. Given that he can cover 50 metres, and more quite comfortably, there's no reason he should be doing that. As his field kicking, off both feet is excellent, I'm sure it's not a technical issue. It's good to see him starting to hit some good form. He's a class act and we'll need him in the midfield more, to add even greater polish.
I started with nothing and I've got most of it left!
White Winmar wrote:What puzzles me about Jack's goal kicking, is that it seemed quite good at first and has steadily deteriorated. 4.12 this year from a player of his undoubted ability and class smacks of a lack of confidence. He's even laid off a couple inside 50 this year, when he was in a good position himself. Given that he can cover 50 metres, and more quite comfortably, there's no reason he should be doing that. As his field kicking, off both feet is excellent, I'm sure it's not a technical issue. It's good to see him starting to hit some good form. He's a class act and we'll need him in the midfield more, to add even greater polish.
Sainter_Dad wrote:
I think he is well on his way - 2-9 before Friday
But - 2-3 on Friday night
One point - toe poke from the pack - could have gone anywhere
One point - hit the post
One point - an around the body on his right - no way of getting to the left.
Not too bad - I am backing him in to get more comfortable in front of the sticks.
“Youth ages, immaturity is outgrown, ignorance can be educated, and drunkenness sobered, but stupid lasts forever.”
― Aristophanes
If you have a Bee in your Bonnet - I can assist you with that - but it WILL involve some smacking upside the head!
White Winmar wrote:What puzzles me about Jack's goal kicking, is that it seemed quite good at first and has steadily deteriorated. 4.12 this year from a player of his undoubted ability and class smacks of a lack of confidence. He's even laid off a couple inside 50 this year, when he was in a good position himself. Given that he can cover 50 metres, and more quite comfortably, there's no reason he should be doing that. As his field kicking, off both feet is excellent, I'm sure it's not a technical issue. It's good to see him starting to hit some good form. He's a class act and we'll need him in the midfield more, to add even greater polish.
One thing about jack is he tends to provide the wide option inside 50, leaving the corridor open for the big guys. Because of that a lot of his shots are from 45-50 on the boundary line. He has missed a few easy ones this year, but most have been tough shots.
If at first you don't succeed, sky diving is not for you.
The kid looks to be gaining confidence week after week. He seems to best fit the Joey role of Running across half back or across the Half forward line.
The issues i have with him are; He seems to run at 3/4 pace at a contest, still shys away from contact, doesnt mark the ball out in front of him (still takes the chest mark in a contest) and obviously the goal kicking is a major concern.
That being said i can handle all of the negatives with the kid but has to improve in a couple of areas for me. i can handle the 3/4 pace but has to be putting his body on the line like the other 21 blokes picked in the hawks game he had one instance where he took on Gibson and Frawley and it looked bloody good when he took em on and hit someone up inside 50. The marking out in front isnt my forte but id like to see him stop with the chest marking in the contest and doing what i call the "losers limp" (which Jimmy Webster USED to do but worked on his positioning and now its not an issue).
But i think the goal kicking is the main one if he wants to be the joey of the side he needs to be converting. He starts converting then all of a sudden you have him and Gresh as your potential game breakers/winners.(Only time ill refer to stats) you look at the Geelong game and if he comes away with 4 or 5 goals or even on the weekend and its 3 goals then all of a sudden its a different story for him and we've nailed a draft pick. the positive side of things is hes getting the chances but has to be putting them away.
( God help me)
