Sincs and Taking His Game to the Next Level.

[Vortex]

From all reports Jack is having a good pre season and has hit the gym solidly.

Can this guy deliver on the tease of past seasons and find consistency to move up into A grade territory?

I've been bullish about Sincs for a while now and he seemed to have improved in 2020 without setting the world on fire. Probably just had to find confidence and consistency which he seemed to have in many games.

I suppose some of my bullish belief in Syncs comes from the notion that our flag prospects are significantly improved over the next few seasons if we can develop a few home grown A graders to compliment the star imports of the past few seasons. It would be a massice leg up if Jack could rise to the occasion.

Can he do it?

[skeptic]

It’s funny... I was thinking of starting a similar thread

He’s a tricky one because it’s very clear that he’s best absolutely good enough and that on his day, he’s very damaging with his ball use... doesn’t get a lot of it but seems to really have hurt factor about him

I was delighted when he was first selected in 2020, and his first few games were largely pretty good...
There’s just something about him however... he’s prone to getting frozen out of games even as a second to third choice mid.

I think about Robert Harvey’s book a bit with these things and he described how he would work through the mental demons that came with getting pantsed over a 1/4 (not that he experienced it that much) and how he would find achievable goals that he could hit that would equate to contributing even if he wasn’t winning the ball a ton

I kind of feel like that’s the type of work that Sincs would really benefit from... finding the gear between excellent and ineffectual.

Out of interest... what do people think is his best position. Personally I kind of like his as player that would rotate FP/HFF pressing into the wings rotating with a guy like Butler. His creativity and decision making is his strength

By all accounts... he surely stays in the list for years yet I’d have thought... I think if he really has the fire to push and give it everything he has, he’ll def be something special

[B.M]

Sincs best position is probably HHF although he has his best season as a pure wingman. Could also be useful at HB with his creativity (ala Caleb Daniel)

Always been extremely solid and a good runner.

Just doesn’t find the footy enough to be a lock in selection

[Saintmatt]

It’s funny... I was thinking of starting a similar thread

He’s a tricky one because it’s very clear that he’s best absolutely good enough and that on his day, he’s very damaging with his ball use... doesn’t get a lot of it but seems to really have hurt factor about him

I was delighted when he was first selected in 2020, and his first few games were largely pretty good...
There’s just something about him however... he’s prone to getting frozen out of games even as a second to third choice mid.

I think about Robert Harvey’s book a bit with these things and he described how he would work through the mental demons that came with getting pantsed over a 1/4 (not that he experienced it that much) and how he would find achievable goals that he could hit that would equate to contributing even if he wasn’t winning the ball a ton

I kind of feel like that’s the type of work that Sincs would really benefit from... finding the gear between excellent and ineffectual.

Out of interest... what do people think is his best position. Personally I kind of like his as player that would rotate FP/HFF pressing into the wings rotating with a guy like Butler. His creativity and decision making is his strength

By all accounts... he surely stays in the list for years yet I’d have thought... I think if he really has the fire to push and give it everything he has, he’ll def be something special

Good posts by Vortex and Skeptic.

I really really rate Sincs. I think he's a super player and a number of times last year I was so happy to watch him be the important last or second last link in the chain that resulted in a goal. Our forwards must love it when he gets the footy centre or forward of centre. His possession is then generally the one that results in a scoring opportunity. Makes excellent decisions and is a beautiful exponent of the deft '20 m Harvey dink kick' that allows a forward to run onto it (as distinct from a Nathan Buckley bullet that looks great but is harder to mark).

For mine - Sinc's best position is high HF/wing. He's got the tank to push back hard to be an extra release player for the defenders and his disposal to the forwards is generally excellent. His breakout year of 2017 where he was the only Saint rated as Elite by CD somewhat confirms this (that was the year Sincs and Billings would literally wax together all day).

I've always thought Sincs was a bit harshly judged by the faithful though. Remember he was rookied (at Billings' suggestion) and played 18 games in his first year playing as a small forward in a poor team. A goal a game small forward in a poor team! FFS. Not a bad output from a rookie pick! I've always thought that there was room for Sincs in most St K teams - if not as a mid then ahead of Lonie who may have more tricks but is way less consistent.

[StPeter]

I have been a fan since Sincs joined the club as a rookie.

Impressive from the start with his creativity and use of the ball.

Has been harshly and unfairly judged by many supporters over the years.

Hopefully a permanent member of out team for many years to come.

[saynta]

I have been a fan since Sincs joined the club as a rookie.

Impressive from the start with his creativity and use of the ball.

Has been harshly and unfairly judged by many supporters over the years.

Hopefully a permanent member of out team for many years to come.

One can only hope so.

[Ghost Like]

Excellent thread.

B.M. is on the money that he's never really got enough of the ball, a pity because he's a reasonable user and decision maker.

The fact he's not got it enough is not all his fault. It also comes down to how he's been coached and positioned. The fact none of us really know his best position stems from the Club appearing to not know it.

Ratts appears to have honoured his pledge by challenging the younger players to make an impact. The cascade effect is that mid tier players have seen what they can do and themselves have been challenged.

Sinclair is a hard worker. It looks like he's decided to not die wondering about how good he could be. Like Ross, like Geary, like Lonie, the harder they work the more rewards they receive. Good luck to him.

If he's in our bottom six of our best 22 or the bottom 9 of our best 25, we are well placed.

[mr six o'clock]

I hope he becomes better than average
But who knows

[Zed]

I like him on the wing because of his ability to cover the ground and generally very good ball use
As others have mentioned, would like him to get ball a bit more
Any coincidence that Hill didn’t rack up the numbers we expected? ..perhaps our game style doesn’t leverage wingmen as much as other teams game styles?

[skeptic]

I like him on the wing because of his ability to cover the ground and generally very good ball use
As others have mentioned, would like him to get ball a bit more
Any coincidence that Hill didn’t rack up the numbers we expected? ..perhaps our game style doesn’t leverage wingmen as much as other teams game styles?

Interesting concept

[fugazi 2021]

He has the ability to kick with literally no step....He does that 15metre chip pass to a teammate when the heat is on.

Massive asset.

Caleb Daniel is a good role model. He could play that role coming from half back to half forward.

[saintsRrising]

As others have said. HF to wing , but as a link player which is were his talents shine. His ball use brings others inter the game. And also as others have said he needs to find more of the ball.

He is at his best linking up the play. A potentially vital part of the transmission chain as he uses the ball so well to advantage.

He has many assets including that he makes good decisions very quickly. By contrast this is the opposite with Kent whose indecision often sees opportunities frittered away.

I suspect that a better midfield, can also mean a better Sinclair, by getting more of the ball going through his hands.


Ratts needs to tweak things to involve Hill and Sinclair more. Both can set us up beautifully if we get the ball into their hands often enough.

[Vazelos]

A sign Sinclair is a good player is that you want him to get the ball in his hands the complete opposite of a player like McKenzie who won tattslotto to get the contract tenure he received.
Some players burst into the scene and have a 2020 Coffield like rise Sinclair has made incremental improvements to his game one step forward sometimes half a step back but always improving overall. Physically I think right now he is at his very peak and he can become a very important B grader for this team .
I’m always generally happy when I see his name in the side I believe he is going to be a 200 game player but never comfortable in his career always on the cliff face of being an excellent first 22 player to being dropped after a quiet game.
Thats the small margins most AFL players play under for every King and Clark there are 4/5 Sinclairs...

[Vortex]

Interesting many thinking a HF postion, it won't surprise me if he goes to HB as Hunts goes more midfield.

[WellardSaint]

Interesting many thinking a HF postion, it won't surprise me if he goes to HB as Hunts goes more midfield.

At HB, would he play loose and be a link man?
Could you see him shutting down an oppo HF while still getting his own ball?
At HB, could he halt an enemy's foray into our back 50?

These questions will help decide whether he goes to HB

[B.M]

Exactly how do you play loose at HB if the opposition hold 6 forwards (as many do)?

I always find it interesting when posters say things like
Carlisle or Coffield can play as ‘loose interceptors’
Because when you’re playing in the back 6 you generally have an opponent, especially Carlisle who plays on KPFs

In reality, players roll off their opponents to support and create 2 on 1 for the most dangerous/deepest forward.
This takes an elite ability to read the play and know when to roll off to the most dangerous threat.
Reading upfield cues and having the game sense to drop off at the right time is hard to coach into someone.
Sam Fisher had it.

[CQ SAINT]

Exactly how do you play loose at HB if the opposition hold 6 forwards (as many do)?

I always find it interesting when posters say things like
Carlisle or Coffield can play as ‘loose interceptors’
Because when you’re playing in the back 6 you generally have an opponent, especially Carlisle who plays on KPFs

In reality, players roll off their opponents to support and create 2 on 1 for the most dangerous/deepest forward.
This takes an elite ability to read the play and know when to roll off to the most dangerous threat.
Reading upfield cues and having the game sense to drop off at the right time is hard to coach into someone.
Sam Fisher had it.

I think it is called a 7 man defensive structure where a tall like Battle lines up on a wing and has the aerobic capacity drop back into defence and push forward to the middle of the ground and back with the movement of the ball. Coffield and Carlisle appear to zone rather than man up.
When our midfield is winning stoppages and Carlisle is playing, we usually enhance those 2 factors with a 7th defender.
It doesn't work against teams like WCE where they have forwards who attack the ball and mids who can break through lines creating overlap.
When this happens, Coffield and Carlisle come under great scrutiny for being soft or unaccountable. Coffield took a big step in this regard last year but it still learning the 1:1 craft.
In these cases we put a loose midsized player in the path of the attacking forwards. I think Long is much better suited to this role than Sinclair. I think the coach does too.
Sinclair appears to me as the quintessential 19 man, in a modern 100+ interchange rotation game. He has developed his size and strength and doesn't get pushed around like he used to. He reads the ball very well, displays good one touch ability to pick it up and is very good at quick, quality disposal.
We should definitely rotate him with Gresh and Higgins and allow him to go back into defence to clear the ball out as well as linking into attack. A player with his skills will benefit our outside mids and wings.

[stkfc1]

Sincs has always been a slow burn. This may be the year we see the fire. If players like him can improve even 10%, we are going to play finals. Maybe even Top 4.

Paton and Long are the other two I'd like to see big improvements this year. I think they both have another gear in them.

[St Plugger]

Paton and Long are the other two I'd like to see big improvements this year. I think they both have another gear in them.

Yep, couldn't agree more. They show tantalising glimpses of their potential and to where they might end up. Both Josh Battle and Roma also show that as well! In those 4 alone, the club has players of real "substance"!

[Yorkeys]

Sincs profile on Saints site shows "below ave " rating in most categories and he is not particularly tall. Remember Isaac Smith having an excruciating night out on him, Richo should have made the change early, and Johannison humiliating him as Sincs was running into a certain scoring position and dithered (of course Smith and Johannison have done that to plenty of opponents). With Byrnes, Bytel and now Higgins and Crouch available I fear he will stay a fringe player, unless he has developed a lot more speed and a big tank. And a leap.

[B.M]

7 man defence obviously can’t happen at centre bounce, but can be manufactured in general play

But to do that you will sacrifice a forward, as they will roll up to even numbers up in the midfield if you drop a mid behind the ball
You would never give a team an outnumber in the midfield as there would be a significant advantage at stoppage and territory would be lost too easy

That leaves them with a spare in defence 6/5
Which is more dangerous the 7/6
As the is more space to move the ball from defence and harder to lock in for the forwards

[CQ SAINT]

7 man defence obviously can’t happen at centre bounce, but can be manufactured in general play

But to do that you will sacrifice a forward, as they will roll up to even numbers up in the midfield if you drop a mid behind the ball
You would never give a team an outnumber in the midfield as there would be a significant advantage at stoppage and territory would be lost too easy

That leaves them with a spare in defence 6/5
Which is more dangerous the 7/6
As the is more space to move the ball from defence and harder to lock in for the forwards

This is true. I watched it happen all day at Metricon against Freo last year. It was Acres just trotting around by himself from end to end while Ross and Battle fell back. You need to win the stoppage, control the middle of the ground and kick straight. After the first qtr, Freo just out played us in these brackets.
Same with WCE for most of the match. Nic Nat played out of his skin as an extra, mobile mid and the only way we could score was from turnover, which we couldn't do often enough.

On both occasions we had no drive from defence because their spare man just posted laterally across half back and pushed up when we went forward creating an outnumber.

[Saintmike65]

It’s funny... I was thinking of starting a similar thread

He’s a tricky one because it’s very clear that he’s best absolutely good enough and that on his day, he’s very damaging with his ball use... doesn’t get a lot of it but seems to really have hurt factor about him

I was delighted when he was first selected in 2020, and his first few games were largely pretty good...
There’s just something about him however... he’s prone to getting frozen out of games even as a second to third choice mid.

I think about Robert Harvey’s book a bit with these things and he described how he would work through the mental demons that came with getting pantsed over a 1/4 (not that he experienced it that much) and how he would find achievable goals that he could hit that would equate to contributing even if he wasn’t winning the ball a ton

I kind of feel like that’s the type of work that Sincs would really benefit from... finding the gear between excellent and ineffectual.

Out of interest... what do people think is his best position. Personally I kind of like his as player that would rotate FP/HFF pressing into the wings rotating with a guy like Butler. His creativity and decision making is his strength

By all accounts... he surely stays in the list for years yet I’d have thought... I think if he really has the fire to push and give it everything he has, he’ll def be something special

I think his best position is between wing and high half forward...he is a good link player between the arcs.
He certainly has bulked up in the pre season and is covering the ground really well in the 2 scratch matches I've seen.

[Vortex]

It’s funny... I was thinking of starting a similar thread

He’s a tricky one because it’s very clear that he’s best absolutely good enough and that on his day, he’s very damaging with his ball use... doesn’t get a lot of it but seems to really have hurt factor about him

I was delighted when he was first selected in 2020, and his first few games were largely pretty good...
There’s just something about him however... he’s prone to getting frozen out of games even as a second to third choice mid.

I think about Robert Harvey’s book a bit with these things and he described how he would work through the mental demons that came with getting pantsed over a 1/4 (not that he experienced it that much) and how he would find achievable goals that he could hit that would equate to contributing even if he wasn’t winning the ball a ton

I kind of feel like that’s the type of work that Sincs would really benefit from... finding the gear between excellent and ineffectual.

Out of interest... what do people think is his best position. Personally I kind of like his as player that would rotate FP/HFF pressing into the wings rotating with a guy like Butler. His creativity and decision making is his strength

By all accounts... he surely stays in the list for years yet I’d have thought... I think if he really has the fire to push and give it everything he has, he’ll def be something special

I think his best position is between wing and high half forward...he is a good link player between the arcs.
He certainly has bulked up in the pre season and is covering the ground really well in the 2 scratch matches I've seen.

I wonder why he's bulked up, does this confirm Ratts is preparing him for a position change or does it mean Ratts has focused him on changing the way he plays, for example he wants him to bulk up to play more of an inside style of game or just be able to be stronger and stand up in a tackle, or maybe just put his body on the line more and tackle harder and more often?

Is it just for confidence as he enters the sweet spot of his age profile.

[B.M]

Sinclair has always been stocky

Low centre of gravity, big calves!