Toast Jack Lonie the resurrection

[StCicatriz]

I've been super critical of him over the last couple of seasons. He looked cooked. But gee what a turn around. He's up there with Membrey as our most effective forward now.

I suspect he's been very selfless and uncompromising in his fight back too. Just goes to show it doesn't matter how you start or any dips you have. It's how you get back that matters.

How do we get him to rub off on others like acres and billings.

So should he be recontracted and for how many years?

My personal opinion is give him two years and not on bargain basement price either. Look after him.

 

[Ducky Tie]

It's certainly been a very promising five weeks. It's a short sample size however and we've had too many experiences of giving unnecessarily long deals to young players who aren't in demand from other clubs. I'd probably just give one year. If this can become the norm and he delivers a 30+ goal season then it would be time for a multiple year extension.

 

[#gosaintas]

Surprised the hell out of me

 

[Saintos The ITK]

I agree.
Great self development by the little fella.

 

[st_trav_ofWA]

honestly ive always felt Jack has had the determination to be a footy player .. even in his worst games you see him giving it his all .. his physical attributes dont help him but i think the change we are seeing is a change in mindset instead of going hell for leather after everything and being brushed off easily he is now using his smarts a lot more ... years ago i was speaking to a very highly respected and successful coach outside of footy ranks and he was telling me for him the best way to get the most out of his team was to identify his players strenghts and have them play to that , understand that players have weaknesses so coach them in a way that keeps them away from doing things that are going to expose their weaknesses ...

i think this is something we do very very poorly at St Kilda we ask guys to do roles that are not going to give them the best chances to show their strengths

 

[ScrappyDo]

I've been super critical of him over the last couple of seasons. He looked cooked. But gee what a turn around. He's up there with Membrey as our most effective forward now.

I suspect he's been very selfless and uncompromising in his fight back too. Just goes to show it doesn't matter how you start or any dips you have. It's how you get back that matters.

How do we get him to rub off on others like acres and billings.

So should he be recontracted and for how many years?

My personal opinion is give him two years and not on bargain basement price either. Look after him.

I suspect having shopped himself around last year with little/no interest from other clubs was a bit of a wake up call. Coupled with the impending departure of Bleach, Jack has seen his stars align at the right moment.
This is the year of resurrection for several long written-off players on our list, and it's the hard times that forge the steel needed success.
I've always liked the little rat, even though I thought he was done. He's got more gumption that some twice his size...
Another 2 years!!.

 

[cooperrules]

Rookie at best footys easy when you have nothing to lose. Playing for his life might be the best way for him to improve. Would rather make an assessment after the first 6 rounds next year. Guys play a couple of good games and we just throw contracts qnd money at them. That has to stop.

Yes has been good but hardly worth a big contract.

 

[Diehard Saint]

Let this be a lesson ( yet again) to all of us who just write these young players off at the drop of a hat.

Ablett jnr, BJ, Hawkins, Joey, Lenny, Jobe Watson, Ross - just a tiny sample of players who definitely did not hit the ground running and start out as stars from day 1.

I'm rapt that he is again showing something after a very good debut year and I’m happy with a two year contract. 50 games this week and I can see him being around for a long time.

 

[saintmagic]

A few key stats to show how he has improved.

Goal kicking:

Last year he kicked 6.14
This year he has kicked 15.9

His disposal efficiency:

2015: 59.6%
2016: 64.8%
2017: 66.7%
2018: 71.5%

His Time on Ground percentage has also increased this year from 76.5 the past few years to 82.5 and his disposal numbers have increased (10.5 in 2016, 13.2 in 2017 and now 15.1 this season).

Takeaway: this week he will play his 50th game. He is clearly starting to get a bit more comfortable and confident. He seems to have adjusted to AFL level and is starting to back his skills (hence his disposal efficiency increase) and seems to have more confidence in himself (goal kicking). The coaching staff are starting to trust him a bit more (increased time on ground) and it seems to be creating a positive feedback loop. You play well, get more confidence, the coaching staff trust you more which then helps you to play well. Hopefully this is the year that really gets him going and sets him up for his career!

 

[holllywood]

I saw Lonie have a work out session on a Friday before a VFL game on a Sunday at my gym earlier this year.

Bloke is a tank for his size, when compared to an average athlete like myself, and certainly pushed himself. Took it upon himself to improve, so good on him.

Also, credit to supporters eating humble pie about him.

 

[StCicatriz]

honestly ive always felt Jack has had the determination to be a footy player .. even in his worst games you see him giving it his all .. his physical attributes dont help him but i think the change we are seeing is a change in mindset instead of going hell for leather after everything and being brushed off easily he is now using his smarts a lot more ... years ago i was speaking to a very highly respected and successful coach outside of footy ranks and he was telling me for him the best way to get the most out of his team was to identify his players strenghts and have them play to that , understand that players have weaknesses so coach them in a way that keeps them away from doing things that are going to expose their weaknesses ...

i think this is something we do very very poorly at St Kilda we ask guys to do roles that are not going to give them the best chances to show their strengths

well said trav

one thing the brisbane fwd coach said in an interview this year is that for the forwards they dont spend too much time reviewing what they did wrong and what was bad. its more what they did right and how they can repeat that again and more often. along with opportunities they may not have realised. it sounded more positive re-enforcement using their strengths as you put it, rather than flaming them continually for errors/having them stick to a prescribed structure/method.

i wonder if their approach is only for the forwards. as they really need to be living on instinct and opportunity rather than identifying how to negate something/2nd guessing themselves

 

[FQFjt]

Biggest shock for me was him kicking a goal from 50m out. Honestly didn't think he had that in him.

 

[st_trav_ofWA]

well said trav

one thing the brisbane fwd coach said in an interview this year is that for the forwards they dont spend too much time reviewing what they did wrong and what was bad. its more what they did right and how they can repeat that again and more often. along with opportunities they may not have realised. it sounded more positive re-enforcement using their strengths as you put it, rather than flaming them continually for errors/having them stick to a prescribed structure/method.

i wonder if their approach is only for the forwards. as they really need to be living on instinct and opportunity rather than identifying how to negate something/2nd guessing themselves

i think we have been doing the same ... it was mentioned by Richo at our tour of the club that there was a feeling that the goal kicking yips we had was not going to get better when we had constant focus on it and that there was a turning point where we realised that all the constant review was doing was putting more pressure on the kick and inturn making it worse ... i guess there is a line that you draw where overly possitive messaging then become to protective of the players to reach a result so there needs to be some "whacking" done for the negative attributes so its a big ballancing act to make sure both bases are covered

 

[Saintbloke]

He has the attributes to make a captain if he carries on with his current form in the future- good skills hand and foot, aggressive, has an attitude.

 

[nitewalker13]

I was bit critical of him but he has shown enough for his contract extension.

What is more surprising is so many other players have stepped up in last 5-6 or little bit more.

Lonie
McKenzie
Steele
Billings
Rice
Austin

Has something changed in the coaching style? Players are playing their natural game?

 

[bird_man]

Rookie at best footys easy when you have nothing to lose. Playing for his life might be the best way for him to improve. Would rather make an assessment after the first 6 rounds next year. Guys play a couple of good games and we just throw contracts qnd money at them. That has to stop.

Yes has been good but hardly worth a big contract.

Come off it.

We to delist him and draft as a rookie he'll walk and another club will quite happily give him a two year deal.

He's just turned 22. That's around the same age Stephen Milne finally started to show some form.

 

[crasha301]

Not surprised at all, people can read my past post on lonie and see I've always thought he'd make it.

Obviously he has his weaknesses but if he plays to his strengths and richo doesn't play him as a defensive fwd he'll have a long career.

The best small fwds to play the game aren't tackling machines (besides long) Milne, Bette, rioli ect. They are smart exciting goal kickers that play to there strengths.

On [device_name] using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[TheEnsign]

Yeah I was a hater early on but that was more the staging and carrying on. He still does it - a lot - but seems to have pulled back from his previous worst excesses, plus now he has some form it sits a little better generally. It's also kinda funny seeing the way he draws frees now and how it frustrates the hell out of his opponents. He's our new tiprat.

He's looking more important to our structure if he can be that almost full-time crumbing forward to free up Gresh for midfield minutes.

Talls: Membrey, Battle, Roma / Paddy / Bruce (only one of those three in at a time)
Pressure Forward: Long, ?
Mid / Forwards: Billings, Acres
Small Forwards: Lonie, Gresh (50/50 forward and mid)

The above group looks pretty good, there's certainly some different weapons in there. Averaging 1.5 goals/game this year,

Give him two years I reckon if we've cap space free, load up year one a bit more as a reward for effort.

 

[hayes]

0.2 or 1.1 is now 2.0.

1.3 is now 4 goals straight and it makes all the difference. Even in the GWS game he went 2.4 but you could just tell he was a different player. Hasn’t missed since then!

 

[st_trav_ofWA]

He has the attributes to make a captain if he carries on with his current form in the future- good skills hand and foot, aggressive, has an attitude.

that might be taking it a bit far .... he has the guts and determination but i dunno about the team looking to the guy who looks like the work experiance kid to command the respect of the captain ...

 

[st_trav_ofWA]

I was bit critical of him but he has shown enough for his contract extension.

What is more surprising is so many other players have stepped up in last 5-6 or little bit more.

Lonie
McKenzie
Steele
Billings
Rice
Austin

Has something changed in the coaching style? Players are playing their natural game?

guys realising that their carreers are on the line

 

[Murraj1966]

2 years and a bit more pay should do.

Good to see him finally living up to Schneider

 

[The Punter]

Lonie at 22 years old, 5 days: 49 games, 43 goals, 613 disposals.

Milne at same age: 17 games, 27 goals, 158 disposals.

 

[#gosaintas]

Who needs Rankine when we have Jack Lonie!

Both would be pretty good alongside Long

 

[Pumpkin Head 25]

Happy to admit I had written little Jack off midway through the year. Changed my tune now. 2 year deal, lock it in.