Preview Round 16, 2023: West Coast v St.Kilda - Optus Stadium, Sunday 2nd July, 4:40PM AEST *WILKIE 100TH*

[kernelT]

2 goals a game minimum?
Not even close
And the way RTB talks about him it would be fair to say he doesn’t rate him

What has he said?

He mentioned him friday night but it sounded like he was looking forward to having him available to me.

 

[Yawkey way]

2 goals a game minimum?
Not even close
And they way RTB talks about him it would be fair to say he doesn’t rate him

At his best played as a small forward he’s worth that, very underrated imo. His best year in terms of scoring was 23 - 36 with 22 goal assists. I don’t think he’ll be picked this week but billings at his best walks into our best 22. I don’t know about RTB but if he doesn’t rate him he should have another look, we’ve got some very ordinary players getting games imo.

 

[CaptainRisky]

I wanna see max kick 10.

Have you seen how we kick to our forwards , not to mention Max doesn't like to lead

 

[gringo2011]

What are the chances Zak Jones gets a DFA contract somewhere else and plays career best footy?

When it comes to Saints luck it's almost guaranteed.

 

[Mowman]

At his best played as a small forward he’s worth that, very underrated imo. His best year in terms of scoring was 23 - 36 with 22 goal assists. I don’t think he’ll be picked this week but billings at his best walks into our best 22. I don’t know about RTB but if he doesn’t rate him he should have another look, we’ve got some very ordinary players getting games imo.

RTB mentioned a few weeks ago that Billing is a forward and had a lot work to do to get ahead of Higgins and Butler

Jack has had 10 years and showed very little even under Ratts he was playing at Sandy, he just does the bare minimum to get by its this sort player that has us in the position we are. I would be more then happy if we move him and some other dead wood on at years end

 

[CaptainRisky]

I'm thinking Bytel could be a good 1 to rotate with Sincs off hbf. Good ball user, not as quick as Sincs, but has a high footy iq imo. Played hbf when he had his back injury in his draft year. Could also be great for his development

Not as quick as sincs well there's an understatement , I can see Bytel getting run down giving up 4 -5 goals

 

[Yawkey way]

We should win this but coming off that hiding at home with everyone from supporters, former players to the press in a frenzy we should be prepared for the best WC can manage.

 

[kernelT]

It's easy to forget that Billings came out of the blocks a lot like Phillipou has this year, he was obviously a bit older than Mattaes but also looked like being a star early on. Fingers crossed Pou doesn't stall like Jack has, there's no guarantees though.

 

[Yawkey way]

RTB mentioned a few weeks ago that Billing is a forward and had a lot work to do to get ahead of Higgins and Butler

Well that’s a fair statement although he’s quite a lot better than both at his best. Higgins is kicking goals and butler is bringing pressure. I think he has more to offer than Gresham at present and a bit of a shuffle that leaves byrnes out would suit me just fine. Byrnes certainly runs hard but he was very ordinary last week and has played a few shockers now. I’m not sure he’ll make it long term but a run at sandy this week seems on the cards. I always liked billings as a high half forward, he can find plenty of the ball and hit a target, stronger overhead than most of our smalls as well but that’s not saying much.

 

[bird_man]

RTB mentioned a few weeks ago that Billing is a forward and had a lot work to do to get ahead of Higgins and Butler

Jack has had 10 years and showed very little even under Ratts he was playing at Sandy, he just does the bare minimum to get by its this sort player that has us in the position we are. I would be more then happy if we move him and some other dead wood on at years end

He did say that, but our win loss record was looking a lot better back then and our season wasn't on the line.

I'll be surprised if he doesn't give him a go at some stage.

 

[Yawkey way]

It's easy to forget that Billings came out of the blocks a lot like Phillipou has this year, he was obviously a bit older than Mattaes but also looked like being a star early on. Fingers crossed Pou doesn't stall like Jack has, there's no guarantees though.

View attachment 1722754

Let’s hope he‘s used properly and not screwed over like billings has been, development hasn’t been a strong point.

 

[kernelT]

RTB mentioned a few weeks ago that Billing is a forward and had a lot work to do to get ahead of Higgins and Butler

Jack has had 10 years and showed very little even under Ratts he was playing at Sandy, he just does the bare minimum to get by its this sort player that has us in the position we are. I would be more then happy if we move him and some other dead wood on at years end

I get the feeling that it's Mowman that doesn't rate Billings

At any rate, we've got Byrnes racking up 17 possies and 2 tackles over his last two outings, so Billings wouldn't need to displace Higgins or Butler… he's a better high half forward than a crumber. Billings has barely played a sub 10 disposal game in 150 and has averaged 20 touches and nearly a goal / game so he's not a bad player.

He would need to be proper fit to play that high half forward role, especially the way Rosco clogs our defence at every opportunity.

 

[Yawkey way]

RTB mentioned a few weeks ago that Billing is a forward and had a lot work to do to get ahead of Higgins and Butler

Jack has had 10 years and showed very little even under Ratts he was playing at Sandy, he just does the bare minimum to get by its this sort player that has us in the position we are. I would be more then happy if we move him and some other dead wood on at years end

I think we’ve butchered his career, he was very good for us then played injured and is now getting the hunter Clark treatment. Even Steele is starting to cop it, all of a sudden he’s ordinary or needs a rest etc. Anyway billings has another year and little value over cap relief at present, I think with Gresham out the door we’d be happy to have him on the list.

 

[Yawkey way]

I get the feeling that it's Mowman that doesn't rate Billings

At any rate, we've got Byrnes racking up 17 possies and 2 tackles over his last two outings, so Billings wouldn't need to displace Higgins or Butler… he's a better high half forward than a crumber. Billings has barely played a sub 10 disposal game in 150 and has averaged 20 touches and nearly a goal / game so he's not a bad player.

He would need to be proper fit to play that high half forward role, especially the way Rosco clogs our defence at every opportunity.

He’s a very good endurance runner but plantar fasciitis, a broken bone is his leg and all the missed work has him coming from a fair way back. Let’s hope billings and a few others are coming back into the picture, if we make finals maybe with with more fit players we’ll shock a few.

 

[Mowman]

I get the feeling that it's Mowman that doesn't rate Billings

At any rate, we've got Byrnes racking up 17 possies and 2 tackles over his last two outings, so Billings wouldn't need to displace Higgins or Butler… he's a better high half forward than a crumber. Billings has barely played a sub 10 disposal game in 150 and has averaged 20 touches and nearly a goal / game so he's not a bad player.

He would need to be proper fit to play that high half forward role, especially the way Rosco clogs our defence at every opportunity.

I just want us to win and be better
Have been a fan of Billing’s for many years but we have had the same discussions about Billing’s for a few years now, imo we need to go in another direction and get fresh blood in

There is reason why no other clubs were interested in Billing’s and Seb when they were available

 

[kernelT]

There is reason why no other clubs were interested in Billing’s and Seb when they were available

I don't know if this actually true, pretty sure Essendon have been into Billings a few times… at any rate I'm not rusted on to any player. We could trade Max King for all I care if that helped the list trend towards elite.

Wouldn't mind seeing Billings under Ross, he could still be a pretty handy player.

He's contracted for two years after this so not much point flushing him for a late pick before we get another look at him.

 

[pebblesofsand]

RTB mentioned a few weeks ago that Billing is a forward and had a lot work to do to get ahead of Higgins and Butler

Jack has had 10 years and showed very little even under Ratts he was playing at Sandy, he just does the bare minimum to get by its this sort player that has us in the position we are. I would be more then happy if we move him and some other dead wood on at years end

Yeah but what he didn't say was that Billings needed to show very little in the VFL to be ahead of Byrnes's on current form.

 

[Ads734]

He played the full game on ball Friday night

Correct and I say anytime he plays on ball our back half suffers and vice versa.

 

[bird_man]

Correct and I say anytime he plays on ball our back half suffers and vice versa.

Unfortunately I don't see Connolly improving that at all

 

[Nutsngum]

There is reason why no other clubs were interested in Billing’s and Seb when they were available

Yes, the reason was covid lowered list sizes and restricted the future salary cap meaning every club had to tighten the belt as suddenly their contracts plans were thrown into dissaray as that cap space suddenly wasnt there.

We get it, you dont rate him, but stop pretending like he wasnt easily in our top 6 or so players and wouldnt have had a look in at almost any other club back when he resigned.

 

[LuckyBounce!]

West Coast backing in Simpson for now.

Phew!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here! Here!

 

[Mowman]

Yes, the reason was covid lowered list sizes and restricted the future salary cap meaning every club had to tighten the belt as suddenly their contracts plans were thrown into dissaray as that cap space suddenly wasnt there.

We get it, you dont rate him, but stop pretending like he wasnt easily in our top 6 or so players and wouldnt have had a look in at almost any other club back when he resigned.

How many top 10s in our B&F in his time at the Saints ? 2 in 10 years ?

No one changed clubs in the covid period ?

 

[Tommy Wigs]

His decision making and ball use haven't been great unfortunately

Racks it up but also not great defensively. May depend on the role he has. He seemed to be on Buller (the MSD pick) quite a bit and was pantsed.

 

[Cairnsman]

I saw somewhere that the teams outside the top 4 are the worst performed since the 60s, which feels about right I suppose considering most supporters would agree we are anything but a finals side and definitely not deserving of our current ladder position. Just such a shame our list doesn't have the strike power to be a finals side because if we did this could have been the year to have a crack as a smokey outside the top 4.

It's been a while since we've seen a quality comp that bats deep, definitely since before the COVID cups.

The depth of quality across the comp is really shallow, Tasmania coming into the comp should degrade the level of quality even further. Not a good time to be rebuilding.

 

[Nutsngum]

How many top 10s in our B&F in his time at the Saints ? 2 in 10 years ?

No one changed clubs in the covid period ?

Did you even bother looking who got moved that year? I cant see any high profile moves at all in that list, certianly no players worth north of 600k which was what Billings was defintely on at a minimum.

3 times he was top 10 if that helps. Youre completey ignoring the sizeable chunk of very good football he has played in a 150 game career so far.