USURPING Matthew Leuenberger was never going to be an easy task for a developing ruckman like Billy Longer.

In his two seasons at the Lions, the former number eight draft pick played just nine senior games including a debut in which he went head-to-head with Fremantle giant Aaron Sandilands.

But now the 20-year-old is after a fresh start, and he’s arrived at St Kilda with his eyes firmly set on becoming the club’s first-choice ruckman after the departure of Ben McEvoy.

“Matt Leuenberger is a great ruckman and I think he will be number one ruckman for a while so it was hard for me to challenge that spot,” Longer told SAINTS.com.au recently.

“Whereas here, in this developing team, I suppose there is a lot of opportunity to try and get that number one ruck position.”

Lewis Pierce hasn’t played a senior game yet but demonstrated good signs in the VFL last season, but it is Tom Hickey who looks most likely to challenge Longer for his desired role. Not that the healthy competition bothers the 2011 first-round draft pick.

“Tom Hickey is another developing ruckman that played a few games last year and showed a lot of promise,” he said. So hopefully sometime down the track we will be able to correlate a two-ruck duo where we share the load.”

In an ironic sliding doors moment, Longer came to St Kilda in exchange for pick 25 and as a replacement for Ben McEvoy. While he was ultimately content with the move, a trade to Hawthorn had looked close to a formality just a few days earlier until the Hawks swooped on McEvoy.

“To be honest I thought there was an opportunity to go to Hawthorn but as it turned out with the Ben McEvoy trade, it sort of opened up a new window. That’s when the Saints began to show a lot of interest and when I spoke to them it just seemed like a great opportunity to join them,” Longer said.

Since the trade, it’s been a period of transition and acclimatisation for the talented but largely unproven big man. While he’s living with his parents in Viewbank in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, he’s keen to move in with a teammate or two after St Kilda’s pre-season trip to Colorado. It’s a trip Longer can’t wait for.

“We are in each other’s spaces for three weeks in Colorado which forces us bond and spend a lot of time together so it’s a great opportunity to meet some guys that haven’t even started training yet. It will be good.”

Longer had a decorated junior career and captained Vic Metro as a teenager. Jack Newnes also played with him, and he’s delighted to re-unite with the polished midfielder. 

“Jack Newnes I got along really well with and we’ve been mates for a long time. I actually met Tom Hickey a few years ago and he sort of came into the AIS and it’s been good. Everyone is really friendly and this makes the transition a bit easier.”

So what can St Kilda fans look forward to? Well Longer is committed to contributing as much on the ground as he does in the air, and it’s this desire to compete that he considers his greatest attribute.
“I think I’m pretty competitive. It’s definitely something I’m trying to work on – being that aggressive ruckman who can follow up and create space for the rovers around me,” he said.

“That’s something that I’m definitely going to be trying to work on and improve – that’s my presence and aggression around the contest. I’ll put my head over the ball.”

As for his desired guernsey number, Longer is just content to wear the red, white and black.

“As long as there is a jumper that fits I will be pretty happy.”

You can follow Tom Morris on twitter: @tommorris32