Are we going to see Rooey the winger?

Since Nick Riewoldt reached the other side of 30 there has been a lot of conjecture about whether he should be playing the Mathew Richardson-type role up on the wing. Despite being selected as All-Australian captain at centre half forward last year, the footy world has been crying out to see the inspiration skipper behind the ball.

The Saints have promising forward options in Bruce, Hickey and McCartin and the time seams right for Riewoldt’s successors take the mantle.

The weekend fostered positive returns for advocates of ‘Roo the winger’ with the skipper dominating further afield in the Saints' historical second-half comeback against the Bulldogs.

Could Armitage be in Brownlow form?

The stats don’t lie. Prior to this season David Armitage’s highest ever possession count was 31. This year he is averaging a whopping 34 disposals, ranked number one in the AFL. He has amassed 80 possessions in the last two weeks, with 35 against Essendon and 45 against the Bulldogs.

With close to best on ground performances in both of the Saints wins and strong efforts in both of the Saint’s narrow losses, its hard to see the hard-nosed midfielder on less than eight votes in the early stages of this season.

His form of late has grabbed the attention of the footy public, currently ranking second behind Fremantle dynamo Nat Fyfe in both the Herald Sun’s and AFLCA’s Player Of The Year competitions.

The general perception is that St Kilda, as a developing side, may not have enough wins at the end of the year to provide a Brownlow winner, but four of the last five Brownlow winners have come from teams that didn’t make finals.

If he keeps this up he could very well be the ninth St Kilda player to win it, the most recent being Robert Harvey’s back-to-back Brownlow’s in 1997 and 1998.

Become a member. Click HERE or call 1300 GO SAINTS.

Does Billings get more attention this week?

Boy did Billings arrive last week, oozing class and poise. When the game was on the line Billings instinctively delivered, kicking three clutch goals in the in the dying moments. One a set-shot from the boundary 45 metres out from goal, another a late spearing shot on the run to seal the game with three minutes left on the clock.

Billings managed a solid 16 games last year - entering the 2014 season under-done and has backed it up this year improving with every possession.

He’s been in career best form lately, averaging 21 possessions in the last three weeks as St Kilda’s second highest goal scorer  - notching 7.3 one goal less than spearhead Josh Bruce’s 8.4 in this timeframe.

The Crows will be appointing Mathew Jaensch, Rory Laird and/or Luke Brown to try nullifying St Kilda’s star game changer.

Can Hickey and Longer take it to Jacobs?

Sam Jacobs is one of the competitions most in-form ruckman at the moment. He has amassed 213 hit-outs this year, ranked equal-second with none other than Saint’s big man Billy Longer.

Longer’s clever ruck work has been a revelation this year, with numbers topping former Saints up-and-comer turned hawk Ben McEvoy. His work around the stoppages was highlighted this week in Engine Room.

Jacobs experience around the ground however, probably means that he has the 31 gamer covered. Fortunately Longer has his forward counterpart Tom Hickey and his athletic prowess waiting up forward if the Crows centerpiece becomes too much to handle.

Expect the Saints ruck duo to have a big influence in this week’s contest and regardless of the result, the winner of the ruck battle will likely hold second place on the AFL standings sheet while the other drops to third.

Can the Saints grab back-to-back wins for the first time since rounds one and two of 2014?

This week Alan Richardson said the Crows game would be a good measuring stick of how much his team had improved since smashing from Adelaide by 86 points in round four last year and 79 points in round 23. 

With no changes to the side that downed the Dogs last week, it will be very interesting to see if the boys can bring that same dare across to Adelaide Oval.

The Crows are in great form themselves, dismantling the Suns last week by 41 points, but the Saints are determined to bring four quarters this week and it will take a switched on Crows outfit to stop the rising Saints.