St Kilda leader Maverick Weller has played a variety of roles during his first six seasons in the AFL, but in 2016 the Tasmanian carved out a niche inside 50, where he not only set the tone for forward half pressure but also impacted the scoreboard.

After a strong start to his time at Linen House Centre, Weller took his game to the next level this season, finishing seventh in the Trevor Barker Award to better his ninth place finish in 2014.

Playing predominantly across half-forward, the 24-year-old kicked 24 goals for the year – the fourth most at St Kilda – playing a handful of different roles in attack, where his defensive pressure, speed and strong hands overhead where utilised.

Weller polled best and fairest votes in all but two games in 2016, racing out of the blocks at the start of the season following eye-catching efforts against Port Adelaide, Collingwood and Hawthorn.

The crowning moment of Weller’s campaign came in St Kilda’s upset win over Geelong in Round 14. The former Gold Coast Suns midfielder gathered 19 possessions, 15 pressure acts, six tackles, two goals and 15 votes in the Trevor Barker Award in a best on ground performance.

After signing a contract extension just before Christmas last year, Weller flourished in his second season inside St Kilda’s leadership group, continuing to establish himself as a key plank of the clubs future.

Rohan Welsh’s Views:

“I think early on we might have seen Mav as a really defensive pressure forward, similar to the role ‘Wrighty’ was playing towards the end of the year, but as the year progressed Mav showed a real desire to not only win his own ball but to finish. He became a really important player for us in offense, in scoring and he was a really good target for us overhead because he’s so strong and so quick. He adds a bit of x-factor to our forward line. His role probably changed off the back of pre-season form and showing a bit kicking goals and marking and stuff like that. I think there’s no doubt he will eventually go through the midfield as well as forward at some point.

“Because we needed to try and kick more score, he was penciled into the forward line, but through the whole year his leadership grew as well, he developed some really strong attitudes and values which the rest of the team grew off. He’s shown that he’s becoming a real emerging leader of the group and if he can keep his form going, push through the midfield and maintain his strength and power through his tackling ability, he will be a really strong player through the next few years.

“The next step for him is to go through the midfield. He’s got to keep working on his cleanness and his disposal and if he can work on that over the pre-season, there’s no reason why he can’t go through the midfield a lot more next season. Him and Minchington are probably the two that you look at now, if they have strong pre-seasons and do some work with the ball over summer they can be good midfield contributors next season.”

The Numbers:

22 games
24 goals
7th in the Trevor Barker Award
16.4 disposals
6.0 score involvements
3.8 tackles
2.8 inside 50s
36.9 pressure points

For details about all 2017 membership packages, or to become a member today, please call 1300 467 246 or visit here.