St Kilda Assistant Coach Aaron Hamill believes Jack Billings is being rewarded for his hard work over the pre-season, with the highly rated wingman continuing his strong start to 2017 on Saturday afternoon.
Billings was one of St Kilda’s key contributors in the comprehensive 92-point win over Carlton at Ikon Park, with the 21-year-old finishing with a game-high 30 possessions from 76 per cent game-time.
Hamill, who assumed the coaching reins from Alan Richardson against his old side, said the 2013 No. 3 draft pick was hungry to succeed and had laid the foundations for a breakout season through his work over the summer.
“It’s a natural progression for Jack; he’s had an outstanding pre-season,” Hamill told reporters in the post-match press conference on Saturday afternoon.
“He’s a very driven individual; he’s used to succeeding and doing well in life and he has taken steps to become an ‘every time’ player. We’re seeing certain results from him.
“But it’s on the back of his hard work and willingness to work both ways for us. We know that he’s very talented with ball in hand but we need him to buy in defensively and that’s been his focus this pre-season.
“I think he can play a number of positions – wing, midfield, forward. We’ve seen him play forward for us last year and do quite well, we’ve seen him play on the wing the last few games and do quite well.”
Hamill praised the performances by new midfield recruits, Koby Stevens and Steele, with the pair putting their hands up for a spot in St Kilda’s Round 1 side against Melbourne.
Former Greater Western Sydney onballer Steele was one of the standout players on the ground, collecting 25 disposals (13 contested), eight tackles and two goals, while ex-Bulldog Stevens gathered 19 touches and laid six tackles.
“I think Koby and Jack Steele have added another dimension for us,” Hamill said.
“I think Jack had 27 (possessions), but it wasn’t really about his possessions it was the way he went about it and his ability to win contests and execute.
“His pressure was where we expect so from Jack’s point of view it was a big tick for him.
“Koby Stevens added that dimension that we want. We need a bit of grunt in there and he can play both midfield and forward and we’ve seen that for us. We were happy with the steps that those two took for us.”
