After spending a fortnight at Sandringham in his first ever stint outside the senior team, tough St Kilda midfielder Luke Dunstan made a statement upon return on Saturday.
In place of the suspended Koby Stevens, Dunstan acquired 28 possessions – one off his personal best – a career-high 21 uncontested possessions, 51.3 pressure points per 100 minutes (No. 2 for St Kilda) and five inside 50s.
Dunstan, 22, admits it was difficult to deal with being left out of the side that travelled to Tasmania in Round 6, but the byproduct of the newfound depth at Linen House Centre is you’re only one poor game away from playing in a different set of stripes.
“It was the first time I’ve been dropped so it was tough originally, but it was more about changing my mindset and coming back a bit more positive,” Dunstan told saints.com.au after Saturday’s 19-point win.
“It was good to get a bit more of the ball and feel involved; hopefully I can take it forward into next week.
“I think every week you’re only one game away from going out of the side, so it’s obviously very important that you try and put your best foot forward and try and play as well as you can each week.”
Dunstan, who has now played 59 games for the Saints since being drafted late in the first round of the 2013 National Draft, said it was important for St Kilda to find a way to win when they don’t have the game on their terms.
“It’s an important win, it’s obviously important to get across the lines in the close and scrappy games,” he said.
“It was pretty tight at three-quarter time so to be able to come away with the win is a promising sign. The groups becoming more mature.
“We know those games bit us on the bottom last year not getting across the line in the close games under 15 points. We know that they are the important ones that we’ve got to win if we’re going to talk about playing finals.”
On a day where highlights weren’t too forthcoming, Jack Billings was the real highlight. In his 50th game, the highly rated midfielder-forward booted five goals from 30 possessions in his best performance yet at AFL level; in a performance that drew praise from Dunstan.
“It’s really good to see Jack get the results,” he said, “He’s been working really over the last 18 months in particular, so to start really getting some results over the last month has been awesome for him.”
