St Kilda small forward Jade Gresham might be less than two years into his career at Linen House Centre, but he has quickly worked out his role in the team, according to Senior Assistant Coach Aaron Hamill.
Since being recruited with pick No. 18 in the 2015 National Draft, the dynamic teenager has already played 31 games, including all 13 this season.
Only two players from Gresham’s draft class have played more football than him so far: Sydney’s prized pick No. 3 academy product Callum Mills (35 games) and Carlton’s pick No. 1 Jacob Weitering (33 games).
Despite spending the duration of his underage career in the midfield, Gresham has cut his teeth at the Saints as a small forward. But it’s only a matter of time before he progresses into the midfield role that St Kilda drafted him to execute.
“'Gresh' is going really well for us. He’s got a real good understanding of his role and what he can bring and what we need him to bring,” Hamill told saints.com.au ahead of St Kilda’s trip to Perth this weekend.
“As a small forward, it’s about him getting on the end of it between the arcs in terms of marking the footy and also getting to the fall of Paddy [McCartin], 'Brucey' [Josh Bruce], 'Rooey' [Nick Riewoldt], Tim [Membrey] and making a difference on the ground for us and applying enormous pressure; that’s really his role and he’s playing the role well for us.
“With ball in hand things happen; we want the ball in his hand. The fitter he gets himself and the more pre-seasons he has, the more contests he will be able to get to.
“And we want him to play on instinct and go and play the way we think the game should be played and we think Gresh can offer a lot for us from that role perspective.”
With so much football already next to his name, Hamill says the 19-year-old rarely misses a training session and has a thirst for performing when it counts in games.
“He’s a resilient little bugger, he doesn’t miss much training, but he’s the type of guy that lives for game day and thrives in it,” Hamill said.
New Development Coach Ben McGlynn arrived in Seaford at the start of the pre-season and has had a profound impact on the raft of midfielder-forwards at St Kilda, including Gresham, who Hamill thinks looks and moves a bit similar to McGlynn in his prime.
“Yeah they even look a bit similar don’t they? Short, stocky, meatballs,” he quipped.
“Benny has been fantastic for our small forwards. He educates them really well on the back of how he played and he’s the most recent out of the game out of the coaches.
“So he gives a really good insight into the role of small forwards and how they can be used around stoppage and then being a presence at ground level.”
