In a year where he demonstrated why St Kilda banked their precious pick No. 3 on him in 2013, Jack Billings might only be scratching the surface.
While inaccuracy took the gloss of his career-best season – Billings converted only 39 per cent of his chances to kick 23.36 – the 22-year-old was rated by Champion Data as the 6th best forward in the AFL, narrowly behind superstars Toby Greene and Chad Wingard.
St Kilda Senior Assistant Coach Aaron Hamill said Billings executed a difficult role with aplomb, creating plenty of scoring opportunities for the Saints – he averaged the most score involvements at St Kilda and the third most for a general forward.
“He had an outstanding year for us and he could have comfortably kicked 50 goals for us if he had kicked straighter. But we saw him add many layers to his game this year,” Hamill told saints.com.au.
“He was playing as a small forward and averaging 24 disposals, which is elite for that position.
“It’s a really difficult role to play, so for him to average 24 disposals, eight score assists and three shots on goal a game was significant for us. When he gets the ball things happen.”
While Billings is far from alone given the Saints were ranked last for conversion this year, Hamill is confident the classy left-footer can improve his accuracy woes over the pre-season and convert more of his chances in 2018, which will help him take another step forward.
“We’d like to think we’ll be able to fine tune the
“For such a good field kick, there were times where he should have bagged six points for us.
“We know how much of a worker he is for us, so he’ll work on his mindset as much as his routine and technique.”
After spending the bulk of his first four seasons across half-forward and on a wing, Hamill said the next step for Billings was to increase the amount of time he spends in the midfield, starting from next year.
“The next step for him is the defensive aspect of his game if he is going to go through the midfield a bit more,” he said.
“We need him to progress through the midfield and we will see him spend a lot more time in the midfield this pre-season.”
2017 Statistics Snapshot
Games: 22
Goals: 23
Disposals: 23.1
Score involvements: 8.3
Inside
Marks: 5.5
