St Kilda used the 2013 AFL Draft to layer their engine room with key players in their future, who all spread their wings this season.
Four years on, Jack Billings (No. 3), Luke Dunstan (No. 18) and Blake Acres (No. 19) have established themselves as regular senior players at Linen House Centre.
Billings, who was the Saints’ highest pick at the time since Brendon Goddard in 2002, produced a breakout season in 2017 to emerge as one of the more damaging half-forwards in the competition.
The 22-year-old finished fifth in the Trevor Barker Award in 2017 after he averaged 23.1 disposals, 8.3 score involvements and kicked 23.36 across 22 games.
South Australian inside bull Dunstan has already acquired 69 games of experience and he finished 2017 as well as anyone at St Kilda, averaging just under 28 disposals and just over six clearances in the closing six weeks of the season.
Big-bodied midfielder Acres added 18 games to his name in 2017 – the most of his career – to demonstrate why the Saints used such a high pick on him four years ago.
After playing 10 games in his first two seasons, the West Australian has now played 34 over the past two seasons to become a regular component of St Kilda’s engine room.
The Saints didn’t have another live pick in the 2013 AFL
In his first four seasons at Linen House Centre, Weller has played 76 games in red, white and black and been a member of the clubs leadership group in the last three years.
St Kilda’s picks in the 2013 AFL Draft:
3. Jack Billings – (Oakleigh Chargers) – 64 games
18. Luke Dunstan (Woodville-West Torrens) – 69 games
19. Blake Acres (West Perth) – 44 games
83. Tom Curren* Rookie Elevation
