Welcome to Demonland: Jack Billings

[binman 38,032]

My sense is Billings is an excellent kick, but that may well be becuase i haven't really paid that much attention to him.

Where would posters rate him on the dees elite kicking scale, with 0 being Tmac playing at CHB and 10 being Mcvee (do others agree he is now our best kick?)?

[Demonland 64,812]

 

[Demonland 64,812]

 

[YesitwasaWin4theAges 5,795]

5 minutes ago, binman said:

My sense is Billings is an excellent kick, but that may well be becuase i haven't really paid that much attention to him.

Where would posters rate him on the dees elite kicking scale, with 0 being Tmac playing at CHB and 10 being Mcvee (do others agree he is now our best kick?)?

I mentioned it earlier on in the piece, get him in i say.

If we can manipulate his contract and get him in to suite our wage structure.

Jack is nimble, skillful and has plenty of upside in an elite environment.

It will have a knock on effect to create greater competition amongst our small forward brigade.

Work your magic Timmy.🇱🇮🏆

Edited October 18, 2023 by YesitwasaWin4theAges

[Whispering_Jack 27,971]

I sense that getting Billings would represent a concession that we’re unlikely to be able to pick up Harley Reid in this draft.

[Rhino 56]

17 minutes ago, Half forward flank said:

Colin was a rare talent.

Colin Silvia was De Goey like Strong overhead, great user of body like Melcham and accurate kick What we are lacking 

[Colm 1,477]

1 minute ago, Whispering_Jack said:

I sense that getting Billings would represent a concession that we’re unlikely to be able to pick up Harley Reid in this draft.

Maybe the opposite?! If we are bundling up picks for Reid then we might have more list spots to fill !

[mo64 5,209]

3 minutes ago, YesitwasaWin4theAges said:

I mentioned it earlier on in the piece, get him in i say.

If we can manipulate his contract and get him in to suite our wage structure.

Jack has plenty of upside in an elite environment.

Work your magic Timmy.🇱🇮🏆

I strongly disagree with this. He's 28 and coming off 2 poor years, so where's his massive upside come from? 

We've recently brought in the likes of Dunstan, Hunter, Grundy and Schache from other clubs, and none of them improved in our supposed "elite environment".

At best he's a depth player that could challenge Hunter and Langdon, but I'd prefer Woey and Howes to be given that opportunity.

[Timothy Reddan-A'Blew 3,818]

1 hour ago, Red But Mostly Blue said:

It's probably already been posted, but this is a good article on Jack - why he hasn't been chased harder during the trade period, and also does a deep drive into his performance to date.

https://www.zerohanger.com/why-arent-clubs-chasing-jack-billings-stkilda-saints-afl-trade-period-144137/

In the article, it's mentioned that he's clearly talented, but seems to have regressed and has definitely failed to live up to the hype.  Lots of the chat here reminded me of one of our most famous 'never-met-potential' Jacks. 

BUT - it is also mentioned that he has been a little unlucky with injuries, 3 coaches and a lack of certainty about club direction, where he plays. So he would benefit from clearer positioning/role and some luck with injuries etc.

He's on approx $500k, contracted for the next 2 years.

I guess the question is do we need another small/medium half forward??? Who goes out? 

Yep. Twice. But appropriate to have it come from someone else. 😁

I'm in the 'if the terms and expectations are appropriate' (= very modest) camp, per my earlier post.

[Rhino 56]

3 minutes ago, Whispering_Jack said:

I sense that getting Billings would represent a concession that we’re unlikely to be able to pick up Harley Reid in this draft.

Don’t need Harley Reed Elite goal kicking talent is our focus STRAIGHT kicks Think mids go into contests man down As a result too stuffed to kick straight !

[Lord Travis 10,163]

21 minutes ago, binman said:

My sense is Billings is an excellent kick, but that may well be becuase i haven't really paid that much attention to him.

Where would posters rate him on the dees elite kicking scale, with 0 being Tmac playing at CHB and 10 being Mcvee (do others agree he is now our best kick?)?

He's a great field kick but gets the yips with set shots, similar to Trac in some ways. His field kicking is his biggest strength, so he ticks a box for us in that regard. He's the type of player you want delivering the kick inside 50. His weakness is consistency, and it appears confidence based. He was legitimately good under his first coach, then struggled once Ratten came across. Never had a clean run at it under Lyon. Get him into a new environment, get him fit, and he may flourish.

He had some really good seasons with his 2017-2019 run being the highlight. His 2019 was A grade stuff, averaged 26 disposals and kicked 13 goals. Had a few monster games where he looked set to be a star of the competition. His 33 disposal, 11 tackle, 2 goal, 12 score assists game was a monster.

Not sure what happened the past few years, sounds like injury played a part in his form drop off. If we could get him cheap, he'd be a great pickup. He'd aid kicking skill to our midfield/half forward rotation and give us more depth to counter what was lost with Harmes and Jordon.

Edited October 18, 2023 by Lord Travis

[binman 38,032]

17 minutes ago, Demonland said:

 

Def elite kick - didn't miss a target in any of those clips!

[binman 38,032]

2 minutes ago, Lord Travis said:

His field kicking is his biggest strength, so he ticks a box for us in that regard. He's the type of player you want delivering the kick inside 50.

That's what we need some more off. 

[Redleg 37,582]

17 minutes ago, binman said:

That's what we need some more off. 

Well if you got Billings, would you bite the bullett and try and trade Laurie.

If not, we have one list spot for drafting, unless I have miscalculated.

I am shocked he is 185 cms, I would have thought he looks about 178 cms on the ground.

Just turned 28 so not old.

Maybe if we get him for a late pick, or late future pick and his contract is not too high, he could be ok for us. 

Edited October 18, 2023 by Redleg

[Dee*ceiving 876]

40 minutes ago, binman said:

There would be a certain level of irony in trading in a player with similar attributes to Wattsy.

JW's behaviours were factors in his exit though. Haven't heard of any concerns in this space for JB? 

[Diamond_Jim 11,747]

3 minutes ago, Redleg said:

Well if you got Billings, would you bite the bullett and try and trade Laurie.

If not, we have one list spot for drafting, unless I have miscalculated.

Laurie will be traded next year is my guess. Probably Spargo as well (at his request)

On Billings.. I'm a mild yes

[binman 38,032]

5 minutes ago, Dee*ceiving said:

JW's behaviours were factors in his exit though. Haven't heard of any concerns in this space for JB? 

Yep Wattsy's off field stuff and 'cultural issues' played a part in him being traded (and by the by we won premiership so hard to argue it wasn't the right decision).

But I wasn't suggesting JB has any concerns i that space. I was referring to the irony of bringing in player who, like Jack, has silky skills but doesn't have the intensity or attack on the pill that goody values so highly. 

[Redleg 37,582]

6 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Laurie will be traded next year is my guess. Probably Spargo as well (at his request)

On Billings.. I'm a mild yes

But that could leave us with only 1-2 draft picks and Brown will be the last one, so only one other.

We appear to need 2 more picks to use 6 and 11, unless I am miscalculating.

LH where are you? I am confused.

[Slartibartfast 15,761]

I think the attraction of Billings is for mature depth and to pressure Langdon and Hunter, both who didn't finish in the top 10 of the B&F whilst playing 49 games between them out of a possible 50.

That indicates to me that the FD didn't rate their performances this year given the B&F strongly favours players who play games. Some will say "they play their role" but if they did then they'd have finished higher in the B&F.

[picket fence 15,150]

Go for him I say!😁

[Ethan Tremblay 28,388]

27 minutes ago, binman said:

Def elite kick - didn't miss a target in any of those clips!

Check out his lowlights. 

[layzie 28,723]

Would he cost much money wise? Undecided. His field kicking is elite though.

[Webber 10,044]

I reckon Billings is one of those players, like Colin Sylvia, like Jack Watts, who has ALL the abilities required for A grade footy, except one thing - pure, CONSISTENT competitive will. It’s the most important quality in any player (Jason Taylor recruits based on it), which if married with top 10 percentile skill, creates a champion (luck with injuries notwithstanding). Can you develop that at 28 years old, in the last 20% of your physically viable career? I’m glass half empty, but I guess there’ll always be exceptions. 

[demoncat 631]

8 minutes ago, Redleg said:

But that could leave us with only 1-2 draft picks and Brown will be the last one, so only one other.

We appear to need 2 more picks to use 6 and 11, unless I am miscalculating.

LH where are you? I am confused.

Couldn’t Melksham moving to the rookie list open up an extra spot? Two draft picks + Billings?

Also possible that Brown gets rookied or we don’t take him at all 

 

[Travy14 1,494]

4 minutes ago, layzie said:

Would he cost much money wise? Undecided. His field kicking is elite though.

700 a year is reported at least 650.

there is word that Saints are willing to pay some as long as they get a better draft pick in return