Billings verse Gresham

[Brains Trust66]

Billings. I think he can be and most likely will be our best player soon. Ive never seen a player blessed with so much skill and potential in my time as a saints supporter, im 30 if your wondering. Gresham is a gonna be a star also, love him.

I'm 53 so I've seen a bit more than you , which doesn't mean I'm any better at making comparisons that anybody else. But in my mind the most skillfull player I ever saw was Rod Owen when he first hit the scene before he did his knee . I think he was 16 if I remember correctly . He had the sort of skills that they say Baldock had. But after he did his knee he lost that first yard of pace that initially got him away from others . He was never the same player . He still had some good games but too often was left sitting in a forward pocket or a half forward flank. Hope they don't fall into that trap with either Billings or Gresh.


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[Brains Trust66]

billings membrey stevens acres steele weller gresham wright minchington sinclair all fighting for the same spot.

Surely Membrey has grabbed his spot at least while his form holds up. He was so good last season and the three big forwards works because they all move so much .


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[tim_saints]

Completely different players in my opinion.

Gresham is more a Cyril type I think predominantly a forward who can play in the midfield whereas Billings was drafted for his elite ball skills as well as ability to kick goals from the midfield. Think you could even make a case to play Billings off like half back and in the midfield.

Both great young players, really will come down to who has the bigger tank I think, they want to play both of them in the midfield as well as up forward let's just be thankful we have both of them, it's a great headache to have if you ask me.

 

[Crusty Undies]

Surprised how many see Gresh as a small forward given he never played there before joining the saints, he is first and foremost a rover and captained his TAC side in that position. Also Billings is imo a Stevie J replica with less pending suspensions.

 

[saint_]

Gresham. Such a smart footballer for his age.

 

[sunny3193]

I'm 53 so I've seen a bit more than you , which doesn't mean I'm any better at making comparisons that anybody else. But in my mind the most skillfull player I ever saw was Rod Owen when he first hit the scene before he did his knee . I think he was 16 if I remember correctly . He had the sort of skills that they say Baldock had. But after he did his knee he lost that first yard of pace that initially got him away from others . He was never the same player . He still had some good games but too often was left sitting in a forward pocket or a half forward flank. Hope they don't fall into that trap with either Billings or Gresh.


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Rocket was his own worst enemy.
The knee wasn't the thing that held him back.
Tragic waste of talent.

 

[Brains Trust66]

Rocket was his own worst enemy.
The knee wasn't the thing that held him back.
Tragic waste of talent.

Agreed


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[Armoooo]

Completely different players in my opinion.

Gresham is more a Cyril type I think predominantly a forward who can play in the midfield whereas Billings was drafted for his elite ball skills as well as ability to kick goals from the midfield. Think you could even make a case to play Billings off like half back and in the midfield.

Both great young players, really will come down to who has the bigger tank I think, they want to play both of them in the midfield as well as up forward let's just be thankful we have both of them, it's a great headache to have if you ask me.

Don't see Gresh as being a Cyril type myself. Down the track I see him as being a Burgoyne type (which would be amazing) or dare I say it, an Ablett type (even better).

As someone said earlier, Billings is our Stevie J.

Think both are in for really good careers.

 

[12Chill]

Gresham will be more Robbie Gray type imo. Has very similar attributes, hopefully he can reach a similar level.

 

[12Chill]

Completely different players in my opinion.

Gresham is more a Cyril type I think predominantly a forward who can play in the midfield whereas Billings was drafted for his elite ball skills as well as ability to kick goals from the midfield. Think you could even make a case to play Billings off like half back and in the midfield.

Both great young players, really will come down to who has the bigger tank I think, they want to play both of them in the midfield as well as up forward let's just be thankful we have both of them, it's a great headache to have if you ask me.

Billings off HB?

No thanks.

 

[crasha301]

Completely different players in my opinion.

Gresham is more a Cyril type I think predominantly a forward who can play in the midfield whereas Billings was drafted for his elite ball skills as well as ability to kick goals from the midfield. Think you could even make a case to play Billings off like half back and in the midfield.

Both great young players, really will come down to who has the bigger tank I think, they want to play both of them in the midfield as well as up forward let's just be thankful we have both of them, it's a great headache to have if you ask me.

Gresh will actually get more then 12 possies a game though. Nothing a like imo.

 

[PetWussy]

Don't see Gresh as being a Cyril type myself. Down the track I see him as being a Burgoyne type (which would be amazing) or dare I say it, an Ablett type (even better).

As someone said earlier, Billings is our Stevie J.

Think both are in for really good careers.

Read my post in page 1 hahah i called it

 

[tim_saints]

Billings off HB?

No thanks.

Not saying he is going to be played off Half back nor do I want him to play off half back, merely saying he has the skill set to play multiple positions and play them well.

 

[DGontheQT]

I just bought the 2017 AFL Prospectus , and Gresham gets some big wraps , which included being the 2nd best 19 year old in the competition. They had a "relative rating" where they would compare to what others had done , in their position , at that age , and Gresham was plus 38%. They said Gresham's weakness is not hitting the scoreboard enough. Jack Billings had a relative rating of minus 9%. They also said he had the worst goal accuracy of the top 130 players , over the last 3 years. They did go on to say he could become elite , like his reading of the play , and intercept marking is , and the writer's comment was something like - "I'm backing him in , get on".

 

[tim_saints]

I just bought the 2017 AFL Prospectus , and Gresham gets some big wraps , which included being the 2nd best 19 year old in the competition. They had a "relative rating" where they would compare to what others had done , in their position , at that age , and Gresham was plus 38%. They said Gresham's weakness is not hitting the scoreboard enough. Jack Billings had a relative rating of minus 9%. They also said he had the worst goal accuracy of the top 130 players , over the last 3 years. They did go on to say he could become elite , like his reading of the play , and intercept marking is , and the writer's comment was something like - "I'm backing him in , get on".

As I said before, I'm glad we have both of them because I think they can both become excellent players for the club.

 

[Significant]

I just bought the 2017 AFL Prospectus , and Gresham gets some big wraps , which included being the 2nd best 19 year old in the competition. They had a "relative rating" where they would compare to what others had done , in their position , at that age , and Gresham was plus 38%. They said Gresham's weakness is not hitting the scoreboard enough. Jack Billings had a relative rating of minus 9%. They also said he had the worst goal accuracy of the top 130 players , over the last 3 years. They did go on to say he could become elite , like his reading of the play , and intercept marking is , and the writer's comment was something like - "I'm backing him in , get on".

Any chance you could post all our players on a seperate thread? Really makes for some interesting reading!

 

[Smoke_Me_AKipper]

I'm 53 so I've seen a bit more than you , which doesn't mean I'm any better at making comparisons that anybody else. But in my mind the most skillfull player I ever saw was Rod Owen when he first hit the scene before he did his knee . I think he was 16 if I remember correctly . He had the sort of skills that they say Baldock had. But after he did his knee he lost that first yard of pace that initially got him away from others . He was never the same player . He still had some good games but too often was left sitting in a forward pocket or a half forward flank. Hope they don't fall into that trap with either Billings or Gresh.


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Good call - the kid could have been anything. From all accounts also liked the hooch a little too much in those days sadly...

 

[Brains Trust66]

Good call - the kid could have been anything. From all accounts also liked the hooch a little too much in those days sadly...

Unfortunately liked the Saints disco a lot too. If he had been in a more professional outfit he could have been anything . Also after he did his knee he lost the ability to twist and turn like a kid can either mentally or physically.


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[gringo2011]

Unfortunately liked the Saints disco a lot too. If he had been in a more professional outfit he could have been anything . Also after he did his knee he lost the ability to twist and turn like a kid can either mentally or physically.


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I have a guy who does some work for me who played under 19s at the Saints and grew up with Rod Owen. He reckons there was some bad stuff happened to Rod and he had his demons from things that happened to him as a kid including someone on the Saints staff at the time. He reckons he was more talented than Tony Lockett and was probably the biggest waste of footy talent of all time. He reckons he was probably never sober from his teens onwards.

 

[Brains Trust66]

I have a guy who does some work for me who played under 19s at the Saints and grew up with Rod Owen. He reckons there was some bad stuff happened to Rod and he had his demons from things that happened to him as a kid including someone on the Saints staff at the time. He reckons he was more talented than Tony Lockett and was probably the biggest waste of footy talent of all time. He reckons he was probably never sober from his teens onwards.

I saw him one day kick nine goals for the saints he hardly broke into a sweat , I don't know how tall he was but I would guess at least six inches shorter than Lockett. Out of that nine goals probably only three were from marks , I could be wrong but that's how I remember it. They just couldn't get hands on him to stop him . It's sad that he had all these demons. Unfortunately for him he got signed up by the party club as we were . I will always wonder what he could have been had he been signed by someone like the Hawks.


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[CALL ME SNAKE]

. I will always wonder what he could have been had he been signed by someone like the Hawks.


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If he played for the Hawks in the 80s he mightve been a white supremacist instead . Of the top of my head i cant think of one aboriginal player at the Hawks in the 80s.
Somebody help me, surely they had some/one?

 

[12Chill]

If he played for the Hawks in the 80s he mightve been a white supremacist instead . Of the top of my head i cant think of one aboriginal player at the Hawks in the 80s.
Somebody help me, surely they had some/one?

Before Chance Bateman debuted in 2000, Hawthorn only had 2 previous indigenous players to have played games for them.

Cyril Collard in 1957-1958 for 13 games.
Percy Cummings in 1964-1965 for 5 games although he never identified himself as an aboriginal, saying he was brought up as a white bloke and that's how he felt. He was the grandson of the first aboriginal league footballer, Joe Johnson, who played 55 games including two premierships from 1904-1906.

Willie Rioli (brother of Maurice) was on Hawthorn's list in 1990 and never played a game, was considered too small and not quick enough.

 

[CALL ME SNAKE]

Before Chance Bateman debuted in 2000, Hawthorn only had 2 previous indigenous players to have played games for them.

Cyril Collard in 1957-1958 for 13 games.
Percy Cummings in 1964-1965 for 5 games although he never identified himself as an aboriginal, saying he was brought up as a white bloke and that's how he felt. He was the grandson of the first aboriginal league footballer, Joe Johnson, who played 55 games including two premierships from 1904-1906.

Willie Rioli (brother of Maurice) was on Hawthorn's list in 1990 and never played a game, was considered too small and not quick enough.

So NONE in the 80s at all

Thats pretty odd. Who was recruiting down there in the 80s Ted Bullpit?

 

[Brains Trust66]

If he played for the Hawks in the 80s he mightve been a white supremacist instead . Of the top of my head i cant think of one aboriginal player at the Hawks in the 80s.
Somebody help me, surely they had some/one?

Who else , Essendon , Geelong ?


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[CursingFijian]

I actually think Jack Sinclair is the silkiest player in the club, with kicking skills that are far superior to Billings or Gresham. The difference between Gresham and the other two though is actually Gresham's greatest attribute. And that is that he truly believes in his ability to be a match winner, and to beat whichever opponent is playing on him at any point in time. And based on that deep seated knowledge he puts himself into position to receive the ball because who better to move the ball forward than himself? And if he's got It and is in range...he is going to back himself in...like Milney did.

At worst I think we got a Boomer Harvey for 10 years. At best we struck gold and have the next Ablett, who will be creating play in the midfield for St Kilda for the next 10 years.

Either way, I think he is going to be a top 3 talent for his draft and we should all chuckle knowingly every time we see an Essendon jumper.


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