Billy Longer to re-sign.

Looks set to be staying until the end of 2018 with club and player approaching a contact extension.

More news here: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-07-20/st-kilda-ruckman-set-to-sign-for-two-more

afl.com.au said:
The 23-year-old could have been tempted to test the trade market at the end of this season when he was due to come out of contract, with a number of rival clubs keen to bolster their ruck divisions.

But AFL.com.au understands St Kilda and Longer are very close to finalising a new deal that will keep him at the club until the end of 2018.

Good news :thumbsu:

Not many left to re-sign now. I think it's just Dempster and Fisher?
 

AuntieBarrels

Club Legend
Nov 26, 2014
1,329
2,498
AFL Club
St Kilda
Love Billy... but with Hickey finally having continuity in his game and establishing himself as one of the competition's elite ruckmen, does Longer actually have a spot in our first 22? (also keeping in mind that Paddy is first 22)

Honestly thought he would have been put on the trade table to either get a midfielder or a pick.
I certainly don't want to give him away, he's going to end up being a star. I just don't see how he fits in our team.
 
Sep 14, 2008
9,000
31,408
L2 A30
AFL Club
St Kilda
Other Teams
Chicago Bulls
Hopefully this season will be the 1st season that Hick plays every game.

Ruckmen get injured.

Billy is not only very capable insurance but still has enormous improvement in him.

Depth wins flags people.

A lack of depth has cost us terribly in the past.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Hopefully this season will be the 1st season that Hick plays every game.

Ruckmen get injured.

Billy is not only very capable insurance but still has enormous improvement in him.

Depth wins flags people.

A lack of depth has cost us terribly in the past.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Should the club trade for Josh Jenkins and Jack Riewoldt just so we can have forwardline depth?

Depth is advantageous if and only if you lose a player of that specific position from your best 22.
Bolstering your first 22 is always advantageous.

Let's just say that trading the surplus ruckman allows us to add a gun midfielder to our list; here are the scenarios:

Keep both
Ruckman doesn't get injured = Gun ruck / Mediocre midfielder
Ruckman gets injured = Gun ruck / Mediocre midfielder

RESULT = Always 1 gun, 1 mediocre

Trade one for gun midfielder
Ruckman doesn't get injured = Gun ruck / Gun midfielder
Ruckman gets injured = Mediocre ruck / Gun midfielder

RESULT = 2 guns OR 1 gun, 1 mediocre

Trading will either be better or break even - in no way is it worse.




*This is not accounting for extraneous variables like dipping form in either our ruckman or the midfielder that's traded in. This could negatively or positively affect either the trade or don't trade scenarios, so it is negated.
 
Jan 10, 2011
34,367
57,683
AFL Club
St Kilda
Other Teams
Ormond AFC
great news, if we lose this week against the dogs then our finals series are officially over.

id then play longer and hickey to give them some cohesion before pre season.


And what forward would you drop? I'm unsure games this year will help them work together next year. Play him when we need him and not to practice something that wont work next season. Very surprised he signed. I thought he would want regular footy but good on him for loyalty. The one thing I think a club should never do is have a potential high pick in the seconds as insurance. That's what young 1 to 3 year players are for.
 

#gosaintas

Cancelled
Veteran Reimagine Moorabbin
Nov 11, 2013
4,794
10,292
AFL Club
St Kilda
I guess if we want to maximise his trade value then we need him contracted anyway. I would trade one of Hickey/Longer for sure. If we think Longer is going to be the better of the two then we should trade out Hickey this year. If StKilda really believes this to be the case then Longer's poor form this year and Hickey's good form will play out perfectly at the trade table. Hickey is definitely worth a good first rounder. No point having two excellent ruckmen on the list when one is always at Sandringham. Pierce is developing pretty well anyway and then there is Holmes.
 
Good. May the luck of september 1997 never be felt again.
Yeah you never know when your gonna get two serious injuries to your two best rucks.:(

Weve got a good inform ruck in Hickey.
Another good big hearted young ruck in Billy coming back from an interupted yr.
And Pierce and Holmes who are a bit behind those two but are at the very least good depth rucks.
Id be holding on to all 4 if we can.
 
Dec 4, 2000
51,665
125,126
The Bay
AFL Club
St Kilda
Other Teams
NO Saints LUFC
Prefer Hickey. If he was playing for a more high profile clubhe would be in AA contention.

As it is we keep hearing from ITK' s that basically they have no time from Tom and all are in love with Longer.

Getting a bit sick on the way Hickey is being bad mouthed by the club.
He is our best ruckman by a country mile but it seems some wont be happy until he is forced out and the new cross between Dempsey/Cox/Gardiner takes his place
 

Masquerade

All Australian
Mar 5, 2016
791
2,442
AFL Club
St Kilda
Prefer Hickey. If he was playing for a more high profile clubhe would be in AA contention.

As it is we keep hearing from ITK' s that basically they have no time from Tom and all are in love with Longer.

Getting a bit sick on the way Hickey is being bad mouthed by the club.
He is our best ruckman by a country mile but it seems some wont be happy until he is forced out and the new cross between Dempsey/Cox/Gardiner takes his place

This. I'm sure Longer's incredibly talented but Hickey's having an amazing year. Honestly, I don't think it's fair on Tom at all. He's worked really hard to cement the no.1 ruck spot and still, it seems anyway, that the club are happy to put Longer on a pedestal.

I'm sure the club know a lot more about player's potential than me but still seems like a pretty big slap on the face for Hickey.
 
This. I'm sure Longer's incredibly talented but Hickey's having an amazing year. Honestly, I don't think it's fair on Tom at all. He's worked really hard to cement the no.1 ruck spot and still, it seems anyway, that the club are happy to put Longer on a pedestal.

I'm sure the club know a lot more about player's potential than me but still seems like a pretty big slap on the face for Hickey.
Whats the slap on the face for Hickey?
Did i miss something?
I havnt heard anything bad said about either.
 

Masquerade

All Australian
Mar 5, 2016
791
2,442
AFL Club
St Kilda
Whats the slap on the face for Hickey?
Did i miss something?
I havnt heard anything bad said about either.

Maybe I phrased it a little wrongly. It just seems a little wrong or unfair that internally Longer keep getting touted as the No. 1 ruck when Hickey's performed really strongly this year. I'm sure the club have their reasons for it


Actually now that I think about it, it's like saying Paddy will be the main key forward over Bruce, which doesn't sound very wrong when I think about it.

You know what? Just go ahead and ignore any post I've made on this thread. I'm not sure what I think right now.
 
Lol when has anyone bad mouthed Hickey. Get a clue.
People seems to be responding to comments from the "ITKs"

It's certainly not my intention to put down the "ITKs"; that would be hypocritical as I thoroughly love reading all that the "ITKs" have to say.

However an "ITK" saying that the club doesn't rate Hickey, or that the club rates Longer more than Hickey, is a helluva way short of the club saying they don't rate Hickey, or that they rate Longer more than Hickey.

Just sayin’ (as a “non-ITK”)
 
People seems to be responding to comments from the "ITKs"

It's certainly not my intention to put down the "ITKs"; that would be hypocritical as I thoroughly love reading all that the "ITKs" have to say.

However an "ITK" saying that the club doesn't rate Hickey, or that the club rates Longer more than Hickey, is a helluva way short of the club saying they don't rate Hickey, or that they rate Longer more than Hickey.

Just sayin’ (as a “non-ITK”)
They rate them both as good players and think that over the course of an AFL career, Longer will be the more dominant ruckman. It's not a dig at Hickey, it's simply an opinion based on what I assume would be factual evidence.
 
Jan 10, 2011
34,367
57,683
AFL Club
St Kilda
Other Teams
Ormond AFC
Maybe I phrased it a little wrongly. It just seems a little wrong or unfair that internally Longer keep getting touted as the No. 1 ruck when Hickey's performed really strongly this year. I'm sure the club have their reasons for it


Actually now that I think about it, it's like saying Paddy will be the main key forward over Bruce, which doesn't sound very wrong when I think about it.

You know what? Just go ahead and ignore any post I've made on this thread. I'm not sure what I think right now.


No you worded it right in the first place. The difference between McCartin and Bruce versus Hickey and Longer is both forwards play so it matters little who thinks who is better. With our rucks it matters a great deal if the club think one is better over the other because only one ruckmen has been playing and only one is likely to play in the future.
 
Jan 10, 2011
34,367
57,683
AFL Club
St Kilda
Other Teams
Ormond AFC
They rate them both as good players and think that over the course of an AFL career, Longer will be the more dominant ruckman. It's not a dig at Hickey, it's simply an opinion based on what I assume would be factual evidence.


Its rather important though with only one ruck being played and only one likely to be played into the future. Go saints I have no idea what you are on about but then again I never get the dropping of Geary, our likely next captain or Gilbert. I suppose some know about footy and the others watch it and eventually look at the scores to see who won.
 

bergholt

Good Ordinary Player
Mar 14, 2007
10,916
27,571
Brunswick
AFL Club
St Kilda
They rate them both as good players and think that over the course of an AFL career, Longer will be the more dominant ruckman. It's not a dig at Hickey, it's simply an opinion based on what I assume would be factual evidence.

What "factual evidence" could it possibly be based on? It's all opinions, no-one has a crystal ball.
 
Back