Toast Brad Hill

[lewdogs]

Want to give a hats off to Brad Hill.

We seem to hold him to a very high standard, maybe that's fair enough as we have had high expectations of him but he did come equal fifth in our best and fairest last year and has played a lot of very good games for our club. I know people seem to have excuses for why he came so high in the b and f but trust me you don't finish fifth in a club b and f off the back of a dud year. And just quietly I reckon he'd be top five in our b and f this year too.

I want to point out a small moment that really stuck with me. Watching the boys sing the song, Marcus Windhager was in the middle of the group getting the first win treatment (which was awesome), then about half way through Hill grabs him over to shoulder arms next to him and sing the rest. It was a small moment of clear leadership and care. We had seven Indigenous players on Sunday, the most in our history, and I reckon I can guess who the leaders of that group are...

What Brad has done to turn around his performance shows resilience, passion and hard work. I am absolutely in LOVE with this man and we are bloody lucky to have him at our club. The game style he plays is high risk high reward. There will be turnovers. But then there will be arrows that split an entire side open.

Let's get behind this man, he is becoming a bloody good player for us. He's an absolute gun player and leader and we are lucky to have him.

 

[puppy_dog7]

He and Ryder both very important role models for our younger indigenous boys.
It's no surprise that those 2 are cousins because they are both genuinely great, kind-hearted people and you can see the influence they have on the entire playing group.

 

[Tyrian Lonestar]

I agree with Montagna, never play Hill in the backline again!
Yesterday showed how damaging he is on the wing & fwd when the ball is kicked into space goal side of him.
Brilliant game and exactly why we got him.

 

[CursingFijian]

I do have an issue with Brads lack of physicality. I do try to balance that with the everything else he brings to the table. I will give him some credit and say that is he has made big strides in this area, and is much better in the contest than he was when he first came to the Saints.

However, when I try to pan out and look at the bigger picture, there can be no doubt that Hill has tried to take responsibility for a lot more than perhaps even he is capable of. And that commitment is to be commended. As other players step up around him it hopefully allows him to perform the role that best suits him, which is elite running to space and kick.

I think Nasiah's arrival, and Patons return have been instrumental in allowing us to release Brad in to the centre where he can use his elite running to provide high impact link and transition plays. The second half of the Richmond game and the Hawks game have got me clasping my hands and praying that we continue to allow him to flourish in that role.

 

[StCicatriz]

i think for most on here and what i've read, people have just been really unhappy with the cost vs product i.e. we had to pay him this much $$$ and to get the trade done we had to give up X picks and Acres, but what we were getting on-field was only this. the criticism on his form has been valid, it just was so far off what he is capable of and what should be fairly expected.

some of the criticism on how he plays i.e. the lack of physicality or contested side of the game, aint new that's just how he plays. i actually think its improved a hell of a lot under ratten at our club. we knew eyes wide open what we were getting. so we cant suddenly be shocked when it's like that.

personally i wouldn't have done the hill trade. i don't blame hill. he got the best deal possible. he didnt do the trade.

i do think the list management needs to be held accountable for getting an outcome that matches the overall cost. they set the parameters on that deal.

i do think he needs to be held accountable to a standard. i didn't like us moving him to the HBF so we could up his stats and get him going. i think it sends a terrible message.

having said that if the outcome is we get Hill back to his best and if he starts getting consistently good football where he is getting 24-30 possessions a week, at a good disposal efficiency, where he is really being part of effective plays and punching out the KM's then i think all will be forgiven.

as Joff said Hill is the cream on the cake. which is 100% bang on. if he has a solid group of inside mids and a good defencive system to support him, then he will have an impact. if we don't have those things, which isn't hill's fault, then he will look poor.

the last thing i would say is this... i don't know hill, i don't know what he's like but looking from afar, i think Hill becoming a father could be the best possible thing for him. i didn't really consider him a leader or mentor, but i've noticed this season he's starting to show signs of really mentoring those around him. for example Nas. i've seem him go up to him numerous times a game.

my hope here is that Hill could mirror Jetta at WCE somewhat. Jetta went to WCE under a bit of pressure (remember the WCE treatment of Goodes) on a fair bit of Cost to get that acquisition done. he then struggled for form vs expectation. however his impact on the club by the end was massive. for example look at the impact Jetta had on getting that 2018 flag for WCE and how he mentored someone like [PLAYERCARD]Liam Ryan[/PLAYERCARD] and the fruits they're now getting from that. worth remembering [PLAYERCARD]Liam Ryan[/PLAYERCARD] had some serious challenges off-field as well as on it. i think if Jetta wasn't there i'm not sure you'd get the same outcome.

my hope is we see something similar with Hill and possibly more.

credit to him though, he's really worked on his contested side of the game, marking and tackling. some of his efforts over the last 12 months in that regard have been amazing. for example he took a mark running back with the flight of the footy on the weekend. that's a huge improvement on Hill even at his time under Ross at Freo or Clarko at Hawthorn.

 

[Plugger35]

Yesterday's game was definitely the best game he has played for us and what we expected him to do when we recruited him, hopefully we see these types of games from him more consistently from now on. It would help if we played more games at the MCG as that seems to suit his game better but I think he is also getting better at working out his role in the team and the rest of our team are getting better at how to best use him which takes time.

 

[Sully111]

Brad hill....love the bloke.

We were playing like a bunch of chooks with our heads cut off... it didn't suit him. He's never going to be a defensive beast but I believe he's stepped up his efforts in that regard.

At the end of the day, put him where he can play to his strengths and let the man rock'n'roll.

 

[cartwright]

Good thread. Personally, I love watching him play. I think the money we paid was a little over but for the time of when this deal was made, that was needed
We were a real threat to being a club that no one wanted to come to, we had the most boring coach to ever coach and with no 'star' players.

Loved watching Hill at the MCG, and hope to see that later in the year.

 

[stfan]

Firstly, congratulations to Hill for his game against the Hawks. It was simply brilliant and we all hope to see more of this.



A big part of the disgruntlement with Hill as the club had been chasing a "Big Fish" for years, and we could never quite get the deal done to we landed Hill.

“Thankfully, we have been able to reach an agreement which reflects Bradley’s value as a contracted player and one of the game’s best outside midfielders.”

But then he did not quite deliver as a Big Fish. Most likely for many reasons including his coach and team mates not knowing how to make the most of his talents, and also quite possibly that Hill did not really have a Big Fish persona, and to arrive as the saviour at a club short on elite players led to him feeling a lot of mental pressure.

Going back to a HBF worked for a while, but the opposition coaches woke up to this and made sure he was always under pressure.

Hill is at his best in a free running role in space. We saw this again against the Hawks. Hopefully we will continue to use him this way whether it at high half forward or on the wing.

But to get the most out of Hill, we also need like we had against the Hawks many players playing well. With Butler and Gresham also running rampant across the forward lune the Hawks simply did not have the luxury of just sitting on Hill. The looming presence now of King also meant that our small forward and Membrey can get off the chain.

 

[plugger66]

Hill isn’t a back. Sinclair going back releases hill to the wing or forward. He is a front runner but so are nearly every outside players so nothing wrong with that. He was recruited knowing he was a front runner because good sides need that type. Well most do. Whilst we are playing welll hill will as well.

 

[Ducky Tie]

Hill isn’t a back. Sinclair going back releases hill to the wing or forward. He is a front runner but so are nearly every outside players so nothing wrong with that. He was recruited knowing he was a front runner because good sides need that type. Well most do. Whilst we are playing welll hill will as well.

Bolded is really accurate. Garry Lyon was going on this morning about whether Hill was a cause or a beneficiary of our dominance. Lyon was missing the point I think. It's not about whether Hill is causing us to get on top or not. It doesn't matter if he is a beneficiary of others' good form. What matters is that it happens. If he benefits from us being a better side, then that's bloody great. I hope we can continue to improve and therefore he can too. Not everyone needs to be a lifter.

 

[Curunir]

My favourite moment of the season so far was when Brad kicked his last goal on the boundary. He's had some other great games / moments but it was the first time I felt the crowd really got around him and accepted him as a Saint.

 

[gringo2011]

To me part of the issue with Hill was that Ratts wouldn't drop him early on when he form was so poor that he was keeping a more deserving player out. It looked like he had different standards which ended up being directed on to Hill.

Anyway, his game on Sunday was easily the best he's played for us. Shut down Jiath and kicked 4 goals, he'll win plenty of fans if he keeps that up. He seems like a lovely guy and we all want the best for him but plenty of fans get frustrated by underperforming big dollar players and can turn on them. He's been good since his first year IMO.

 

[gringo2011]

The point I'm making is the same anyway, his output hasn't been as bad as the abuse he cops. He came 5th in the b and f last year FFS.

His first year was shithouse but still think we should have dropped him and given someone else a go. It would have meant fans didn't direct their frustration at him.

 

[George]

He was superb, it was hands down his best performance for the club and just on that, his season so far has been outstanding. He is back to what he does best and some of his efforts on the weekend were first class. I was surprised to see he only had about 480m gained, it felt like it was double that.

 

[lewdogs]

He was superb, it was hands down his best performance for the club and just on that, his season so far has been outstanding. He is back to what he does best and some of his efforts on the weekend were first class. I was surprised to see he only had about 480m gained, it felt like it was double that.

As said in the OP I'm so impressed with his leadership both on and off the field. There was also this one play where it looks like we were hemmed in near the boundary line with no options and he just shot in for a handball receive and I think it ended up being a goal. Will have to watch the replay again and find it.

 

[George]

Edited a few posts and deleted a few, if anyone has any issues with the moderation of their own content let me know and I can adjust.

 

[plugger66]

His first year was shithouse but still think we should have dropped him and given someone else a go. It would have meant fans didn't direct their frustration at him.

You don’t drop players you know can play. Well ones from other clubs. Wasn’t going to help his confidence. Obviously not dropping him worked. He started playing well after people wanted him dropped

 

[gringo2011]

You don’t drop players you know can play. Well ones from other clubs. Wasn’t going to help his confidence. Obviously not dropping him worked. He started playing well after people wanted him dropped

A year later.

 

[plugger66]

A year later.

Yep. So it worked.

 

[Mowman]

A year later.

Of course he should've been dropped last year and players told Ratts that in their exit interviews about standards

Let hope he has many more games like yesterday

 

[Noidenous]

A year later.

If you want someone delivering inside F50 on a regular basis, you cannot have them held up in the pocket, trying to create from CHB or taking kickouts and pushing forward.

The 'fix' the club implemented for him was terrible and took way too long to correct. Nothing to do with other players, but everything to do with structure.

No player who can't lay a body tackle should ever be considered as a back. If you're telling them not to so they can 'run the other way', you have them in the wrong role.

 

[lewdogs]

Of course he should've been dropped last year and players told Ratts that in their exit interviews about standards

Let hope he has many more games like yesterday

What do you mean of course he should have been dropped? He was excellent in the second half of the year and has been even better this year. The evidence would suggest it was completely the right decision not to drop him. Even if the players said that it doesn't mean it was the right thing to do, I seriously doubt that happened and I would seriously question any player that would say that because it is not their job.

 

[Joffaboy]

You don’t drop players you know can play. Well ones from other clubs. Wasn’t going to help his confidence. Obviously not dropping him worked. He started playing well after people wanted him dropped

Agree totally.

 

[Jade Buddha]

Love watching Hill play. That is all.