Retired David Armitage

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After establishing themselves as one of the best pressure applying sides in the competition last year, St Kilda’s focus is again on being the best in this area of the game says star midfielder David Armitage.

Across the opening three rounds of 2016, Alan Richardson’s side has continued to build its game around pressure, with the Saints ranked third for pressure points (weighted sum of pressure acts – physical worth more than implied) and pressure factor (pressure points per pressure chance), and fourth for total pressure acts.

On the back of the Saints impressive performance against Collingwood last weekend, a win carved from an emphatic pressure factor win (1.893 to 1.632), Armitage said frenetic pressure is what St Kilda wants to be known for.

“That’s our mantra, last year we were the No. 1 pressure team in the competition for twenty weeks – we dropped away in the last couple of games,” Armitage told Triple M’s the Rush Hour.

“This year, what we want to stand for is our pressure. So far we’ve been pretty good in three games.”

http://www.saints.com.au/news/2016-04-14/armitage-pressure-is-what-we-want-to-stand-for
 
Armo: 35 possies, 4 clearances, 6 tackles, 5 inside-50's, 1 goal.

Great power contribution again from Armo.
 

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AFL Player ratings

Highest rated:David Armitage is the man at St Kilda, ranked No. 25 in the competition. His work at contested ball situations is excellent, and he is ranked ninth for clearances per game this season. His consistency over the past two years is significant, as that is the period in which Schick AFL Player Ratings are calculated. - Dinny Navaratnam
 
Armo head knock in fade out against Nth
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-05-08/brainfade-costs-saints

"That positive performance by some of these young guys coming through has certainly got our skipper excited and wanting to be part of that," Richardson said. Riewoldt pulled up sore late but the coach was confident the star veteran would be fine to face West Coast in Perth, while he said gun onballer David Armitage was only a "bit dazed" by a head knock.

"He got a bit of a whack. He's got a hard head Dave, so it surprises me that he went out (of the game)," Richardson said.
"They're not calling it concussion, he was just a bit dazed, so the doctors saw fit to get him out of the game halfway through the last quarter.
"It was frustrating but we'll never take risks with players, particularly with head knock … where there's a bit of grey or a bit of uncertainty."
 
Biggest Risers & Fallers in 2016
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-05-04/player-ratings-the-risers-and-the-fallers

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Highest rated: David Armitage is the man at St Kilda, ranked No. 25 in the competition. His work at contested ball situations is excellent, and he is ranked ninth for clearances per game this season. His consistency over the past two years is significant, as that is the period in which Schick AFL Player Ratings are calculated. - Dinny Navaratnam
 
Sir Skid said:
Armo head knock in fade out against Nth
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-05-08/brainfade-costs-saints

"That positive performance by some of these young guys coming through has certainly got our skipper excited and wanting to be part of that," Richardson said. Riewoldt pulled up sore late but the coach was confident the star veteran would be fine to face West Coast in Perth, while he said gun onballer David Armitage was only a "bit dazed" by a head knock.

"He got a bit of a whack. He's got a hard head Dave, so it surprises me that he went out (of the game)," Richardson said.
"They're not calling it concussion, he was just a bit dazed, so the doctors saw fit to get him out of the game halfway through the last quarter.
"It was frustrating but we'll never take risks with players, particularly with head knock … where there's a bit of grey or a bit of uncertainty."
Click to expand...

Surely he would have got a free if an opponent hit him high. :rolleyes:
 
'We’ve got to have a real good hard look at ourselves'

Star St Kilda midfielder David Armitage has described Sunday’s first quarter performance against West Coast as “insipid”, suggesting the game was lost by the end of the opening stanza.
In a period of utter domination, West Coast booted 9.3 (57) to just 1.3 (9) to pave the way towards a commanding 103-point victory at Domain Stadium.
Armitage, 27, conceded nothing went according to plan for the Saints, as West Coast reigned supreme all over the ground, starting in the centre square where former All Australian ruckman Nic Naitanui dictated terms all evening long.

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“I think especially for young guys, when the first few goals go against you, you can see straight away heads drop to the grass and it’s about more mental than anything, we can physically do it, we’ve seen that in the last two weeks,” Armitage said.
“We’re coming off probably our best game and then we come over here, get away together and dish up that kind of stuff. So it’s clearly not good enough.
“But what young guys get out that, I suppose that’s AFL footy, it’s tough it’s hard, you’ve got to bring it every week, consistently.”
Echoing his coach Alan Richardson’s sentiments post-game, Armitage praised the performance by Jade Gresham in just his fifth game of senior football.
“I thought a bloke like Jade Gresham, he’s tiny and he’s probably done what Jack Lonie did last year,” Richardson said.
“He’s come in, he’s put enormous pressure on, he’s cracked in and he’s a tough little kid. Us older boys and leaders love playing with guys like that.”
 
Coaches give Armitage performance the nod

http://m.saints.com.au/news/2016-05-30/coaches-give-armitage-performance-the-nod

St Kilda midfielder David Armitage has earned eight votes from the coaches following his strongest showing of 2016 against Fremantle on Saturday night.

Alan Richardson and Ross Lyon recognised the star onballer following his impressive effort in St Kilda’s 34-point win over the Dockers.

Armitage, 27, collected 28 possessions, 17 tackles (two off the all-time record), 14 contested possessions, seven clearances and one goal, as well as limiting the influence of Fremantle star Lachie Neale late in the piece.
 
Armitage: Self-belief key to Dockers win

http://m.saints.com.au/news/2016-05-30/armitage-selfbelief-key-to-dockers-win

Star St Kilda midfielder David Armitage has lauded the Saints' self-belief after his side willed its way to victory over Fremantle, after staring defeat in the eye late in the third quarter.

Armitage was one of the most influential players on the ground, accumulating 28 disposals, 17 tackles, 14 contested possessions and seven clearances, as well as limiting the destruction caused by Dockers star Lachie Neale in the second half.

At 13-points down at the final break, Armitage admits the result could have gone either way had it not been for the belief the Saints had in their own game and the time they spend on mindfulness training.

“It could have gone two ways at three-quarter time. We were in a similar position against Essendon at half-time, we felt like we were on top of the game and we didn’t drop our bundle,” Armitage told saints.com.aupost-game on Saturday night.

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“It’s a credit to the belief and the work we’ve done with mental training hanging in there and it will eventually turn. It took to the last quarter and most weeks it will take until the last quarter. But it was a credit to the boys that we finally got over the line.”

Despite escaping with the four premiership points, Armitage was critical of the middle two quarters where Fremantle dominated a number of key indicators including clearances (27-11), inside 50 entries (28-19) and contested ball (79-55). Although the Mackay product was thrilled with St Kilda’s response in the final stanza.

“Our quarters two and three weren’t great. We let them win too much clearance, I think we were -11 clearance in the second quarter alone so that doesn’t help. The backs started yelling at the mids to get it done,” Armitage said.

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“We came in at half-time got a bit of a sting. We responded there a little bit in the first ten minutes of the third quarter but then in the last quarter we turned it around, smacked in and we won the ball.”

Tasked with the arduous role of quelling the dominance of the game’s biggest ball magnet in Neale, Armitage performed the duty with aplomb, clamping the out-of-contract Docker in the back end of the game, whilst also making a contribution the other way.

“I put the saddle on Lachie Neale there for a bit in the last half because I think he’d had eight clearances up to half-time and hopefully nullified him in the last half. I just put the saddle and got to work and just jumped on his back and fortunately I got a few,” Armitage said.
 

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Monday Wash Up: Round 11 v Adelaide
http://www.saints.com.au/news/2016-06-06/monday-wash-up-round-11-v-adelaide

Midfield fight left to too few
On a night where a number of Saints were held to their lowest disposal counts of 2016, midfield duo Jack Steven and David Armitage continued to shoulder the load. Despite Adelaide dominating the midfield duel, Steven was once again prolific, gathering 31 possessions, five inside 50s and 577 metres of gained territory and was St Kilda’s most influential player. His burst of speed and clean ball use by foot shone on a dark night. While Armitage followed up his best on ground performance against Fremantle with another strong showing as he continues to work his way into the season.

BEST - Good to see my man Armo rated for his efforts
St Kilda: Armitage, Steven, Savage, Membrey, Geary
 
John Bonney said:
Armitage played his 140th game on Saturday against Carlton.
In doing so he became the player to wear the #20 the most times in the club's history.
He broke the long standing record of 3 times club champion Jim Ross. (1946-1954).
Click to expand...
Great stat JB. Would have thought the record for #20 would be more than 140.
Solid game by Armo again in a great win over the Blues.
 
Armitage: We want to finish well

If the Saints are going to finish off the season well and build momentum into the pre-season, they must produce four quarters off effort across the final two games against Richmond and Brisbane, says star midfielder David Armitage.
Armitage, 28, was St Kilda’s most influential player in Saturday night’s 70-point loss to Sydney, finishing with team-highs for possessions (29), contested possessions (13) and clearances (seven), as well as six tackles and 59.3 pressure points.
“We want to finish off well, we can’t dish up what we did in the second half against any team, otherwise you get found out. We’ll be looking to play our way for four quarters and not just a half,” Armitage toldsaints.com.au on Saturday night.
http://m.saints.com.au/news/2016-08-15/armitage-we-want-to-finish-well
 
Last edited:
Sir Skid said:
Armitage: We want to finish well

If the Saints are going to finish off the season well and build momentum into the pre-season, they must produce four quarters off effort across the final two games against Richmond and Brisbane, says star midfielder David Armitage.
Armitage, 28, was St Kilda’s most influential player in Saturday night’s 70-point loss to Sydney, finishing with team-highs for possessions (29), contested possessions (13) and clearances (seven), as well as six tackles and 59.3 pressure points.
“We want to finish off well, we can’t dish up what we did in the second half against any team, otherwise you get found out. We’ll be looking to play our way for four quarters and not just a half,” Armitage toldsaints.com.au on Saturday night.
http://m.saints.com.au/news/2016-08-15/armitage-we-want-to-finish-well
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Whatever has been wrong with Armo he was able to see the significance of that game and rise above it.
Its something he's always had, starting with the game against the Hawks in 2009 when EVERYONE was rested.
I wish he'd been selected for a grand final.
 
Just looking back it seemed that head knock in round 7 against North Melbourne did impact his season. Was very good in the first 6 rounds but then after the head knock was slowed down a bit. Still had some big individual games but overall was down.

Amazing how much impact some head knocks can have.
 
Season Review: David Armitage

Despite an almost non-existent pre-season, St Kilda midfielder David Armitage played all 22 games in 2016 and continued to play an integral role in the Saints’ engine room.

While he didn’t quite reach the heights he set in his career-best season last year, the 28-year-old was once again a bull inside, forging a strong link with Tom Hickey, Jack Steven, Luke Dunstan and Seb Ross around the ball.

Armitage started the year strongly against Port Adelaide in South Australia, before producing one of his best performances for the year in the narrow loss to Hawthorn at Aurora Stadium, where he amassed a season-high 35 possessions and earned two Brownlow votes.

He earned another pair of Brownlow votes for his dogged effort against Fremantle in Round 10, where he set a new club record for tackles and came within two of the AFL’s all-time record of 19.

While his outside game suffered due to his limited pre-season, Armitage went to work on the inside, leading the Saints for tackles and finishing just behind Steven for pressure points, pressure acts and clearances.

Armitage received life membership at this month’s Trevor Barker Award by reaching the 150-game milestone in the final round of the season. The former top-ten pick celebrated the mark in style by producing one of his best performances of the year to earn another set of two Brownlow votes.

Alan Richardson’s Views:

“‘Armo’ had a year that I can describe as up and down. He had a really positive start to the year, albeit off a pretty average preparation. He would have had the worst lead in to the year of any player who played as much footy as he did this year, other guys that had preps like him just didn’t play. He just wasn’t able to do the running required of him during the pre-season because of injury and that’s where he had such a big upswing the year before, where he lost five kilos and was able to run really hard on the outside and combine that with the strong physical work on the inside that he is renowned for.

“So we didn’t quite get the outside stuff from Dave this year – we got it against the Hawks down in Tassie and we got it in the last two games – if the year had of kept going Dave would have continued to get stronger on the outside he really finished the year well. What we never compromised was Dave’s really aggressive attack on the footy and on the man. In the Fremantle game he laid 17 tackles and that’s what we get from him; he just keeps hitting the opposition and taking hits for our team in terms of first possession and standing up in tackles to then give the footy off. He’s one that we need to go to another level, we need him to get back to his form from last year and then go to another level and that will come from a really strong pre-season in his runners. And then I reckon we’ll see the real David Armitage, the David Armitage that is a brute inside and hard to play on the outside.

“Not unlike ‘Gears’, he got the role to play our skipper last year and he’s growing all the time in that space. He sets a great example with the way he goes about it, he’s a real warrior type that people look up to and through his actions he demands others to follow him and get on board. He can be quite challenging at times on his teammates in a constructive way. He’s got an enormous amount of care, especially for his younger teammates. He’s really quite impressive in that space.”

The Numbers:

22 games
10th in the Trevor Barker Award
21.7 possessions (No. 5 at St Kilda)
9.7 contested possessions (No. 2)
5.7 tackles (No. 1)
4.7 clearances (No. 2)
3.2 inside 50s (No. 6)
48.7 pressure points (No. 2)

http://m.saints.com.au/news/2016-09-29/season-review-david-armitage
 
David Clancy Armitage was born on 16 June 1988 in Mackay Queensland and played his Junior footy there for East Mackay before moving to Brisbane and playing for Morningside QAFL seniors. I was living in Mackay at the time he was playing Junior footy there. My stepsons both played for the North Mackay Saints, but they were 2 and 4 years younger than Armo so we never played against him (though my youngest had epic battles in opposition to Jamie Elliott).

Because of the Mackay connection I have held a more personal link to Armo and I feel like I have more investment in his performances than others might. So this year I have opted to be his player advocate.
 
'That was a little bit of an eye-opener'
Josh Gabelich March 14, 2017 11:40 AM

David Armitage was told last October that he had a weaker back than people aged between 50 and 70. After spending more than two years exploring a range of resolutions to fix his debilitating back issue, the star midfielder was at a loss before he tried the Kieser program.

Coming off an almost non-existent pre-season, the 28-year-old managed to play every game in 2016 but just got through, not reaching anywhere near his career-best form from 12 months earlier, where he finished runner-up in the Trevor Barker Award.

After seeing surgeons and specialists, Armitage decided to give the Kieser program – a combination of physiotherapy, rehabilitation and strength training – a go. He hasn’t looked back since with the unique blend of physiotherapy and conditioning helping rejuvenate the Queenslander.

“We had to explore other options and that’s when a few guys at the club hinted that there was a Kieser program that a lot of older people do to strengthen their joints,” Armitage told the Sunday Herald Sun.

“I started at the start of pre-season going three times a week and I was put in the bracket of ‘a very old man’.

“I was told that 50 to 70-year-olds have stronger backs than me. That was a little bit of an eye-opener.

“I’ve been doing (the program) since the start of October. Now, I’m a lot stronger and it’s been able to let me do every session this year.

“I still have my ups and downs where it still gets quite sore and stiff, but I’ve certainly built up my strength in my lower back to be able to do leg weights and do a full pre-season.

“It’s worked wonders for me so far. I obviously haven’t played a game yet for the official season, but it’s felt so much better.”

At the completion of last year’s pre-season competition, Armitage hadn’t featured once. He entered the season underdone and tried playing catch-up throughout.

In stark contrast, Armitage has played all three JLT Community Series games and is raring to go in 2017 following his most comprehensive pre-seasons in years.

With St Kilda’s campaign starting against the Demons in 11 days’ time, the Saints leader says he is in a much better frame of mind to get the most out of himself this season after overcoming an exhausting battle with his body.

“When you’re in a good head space, you generally play a lot better footy. Having that frustration of last year saw me not have the best year,” he said.

“You hear it all the time that it’s a game 90 per cent above the head and you’ve certainly got to be in a good frame of mind to play good footy. This year I’m certainly just as enthused as the young boys are, for sure.”
 
Groin grumble claims reliable Saints midfielder
Nathan Schmook March 29, 2017 4:14 PM

ST KILDA midfielder David Armitage has been ruled out Saturday's clash against West Coast at Domain Stadium because of a groin injury.

The experienced midfielder pulled up sore from the Saints' loss to Melbourne in round one and will join former captain Nick Riewoldt on the sidelines for at least one week.

"It’s not one we think is too serious and he should only miss a week or two," Saints football manager Jamie Cox told saintsfc.com.au.

It will be just the second game Armitage has missed in the past 56 matches.
 
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