Delisted Jack Lonie

Unfortunately Jack Lonie has injured his ankle and is in a moon boot. He isn't sure if he will need an operation or not until they diagnose fully. Terrible luck for the kid! I still think he is going to be a gun but this will set him back a bit.
Do you know what the injury is?
 

RobbieMuir

Team Captain
Oct 28, 2013
506
2,212
AFL Club
St Kilda
It sounds like he sprained the ankle during a training drill and it has puffed right up, so they aren't exactly sure what he's done to it until the swelling goes down. He did a similar thing with the Stingrays during the year but only missed a couple of games, so hopefully it is just ligament damage and nothing is broken. He's got two weeks holiday as of now, so he could be back training in three or four weeks and have not missed too much of the preseason.
 
Jan 7, 2011
35,108
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Heaven. I mean Victoria.
AFL Club
St Kilda
Does seem amazing all the players we got were 'inside the top 30' but they werent in other teams top 70
They weren't all inside the top 30 though. Sinclair at 38 isn't inside the top 30 and like I said a couple of times now, I was only told that Payne was rated just inside the 30 around champs time, when he was playing very good footy at the carnival and that by the time of the draft he could have been rated significantly lower, for all I know, and probably was. Anyone that performs well at champs level has something going for them though.

I cant believe we had Sinclair top 40 unless we only bothered ranking Victorian players? Sinclair and Payne top 40 in Victoria makes sense but top 40 in the whole country?
Why, how much do you know about Sinclair, for instance? Since we picked him up we've been hearing from those that have known him growing up that he is super-talented at pretty much any sport he tries and that he's been great mates with Jack Billings and Luke McDonald since he was 8yo, and that when they were younger at least he was considered better at footy than both of them, but it sounds like he's been focusing more on cricket in recent years, while they were all about their footy, so it may just be that he is very good at footy still and will end up being in the best 40 to come out of this year's drafts. Given that Jack and McDonald went top 8 in their draft, it may be far from out of the question, if he really was better than them when he was younger. It sounds like he doesn't have any obvious weaknesses, which is what you'd probably expect from someone who is so good at so many sports and I imagine we expect that once he gets a couple of AFL preseasons into him, that he'll be able to make the transition to AFL footy.

I dare say the fact he made the transition to senior VFL footy so seemlessly this year (playing 3 games and being one of his team's best in one of them, which is no small feat) would have pushed him up in our rankings and we would have also seen a heap of him playing for Scotch last year, when we would have had someone at probably every one of Billings' games for them. He only played 3 TAC Cup games in 2013, so we probably saw a lot more of him than most that year. We also put a huge stock into character and leadership and so-on and I believe he is highly regarded for these (school captain of Scotch, apparently), which would have pushed him up again in our ratings, ahead of others.

We had Eli in our top 30 last year and yet were able to pick him up in the rookie draft (despite it being a more shallow draft than this year's), so I don't see it as any great stretch if we had Sinclair at 38 this year and were able to get him at pick 1 of this year's rookie draft. The year before we got Pierce at pick 75 and yet apparently rated him in our top 45 (which isn't far off rating Sinclair at 38 and getting him at effectively pick 77).

We've also picked plenty of others in recent years who I reckon most other clubs wouldn't have rated as highly as we did, such as Saunders (who no-one on here had heard of until we heard a whisper a week before the draft that we were into him), Minchington, Pierce, White wasn't generally tipped to go anywhere near as high as 25, I don't think Newnes was all that highly rated generally, nor Webster, so I think we do have a habit of rating many of them higher than most other clubs probably do and for taking a bit of a punt on those who have perhaps not played a lot of footy in the couple of years leading up to their draft (which we've done a lot). It seems to be working for us though, so I'm not complaining and am really looking forward to seeing how the likes of Sinclair turn out.
 

saintbill

Premiership Player
Apr 9, 2014
3,302
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AFL Club
St Kilda
They weren't all inside the top 30 though. Sinclair at 38 isn't inside the top 30 and like I said a couple of times now, I was only told that Payne was rated just inside the 30 around champs time, when he was playing very good footy at the carnival and that by the time of the draft he could have been rated significantly lower, for all I know, and probably was. Anyone that performs well at champs level has something going for them though.

Why, how much do you know about Sinclair, for instance? Since we picked him up we've been hearing from those that have known him growing up that he is super-talented at pretty much any sport he tries and that he's been great mates with Jack Billings and Luke McDonald since he was 8yo, and that when they were younger at least he was considered better at footy than both of them, but it sounds like he's been focusing more on cricket in recent years, while they were all about their footy, so it may just be that he is very good at footy still and will end up being in the best 40 to come out of this year's drafts. Given that Jack and McDonald went top 8 in their draft, it may be far from out of the question, if he really was better than them when he was younger. It sounds like he doesn't have any obvious weaknesses, which is what you'd probably expect from someone who is so good at so many sports and I imagine we expect that once he gets a couple of AFL preseasons into him, that he'll be able to make the transition to AFL footy.

I dare say the fact he made the transition to senior VFL footy so seemlessly this year (playing 3 games and being one of his team's best in one of them, which is no small feat) would have pushed him up in our rankings and we would have also seen a heap of him playing for Scotch last year, when we would have had someone at probably every one of Billings' games for them. He only played 3 TAC Cup games in 2013, so we probably saw a lot more of him than most that year. We also put a huge stock into character and leadership and so-on and I believe he is highly regarded for these (school captain of Scotch, apparently), which would have pushed him up again in our ratings, ahead of others.

We had Eli in our top 30 last year and yet were able to pick him up in the rookie draft (despite it being a more shallow draft than this year's), so I don't see it as any great stretch if we had Sinclair at 38 this year and were able to get him at pick 1 of this year's rookie draft. The year before we got Pierce at pick 75 and yet apparently rated him in our top 45 (which isn't far off rating Sinclair at 38 and getting him at effectively pick 77).

We've also picked plenty of others in recent years who I reckon most other clubs wouldn't have rated as highly as we did, such as Saunders (who no-one on here had heard of until we heard a whisper a week before the draft that we were into him), Minchington, Pierce, White wasn't generally tipped to go anywhere near as high as 25, I don't think Newnes was all that highly rated generally, nor Webster, so I think we do have a habit of rating many of them higher than most other clubs probably do and for taking a bit of a punt on those who have perhaps not played a lot of footy in the couple of years leading up to their draft (which we've done a lot). It seems to be working for us though, so I'm not complaining and am really looking forward to seeing how the likes of Sinclair turn out.

Some good points here regarding Sinclair. I don't know much about him, but the fact he has grown up surrounded by other elite players and matched it with them throughout his junior career is a really good sign. He looks to be in really good shape as well, so we may not necessarily have to wait years for him to have an impact at VFL level at least.

I am not sure whether it is a deliberate strategy (probably not), but I love that the club is recruiting blokes that are mates with each other. This is so important in the era of free agency. Create a bond between these blokes and it will be a lot easier to retain them. I know I have stuck around much longer than I would have in a few jobs because I have really enjoyed working with certain work colleagues. This type of bond would be amplified within the inner sanctum of a footy club. These blokes are going to want to stick together. Now we just need them to all become guns:)
 

sonnywalters

Cancelled
Oct 29, 2014
5,833
8,870
Newcastle NSW
AFL Club
St Kilda
They weren't all inside the top 30 though. Sinclair at 38 isn't inside the top 30 and like I said a couple of times now, I was only told that Payne was rated just inside the 30 around champs time, when he was playing very good footy at the carnival and that by the time of the draft he could have been rated significantly lower, for all I know, and probably was. Anyone that performs well at champs level has something going for them though.

Why, how much do you know about Sinclair, for instance? Since we picked him up we've been hearing from those that have known him growing up that he is super-talented at pretty much any sport he tries and that he's been great mates with Jack Billings and Luke McDonald since he was 8yo, and that when they were younger at least he was considered better at footy than both of them, but it sounds like he's been focusing more on cricket in recent years, while they were all about their footy, so it may just be that he is very good at footy still and will end up being in the best 40 to come out of this year's drafts. Given that Jack and McDonald went top 8 in their draft, it may be far from out of the question, if he really was better than them when he was younger. It sounds like he doesn't have any obvious weaknesses, which is what you'd probably expect from someone who is so good at so many sports and I imagine we expect that once he gets a couple of AFL preseasons into him, that he'll be able to make the transition to AFL footy.

I dare say the fact he made the transition to senior VFL footy so seemlessly this year (playing 3 games and being one of his team's best in one of them, which is no small feat) would have pushed him up in our rankings and we would have also seen a heap of him playing for Scotch last year, when we would have had someone at probably every one of Billings' games for them. He only played 3 TAC Cup games in 2013, so we probably saw a lot more of him than most that year. We also put a huge stock into character and leadership and so-on and I believe he is highly regarded for these (school captain of Scotch, apparently), which would have pushed him up again in our ratings, ahead of others.

We had Eli in our top 30 last year and yet were able to pick him up in the rookie draft (despite it being a more shallow draft than this year's), so I don't see it as any great stretch if we had Sinclair at 38 this year and were able to get him at pick 1 of this year's rookie draft. The year before we got Pierce at pick 75 and yet apparently rated him in our top 45 (which isn't far off rating Sinclair at 38 and getting him at effectively pick 77).

We've also picked plenty of others in recent years who I reckon most other clubs wouldn't have rated as highly as we did, such as Saunders (who no-one on here had heard of until we heard a whisper a week before the draft that we were into him), Minchington, Pierce, White wasn't generally tipped to go anywhere near as high as 25, I don't think Newnes was all that highly rated generally, nor Webster, so I think we do have a habit of rating many of them higher than most other clubs probably do and for taking a bit of a punt on those who have perhaps not played a lot of footy in the couple of years leading up to their draft (which we've done a lot). It seems to be working for us though, so I'm not complaining and am really looking forward to seeing how the likes of Sinclair turn out.

So you know all this information but none of the 50 odd recruitment staff at 17 other clubs knew it ? Im a skeptical hippo on this one. So what you are telling me is we picked him up based on his friendships as an 8yo and all the other 17 clubs are clueless?
 

Ian Dunross

Premiership Player
Mar 18, 2013
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I think Aussie has laid out his information clearly & logically. He isn't saying only our club knew this information, he is saying that our club knew this information & when assessed w all other information, rated the players accordingly.

At no point does aussie say Sinclair was picked up because of his 8 year old performances.

You also seem to over rate other clubs recruiting departments. Look at Carlton & Richmond's drafting in recent times. Look at some of the players selected ahead of Jack Newnes & Jimmy Webster. Look at our club's drafting pre Trout. It's an imperfect world.
 

sonnywalters

Cancelled
Oct 29, 2014
5,833
8,870
Newcastle NSW
AFL Club
St Kilda
I think Aussie has laid out his information clearly & logically. He isn't saying only our club knew this information, he is saying that our club knew this information & when assessed w all other information, rated the players accordingly.

At no point does aussie say Sinclair was picked up because of his 8 year old performances.

You also seem to over rate other clubs recruiting departments. Look at Carlton & Richmond's drafting in recent times. Look at some of the players selected ahead of Jack Newnes & Jimmy Webster. Look at our club's drafting pre Trout. It's an imperfect world.

Cant argue with that. Apart from seeing us winning. Nothing gives me more pleasure than seeing the Blues mired in mediocrity. Thats with 12 top 20 draft picks they have running around for them as well.

Lets see how our lads go. Elshaug has done a good job these last 3 years - so ill back him.
 

RobbieMuir

Team Captain
Oct 28, 2013
506
2,212
AFL Club
St Kilda
Jack will miss six weeks all up, so he should be back to 100% in time for our intra club game in early February. He's a pretty fit guy so hopefully he won't lose too much endurance in the meantime. He is still an outside chance to debut in round one if his practice match form warrants it.
 
Jan 7, 2011
35,108
71,501
Heaven. I mean Victoria.
AFL Club
St Kilda
I was watching the replay of our game V Gold Coast from earlier in the year in recent days, the game when Brandon Matera was ripping us a new one and kicking a handful of goals and he immediately made me think of Lonie, who is an almost identical size and seems to generally have very similar attributes. Not sure how Lonie's speed compares to Matera's (Lonie seems to be considered quick, but that wasn't reflected in his testing at the combine, so it's a ? for me), but they are both super-agile, have really good smarts, both kick really well on their left foot and both really know where the goals are. If he ends up as good or better than Matera seems to or looks likely to be then it would be hard to complain about that!
 
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Tommy Wigs

Norm Smith Medallist
Oct 10, 2012
6,218
11,850
AFL Club
St Kilda
I was watching the replay of our game V Gold Coast from earlier in the year in recent days, the game when Brandon Matera was ripping us a new one and kicking a handful of goals and he immediately made me think of Lonie, who is an almost identical size and seems to generally have very similar attributes. Not sure how Lonie's speed compares to Matera's (Lonie seems to be considered quick, but that wasn't reflected in his testing at the combine, so it's a ? for me), but they are both super-agile, have really good smarts, both kick really well on their left foot and both really know where the goals are. If he ends up as good or better than Matera seems to be then it would be hard to complain about that!
Yep, as soon as I saw him yesterday that was the likeness that jumps out. Matera hasn't quite put it all together yet, but I think he will, and he'll be very dangerous in a top 4 team. Hoping little Jacky will be the same.
 

Periphery

Cancelled
Jul 25, 2013
6,688
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Here's what the 2015 Champion Data Prospectus had to say about Lonie:

His opening 4 matches of the U18 Champs were great - He was an elite ball winner as a forward, averaging 18 disposals and 10 contested possessions per game.

He averaged 421m gained per game, which was almost 100m more than the next best forward.

He averaged an elite 3.5 kicks inside 50 and recorded an above average mark and retention rate from those kicks.

He kicked 9 goals in 6 games and averaged 6.2 score involvements and 2.2 score assists int he U18 Champs - ranked 4th in that competition.
 
May 23, 2008
16,376
18,383
Melbourne
AFL Club
St Kilda
Here's what the 2015 Champion Data Prospectus had to say about Lonie:

His opening 4 matches of the U18 Champs were great - He was an elite ball winner as a forward, averaging 18 disposals and 10 contested possessions per game.

He averaged 421m gained per game, which was almost 100m more than the next best forward.

He averaged an elite 3.5 kicks inside 50 and recorded an above average mark and retention rate from those kicks.

He kicked 9 goals in 6 games and averaged 6.2 score involvements and 2.2 score assists int he U18 Champs - ranked 4th in that competition.

I likey those stats.

Lonie, Templeton and Billings kicking inside 50. Not going to be many wasted possessions there.
 
May 23, 2008
16,376
18,383
Melbourne
AFL Club
St Kilda
Lonie to debut on Sunday.

“Jack Lonie will play as a forward and spend some time in the midfield.

“He has got really good endurance and speed qualities, he likes to defend and he’s very creative with the footy. He finds the ball, kicks it to his teammates. Jack is a very clever player. He also kicks goals. All these are pretty important qualities for small forwards.”


http://www.saints.com.au/news/2015-04-03/pair-of-jacks-to-debut
 
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