Break ‘what Jack needs’
THE JESTER FROM TASSIE
ALAN Richardson says selection integrity is the reason Jack Billings was dumped and Nathan Freeman won’t be gifted an AFL debut.
The St Kilda coach described as a “circuitbreaker” Billings’s dramatic fall from grace into the Sandringham side to take on Frankston in the VFL tomorrow.
Billings was expected to be the club’s Agrade attacking weapon this year but instead is the symptom of its demise. He has booted just six goals and 12 behinds in 11 games.
Captain Jarryn Geary (calf) will also miss the game against Sydney at Etihad Stadium.
Richardson said he hoped Billings, the No. 3 selection in the 2013 national draft, would see this as a turning point in his career. “This will be a moment that Jack looks back on in his career and probably would rather it didn’t happen, but it’s potentially a circuitbreaker to just get him back into form,” Richardson said. “I think it’s as simple as that. We think Billings has got some really exciting footy for a long time ahead of him, and if you look across the competition, there would be some pretty good players not picked this week. That’s all it is, really.
“We think to go back and get a bit more belief and a bit more confidence at VFL level will be really good for him.”
Jake Carlisle still has a week’s suspension to serve for his hit on Richmond’s Jack Riewoldt, which means Lance Franklin will be pitted against Nathan Brown or Logan Austin.
ST KILDA youngster Daniel McKenzie grabbed a chocolate brownie and dipped it in barbecue sauce.
Giggling from the corner of a Perth hotel last week sat Jimmy Webster and Tim Membrey.
“There were some brownies and a big bowl of barbecue sauce, so we sat the sauce next to the brownies,” Webster said.
Next to be fooled by the odd culinary pairing were St Kilda’s fitness boss Matt Hornsby and the club doctor.
“We could tell from the first bite they knew something was up,” Webster said. “They were sort of looking at the brownie, but I think they finished it.”
For the first time, welcome to the mindset of St Kilda star Jimmy Webster. For seven years and 77 AFL games Webster has remained in the shadows. The Tasmanian has proven just as elusive from opponents as he has the spotlight.
“I’m not confident talking in front of cameras,” Webster said. “For some reason it’s just not my place.’’ Instead Webster, 24, is an outdoors man. Recently he bought a boat and this week he purchased airfares to return to Tasmania for the bye. During the Round 14 break, Webster will head to his mate’s 8000ha farm and heading the itinerary will be hunting deer, fishing in a dam and spending time with his dad.
Webster is just as comfortable sitting around a campfire as he is bouncing out of St Kilda’s backline.
“Tassie’s got a problem with deer, so we cull a few,” he said. “I like to go away camping and sit by a fire and chill out and have a beer. It’s pretty relaxing.”
Tattooed in giant font on Webster’s right arm are the words “My family my life” and he is one of six siblings.
But at the Saints he is more Jimmy the jester.
And in a challenging season, laughter has been welcomed by coach Alan Richardson.
“He’s a bit of an extrovert, Jimmy,” Richardson said yesterday. “He’s in charge of the fines at the footy club.
“We call that balance — he brings a bit of balance to the group. Those two [Webster and captain Jarryn Geary] are a terrific duo.”
The Saints “fines” don’t involve any cash. Instead about once a month Webster and Geary stand in front of their teammates and poke fun.
“We just get up and bag the boys out. Some of it’s pretty brutal,” Webster said.
Webster kept his material hush hush, though one player with the goalkicking yips was recently accused of kicking about 1.82 this year.
Jokes aside, Webster is a serious footballer.
“He would be right at the top of the way we rank our players,” Richardson said.
“With respect to the Trevor Barker Medal [best and fairest] he’d be right up there. [I value his] balance of defence and attack, and the consistency of performance. He was picked to play on [Jack] Darling last week, that’s how highly we rate him defensively.
“He’s able to play on the bigger blokes, the smaller blokes, he’s got really good speed, he’s a competitor and some of his rebound has been really important.
“He’s been quite complete, Jimmy.” When Saints backline coach Henry Playfair works through Webster’s reviews he usually ignores statistics.
But when Webster — a restricted free agent next year — sits down with the Saints to renegotiate perhaps he should bring along these numbers.
Webster’s average of 25 disposals ranks fourth for defenders this year, only behind ball magnets Rory Laird (Adelaide), Jake Lloyd (Sydney) and Kade Simpson (Carlton).
This year he has kept Charlie Cameron to two goals, Eddie Betts to one goal and Jordan De Goey to two goals before being handed the Darling assignment last week.
Halfway through the season, Webster deserves to be on the edge of the AllAustralian squad of 40 players.
“I’m not really a younger boy any more so it’s time for me to step up,” Webster said.
“This is my seventh year so with younger boys coming in I’ve got to step up and start to teach them some stuff.”
Webster credited Membrey with the barbecue sauce prank, with the goalkicker once pulling the same stunt on his old Sydney teammates.
But that doesn’t mean Webster’s playbook is blank.
“For some reason I just love scaring blokes,” Webster said.
“I used to get Tim all the time when he’d come home.
“Also, there’s a wheelie bin with all the footies in it and before training sometimes I’ll jump in and close the lid, so when the boys come out to grab the footy’s you come flying out of the wheelie bin. I also tape a cup of water to the inside of their lockers, so when they swing them open the water goes all over them.
“You’ve got to have a good balance of being serious and when you can joke and have a bit of fun.”
He’s able to play on the bigger blokes, the smaller blokes, he’s got really good speed, he’s a competitor and some of his rebound has been really important. He’s been quite complete, Jimmy
— SAINTS COACH ALAN RICHARDSON