After compiling a breakout season in 2015, star forward Josh Bruce formed a destructive alliance with St Kilda’s new look forward line this season, helping the Saints become a two-goal better side in 2016.
The 24-year-old spearhead began the season on a positive note by re-committing his future to the club for a further four seasons in early April, extending his contract with the Saints until at least the end of 2020.
On the back of an eye-catching 2015, where the former Greater Western Sydney key defender booted 50 goals, Bruce made a steady contribution on the scoreboard across the first half of the year, kicking five sets of two and a haul of three in the first seven games.
The Canberra product enjoyed a standout game against Essendon in Round 9 where he kicked a season-high 5.1 to help the Saints overcome a dogged Bombers outfit, before also helping himself to four goals in St Kilda’s big win over Carlton in Round 20.
Despite not kicking as many goals as last year, Bruce played an important role in spreading the scoring load at Linen House Centre, helping Alan Richardson’s team shift from 77.0 points last year to 88.8 points this season.
The partnership between Bruce and Tim Membrey – who enjoyed a rise similar to Bruce’s 12 months ago – and with champion forward Nick Riewoldt and highly rated young gun Paddy McCartin, played a pivotal role in St Kilda’s leap from six wins in 2015 to 12 in 2016.
Alan Richardson’s Views:
“I thought ‘Brucey’ had a really good year. Whilst he didn’t score as much as last year, his contest work, his marking, his continued development with respect to understanding forward line play went to another level. His ability to work for others and create space for others because of his work ethic was strong throughout the year.
“He had a period I reckon, just after the hallway mark of the year, where he lost a little bit of touch with respect to his marking, but what’s pleasing about ‘Brucey’ is he won’t just talk about something that’s not working, he won’t just watch vision to identify what’s not working, he’ll get out on the training track and grab ‘Sammy’ Hamill and do something about it. And of course it turned around; it always does if you’re prepared to do the work and that’s what happened, he became very positive with his marking later on in the year again. It was a strong year from ‘Brucey’.
“They worked well together all three of them – they are very different. Paddy’s a bit more of a stay at home type at this stage, ‘Brucey’s’ got enormous endurance capabilities so he’s able to keep going and going a bit like ‘Rooey’ and Tim’s that one that can work in between the two of them. They understood their roles, really enjoyed playing with each other; it’s going to be really exciting for our footy club for a long time to come.”
The Numbers:
22 games
38 goals (No. 3 at St Kilda)
10.6 disposals
4.5 marks
1.8 contested marks
2.7 tackles
