St Kilda’s ‘Mr Fix-it’ Sam Gilbert is poised for another big year in 2018, according to experienced key defender Nathan Brown.
After being restricted to 26 games between 2013 and 2015, due to a handful of injuries that threatened to end his career prematurely, Gilbert has fought back in the last two years, playing 40 games to revive his career in its twilight.
Gilbert, who in the wake of retirements at the end of last season is the oldest player at Linen House Centre at 31, has turned heads across the summer with his running and form on the track.
“‘Gilbo’ is just unbelievable,” Brown told saints.com.au from Geelong Grammar.
“He trains every session; he wins all the runs; never misses and trains really well. His ability to just keep on going is phenomenal.
“He’s another one that I’ll tip to have a pretty good year.
“He’s sort of been a ‘Mr Fix-it’ over his career – he can play in different roles all over the ground. I’ve loved playing with him and learning off him in the backline.”
At the back end of his second pre-season in red, white and black, Brown said new backline coach Henry Playfair has brought a fresh perspective on the game since arriving from Sydney at the start of November.
“He’s a different coach to what I’ve been used to over the years and that’s been great. I love learning from new people and getting different perspectives of footy,” Brown said.
“He’s fitted in really well and is going to be fantastic for not only the younger guys but for us older guys as well.
“He’s very good at knowing what to say about individual people and knowing what best to say to individual people and reading how they best learn about the game and what triggers them to play their best football.
“Even for me, we’ve had conversations about football that I’ve never even thought about. He’s going to be fantastic for not only the
