When the whips were cracking and St Kilda dashed towards the finish line, not many players finished with the quality and consistency that versatile midfielder Blake Acres produced. Only Nick Riewoldt polled more votes in the Trevor Barker Award in the final five games, underlining how Acres finished with a wet sail.
Although it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the West Australian in his third season at Linen House Centre. Acres started in Alan Richardson’s 22 in Round 1, but found himself omitted on three occasions inside the opening two months.
During that time he amassed personal best possession hauls on two occasions and earned a Rising Star nomination in Round 6 after collecting 28 possessions and booting two goals against Melbourne.
After a three week hiatus from the senior side, Acres earned a reprieve in Round 12 and from there gathered momentum by the week, playing the remaining 11 games of 2016 in the best streak of his short career.
Acres’ finish to the year was so eye-catching that he was voted best on ground in two of the final five games. Firstly, against North Melbourne in Round 19 where he collected 22 possessions (10 contested) and laid four tackles.
Then, in Round 20 the former first-round pick was also recognised for his effort against the Swans, after gathering 23 touches, five rebound 50s and four inside 50s.
After playing just 10 games in his first two seasons at St Kilda, Acres enjoyed a career-best season in 2016, flaunting his potential as a big-bodied midfielder who can inflict damage with his game breaking ability.
Alan Richardson’s Views:
“His first half of the year was inconsistent. He had some brilliant quarters, some really strong halves – the game he won the nomination in he had a really strong game and then a few weeks later he found himself out of the team. His second half of the year, certainly his last six games – he was probably our most consistent performer. There was no more of Blake drifting in and out of the game he was in the game all the time.
“Even if he didn’t have the ball he was defending; if he didn’t win the ball he was tackling; he was just constantly in the game. It’s incredibly exciting to think we’ve got a midfielder with that kind of running capacity, with that kind of size and shape. To be frank it’s probably something that we’ve been missing.
“He’s been a great message to the group and I’ve used his story often. Being nominated for the Rising Star and then being out of the team a few weeks later, there is a potential I reckon if you’re not made of the right stuff to drop your bundle and blame the coach and wallow in your own self-pity. With Blake, the complete opposite happened. He put his hand up and said ‘I get it. I wasn’t consistent enough’. He worked on his game as hard as anyone on our list; above and beyond what the coaches were asking of him – he was driving them mad, Simon McPhee and Adam Kingsley in particular. He’s been a great example for all our players.”
The Numbers:
16 games
17.8 disposals (No. 10 at St Kilda)
11.7 uncontested possessions (No. 10)
3.1 tackles
2.9 inside 50s (No. 8)
305.5 metres gained (No. 7)
