St Kilda’s first pick in last year’s National Draft, Jade Gresham, made an eye-catching start to his AFL career in 2016, playing all but four games in his maiden season to stamp himself as an important player of the club's future.
Gresham made his debut at Adelaide Oval in Round 1 and played the opening two games of the year before finding his way out of the team. He returned in Round 6 and entrenched himself in Alan Richardson’s side, playing the next 16 games before missing the last game due to injury.
In that time, the Northern Knights product played predominantly as a small forward where he flaunted his goal nous and ability to find space where there previously wasn’t any. He also earned some midfield minutes in the back end of the year where he showed a glimpse of where he will end up with his work in tight.
Gresham’s goal in the dying minutes of St Kilda’s upset win over Geelong in Round 14 stamped his class, when he danced around veteran defender Tom Lonergan, before snapping from a tight angle to lead the Saints to victory. He earned a Rising Star nomination following that performance and from there his season when to a new level.
At the MCG in Round 20, Gresham displayed his potential around the ball against the Blues. He was thrown into the middle in the second quarter where he accumulated 10 possessions and six clearances in a 30-minute patch, and then finished with a career-high 25 and eight for the game. A bright sign of things to come.
Alan Richardson’s Views:
“Gresh had a really impressive first season. He certainly earnt the trust and respect of his teammates by the way he goes about it; he’s aggressive, physical, he likes to tackle strongly. We all know that he’s pretty clever with the footy too. To be honest, he couldn’t have had a more impressive start to his career.
“He predominantly played as a forward, he pinched hit from time to time as a midfielder and that’s where he’ll end up, we need him to become a midfielder, a really dynamic inside mid that can create opportunities with his lateral movement and with his skills; that’s going to be the focus of his pre-season. We saw how good he is in tight against Carlton late in the season where he went in there and had eight clearances in limited game time. He is a special talent and we saw it on the track all through the year and got a taste of it late in games.
“He’s got some really impressive athletic traits but he does need to work on his endurance capabilities and being able to get up and back like Jack Steven can do and like Seb Ross can do now, like 'Armo' can do, so that’s what he will focus on in pre-season and that’s where most of his improvement will come from. And he knows that, he’s just like all other first-year players who come into the game. But that will be a focus for him this summer.”
The Numbers:
18 games
11 goals
15.3 possessions
3.0 tackles
2.9 inside 50s
31.3 pressure points
