St Kilda is eager to finish the season with a positive win-loss ratio for the first time since 2012, according to emerging midfielder Jack Billings.
While there is a possibility that the Saints will finish on the same amount of points as eighth placed North Melbourne, the gulf in percentage is too wide to make up in one game, meaning St Kilda won’t play finals in 2016.
Billings, who turned 21 last week, said the Saints wanted to finish the year off strongly to build some momentum into the 2017 campaign.
“It’s disappointing that we can’t make finals, but we really want to finish off the year strong,” Billings told saints.com.au after St Kilda’s nine-point win over Richmond.
“It’s been a really positive year. 11 wins now, we don’t want to finish 11-11 – we want to have a positive win-loss ratio so hopefully we can get that next week and finish off strong.
“We want to finish off well and hopefully all of us can get some momentum going into a big pre-season and into next year.”
Join the players and coaches at the 2016 best and fairest and celebrate an exciting season
After a quiet game against Sydney last weekend, Billings was pleased to respond against the Tigers at the MCG on Saturday.
The talented wingman overcame a slow start, amassing 20 possessions in the second half – including 12 in the third quarter – before finishing with 25 for the game, as well as five tackles and four rebound 50s.
“It was a bit disappointed last week with my game. Obviously we got beaten pretty convincingly by the Swans, so I was pretty keen to bounce back. So personally, I was happy with today that I was able to contribute,” Billings said.
While the performance was far from St Kilda’s most polished for 2016, Billings said the Saints’ ability to find a way to win was a positive outcome.
“Obviously it wasn’t the best game, but in the end it was good we were able to grind it out when it wasn’t so pretty and stop their uncontested marks and get across the line,” he said.
