Schneider had 26 disposals against Carlton, the most touches he’s registered in a game since round 19, 2010.
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But the 30-year-old wasn’t the only clever left-footed half forward to impress, with Billings booting two goals for the second time in his five-game AFL career.“Mate, he’s a jet,” Schneider told SAINTS.com.au after the 32-point defeat.
“When he gets the ball you get excited. It’s good to see him doing well and it’s really exciting.
“He’s played four games of footy and he’s going to play a lot more. He’s important to us and every time he gets the ball in his hands he does something with it.”
Billings has rapidly developed into one of St Kilda’s most crafty players, and a large part of his appeal rests with his tremendous finishing ability and clean skills on both feet.
As the 18-year-old began to have more of an influence in the third term, it was no surprise that St Kilda started to play better footy, according to Schneider.
“Our ball use was a bit better [in the third quarter],” he said.
“We took the game on a bit and they sort of shut up shop a bit which sort of helped us. Unfortunately we couldn’t make the most of it and our third quarter was good. Other than that, we didn’t have a very good three quarters.”
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Even then, the Saints only managed two goals for the term and failed to make the most of their opportunities.“It was very disappointing. Unfortunately there were lapses there and we let them get away in the first half and in the third quarter we had lots of chances.
“We had our chances to get back in it but unfortunately we couldn’t get back in it.”
From a personal point of view, Schneider is happy to be back playing footy after an injury-riddled 24 months, but isn’t content to simply take the field and go through the motions – rather he’s committed to re-creating the successful culture that existed when he first arrived at the club from Sydney at the end of 2007.
“I’ve had a very frustrating two years… Hopefully next week we can get a win because that’s what I’m out here to do.”
.@jack_billings has the knack: http://t.co/5qmkXH51eO pic.twitter.com/AaoDOEPqzL
— St Kilda FC (@stkildafc) May 13, 2014