Gresham the gateway to St Kilda's rebuild

St Kilda fans and club officials have illustrated over the recent years that the Saints are after a star player.

The Saints are looking for a player to win them a game when it’s crunch time, a player to turn a game on its head – the sort of talent that brings attendances to home games.

After failed attempts to lure Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe and West Coast’s classy Andrew Gaff, St Kilda fans have been begging for a star to rejuvenate the rebuild back into September action.

In this desperate plea to secure a big-name player St Kilda have developed one of their very own stars in 20-year-old Jade Gresham.

If St Kilda are serious about this rebuild, Gresham will play a big role and be offered a contract extension that will keep him a Saint for the most exciting parts of his career. His signature is simply fundamental.

Many can agree the 2018 season has been abysmal for St Kilda. However, Gresham is a beacon of hope building for Saints fans.

The severely underestimated player has shown the brightest of futures in the darkest of times for St Kilda this season. Gresham burst onto the scene in 2016 from St Kilda’s 18th pick from the 2015 draft.

(AAP Image/Julian Smith)

Like any other 18-year-old, Gresham demonstrated energy, pressure and football skill, especially inside 50. In Round 14 of his first year he kicked a crucial goal in an upset win against a flag favourites Geelong, side-stepping premiership defender Tom Lonergan to show the AFL world that he can play.

Two seasons on and Gresham, now 20, has single-handily kept St Kilda in many games until it has been out of his control this season. For example, he kicked four three-quarter goals against premiership favourites Richmond this year, finishing with a career-best of six for the day in a competitive loss.

Averaging better or equally as good in every statistic to previous years while leading the Saints in goal-kicking and score involvements, it would be absurd if Gresham isn’t winning the Trevor Barker award at this stage in the season.

In Round 15 Gresham’s highlight package was mesmeric, finishing with four straight goals, 19 disposals and two goal assists. Gresham played a pivotal role in the upset win against the Melbourne side, potentially putting the Demons’ finals hopes at risk.

Greshem has been unrecognised because of his team’s lowly record and surrounds, but make no mistake, Gresham is elite.

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In comparison to Jordan De Goey, who was recently offered an enormous contract by North Melbourne and labelled a future Brownlow medallist, Gresham has a better goals-per-game average in a team that struggles to move the ball as fluently as De Goey’s second-placed Collingwood – the Magpies are second in total inside 50s compared to St Kilda in 13th.

Both players average similar disposals per game as they play similar roles; however, Gresham averages 70 per cent efficiency with ball in hand whereas De Goey averages only 57 per cent in 2018.

Statistics imply that Gresham is an equal, if not better, player than Jordan De Goey but is missed due to his team winning only three games in this home-and-away season after 15 rounds. Both players have emerged into a midfield role this year at times and are flourishing; however, both play their best footy when isolated one on one.

If Gresham is demonstrating the ability to play extraordinary football much like De Goey, it has to be a matter of time before Gresham is on the radar of other clubs.

Locking away a player like Gresham for such a long period of time can be audacious, but the promise he is showing after just 54 career games will be perceived by other clubs when he is out of contract at the conclusion of the 2019 season.