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Wayne Carey: Jake Carlisle having more influence every week and set for a big one against his former teammates
Wayne CareyPublished: July 13 2017 - 3:13PM
If there's one player at St Kilda who has made those around him better this season, it's Jake Carlisle.
While he's had his challenges since making the move from Essendon, Jake has brought a real confidence to the Saints' defensive unit.
There's no doubt he's been a massive factor in the club's rise up the ladder.
Come September, his form might also be the difference between Alan Richardson's men simply reaching the finals, and doing some real damage.
Former Magpie Nathan Brown looks more assured alongside him, while the likes of Sam Gilbert and skipper Jarryn Geary no longer have to play on much bigger opponents.
Jake is a big man – not just in size, but also in stature.
When the opposition look down the line and see him, they're beginning to search elsewhere for another option. He makes the opposition want to go around him.
The fact he's starting to have that sort of influence says a lot about his importance, particularly to how the Saints' set up defensively.
You can see guys like Geary and Leigh Montagna are able to get to the right positions more often because of how predictable Jake has become.
He either brings the ball to ground or marks the footy, which is his great strength.
Those strong hands also ensure his fellow Saints can get on their bike much earlier, given he's not beaten in the air too often.
When his teammates see him with a clear run at the footy, they can set off to make position further up the ground.
That doesn't just apply to defenders, but also to midfielders.
Adelaide is a great example of that with both Daniel Talia and Jake Lever really strong in the air.
Their teammates are so confident they're going to win the ball that it allows the Crows to transition from defence to attack quickly.
As good as the Saints were in an attacking sense against the Tigers last week, it was matched by their backline.
Carlisle was a solid contributor in that area.
While he's yet to have the 12- to 15-mark game, he proved he was capable of a few years ago at Essendon, I think that's just around the corner.
After starting the season slowly, he has been steadily building.
So far in 2017, he's played more minutes than any other Saint and seems to be growing in confidence after those 12 months on the sidelines.
His numbers aren't massive – he had 11 possessions last week, to go with 17 and 16 in the fortnight before – but he's become a real general back there. His disposal efficiency is also underrated.
He might not be an Alex Rance or even a Jake Lever in terms of accumulating the football right now, but that's where I think his improvement lies.
Let's not forget he was nearly All-Australian as far back as 2013.
Then, later in his time at Essendon, Carlisle was forced to play forward because the Bombers had few other options.
He looked really good at different stages, but struggled for consistency.
While he is clearly a better defender, making the move back still takes a fair bit of adjustment.
He'll certainly be nervous on Friday night against the Bombers, given he's yet to meet his former club despite leaving almost two years ago.
As difficult as his last year at Essendon was, I'm sure he'd still have a certain connection with many of those players because of how much they went through together.
Carlisle will definitely have a big job on either Joe Daniher or Cale Hooker, but they're two players he should know reasonably well.
Friday night's match is a great opportunity for him to stand up against his old team on a big stage.
Having said all that, the beauty of St Kilda at the moment is that they don't rely on any one player.
In the past, that might have been Nick Riewoldt or Montagna and more recently Jack Steven, but now the Saints are very even right across the ground.
I think that has been important for Carlisle in his comeback to footy as it has allowed him to keep things simple and focus on his role.
The Saints' recruiting team deserves plenty of credit for identifying Carlisle and then Brown as targets in their biggest area of need.
Even when Sam Fisher was still playing he was often undersized.
While Carlisle is yet to have a real "wow" game in red, white and black, don't be surprised if he produces it soon.
I think he looks primed to take his game to the next level in the coming weeks, and who knows just how deep that will take the Saints into September.
This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/wayne-carey-jake-carlisle-having-more-influence-every-week-and-set-for-a-big-one-against-his-former-teammates-20170713-gxae1s.html