Ryan Gamble Biography

Ryan Gamble's pressure and tackling have impressed since his move from Geelong to the Saints.

"He's given us another tall target up forward and he's kicking goals, but what we like most is his pressure and his tackling," teammate Clinton Jones said.

St Kilda pick up recycled players in Ryan Gamble and Dean Polo at the 2010 national draft.

"I don't think it is a huge risk," St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said.

"It was a diluted draft, but what we really executed with our first four picks allowed us to do that. We think we have gone forward and we back ourselves in our decision making."

Geelong discard Ryan Gamble has cut short his holidays to start training in the hope of being selected in Thursday's draft.

"It's been a good experience for him to go through something like this and I've been very impressed with how he's managed himself through the process," Gamble's manager Nigel Carmody said.

"He elected to get back into training perhaps earlier than he needed to make sure he was in the right physical shape if he does get the opportunity."

Geelong forward Ryan Gamble may be looking for a new club where he will have greater opportunities next year.

"He is out of contract at the end of the year, and there's no hard and fast plan in place at the moment. He's part of the Cats' finals stuff with their AFL side, and he's continuing to train," Gamble's manager Nigel Carmody said.

"We haven't really sat down and had any strong dialogue with the club yet as to where they see him. We need to do that first before we have a good idea of what his next move might be."

Collingwood recruit Josh Thomas took a huge risk when he turned down an offer to play for Gold Coast, but he is happy with the result after being drafted by the Magpies.

"I just wanted to get into the AFL environment as soon as I could," he said.

"There were a few clubs that had shown interest. I just had to take the gamble I was going to get picked up.

"It was a risk but I was happy to take it. I'm glad I did now because it's paid off."

Geelong's narrow loss to St Kilda takes a heavy toll with four of the Cats' premiership players to miss this week.

Matthew Scarlett, Cameron Ling, Darren Milburn and James Kelly have all been sidelined.

The loss of All-Australian defenders Scarlett and Milburn has opened the door for 19-year-old Tom Gillies to make his debut, while Ryan Gamble, David Wojcinksi and Tom Lonergan come back into the side.

Scarlett has back tightness, Ling has knee tendonitis, Milburn rolled his ankle and Kelly was left out after pulling up this week with a tight hamstring. Kelly and Scarlett are expected to return for the round 16 game against Melbourne, while the club last night said Ling's condition would be monitored over the next week.