Jack Billings Biography

Demons secure Jack Billings in a trade with St Kilda, parting with their future third-round pick in exchange for the 28-year-old.

Jack Billings is set to miss a fortnight after undergoing surgery on a fractured thumb.

Jack Billings will be sidelined for up to eight weeks after scans revealed a hairline fracture to his right fibula.

Jack Billings and Hunter Clark will miss at least the first month of the season due to injuries sustained during St Kilda's Community Series match against Essendon.

Billings left the field early with a hamstring complaint, while Clark came off second-best in a collision with Bomber Darcy Parish and will require surgery on his shoulder.

Jack Billings signs a new four-year deal to remain at the Saints until the end of 2025.

"He's the ultimate professional, always adhering himself and others to really high standards which is exactly what we need from a young leader like him," Saints list manager James Gallagher said.

"Jack has the capabilities and dedication to elevate his game to another level and can play a variety of roles for the team."

Jack Billings may have played his last game for the club after straining his hamstring at training.

The wingman has held early talks with the Saints on a possible extension but is yet to commit to staying and will now miss at least the next fortnight.

St Kilda will have co-captains in 2021 with Jack Steele joining incumbent leader Jarryn Geary as skippers of the club.

"To have 'Gears' alongside me is also really special. He's really taken me under his wing, and I've learned so much from him since joining the club. His leadership is second to none, not just his voice on-field, but also how he rallies the group off it," Steele said.

Defender Dougal Howard has also been fast-tracked straight into the seven-man leadership group as vice-captain alongside Tim Membrey.

Callum Wilkie is a first-time inductee and joins last year's members Seb Ross and Jack Billings.

Jarryn Geary will lead St Kilda for a fourth season in 2020 with recruit Bradley Hill a fresh face in the Saints' leadership group.

The six-man leadership group will again include Seb Ross as vice-captain as well as Tim Membrey, Jack Billings and Dylan Roberton.

Jack Billings signs a new two-year contract tying him to St Kilda until the end of 2021.

"I really love this club. We have a great group of players who I love running out with every week, our coaching and support staff are second-to-none, and most importantly our fans are amazing and make all of it worthwhile," Billings said.

"I really want to be part of bringing success to this club and I’m concentrating on making that happen."

Jack Billings is hoping to convince St Kilda coach Alan Richardson that he deserves more midfield time in 2019.

"I think I can really help through the midfield. But I'm going to have to work really hard over the summer and show Richo and the coaches that I need to spend more time there," Billings said.

"But I definitely still like the combination of playing midfield and forward and I think that's one of my strengths."

Jack Billings says he has no intentions of starting contract talks with the club prior to the start of the 2019 season.

"I haven't really thought about it," Billings said.

"I love the club, and I hope I don't keep getting asked about the contract next year because it will get annoying."

Jack Billings is sent on a fact-finding trip to Shanghai in preparation for St Kilda's first-ever game in China in 2019.

"I'll be able to hopefully tell my teammates and other staff about what to expect when you come to Shanghai," Billings said.

"It's a long flight but we'll get here a few days before and have time to adjust. I think mentally realising it is what it is, and not letting it affect the way we want to play against Port Adelaide (is important).

"We've been visiting a few hotels while we've been over here, testing them out in terms of facilities and nutrition, food. I think as much as we can, if we can keep it to our normal routine at home that would be good."

Jack Billings responds to his axing in emphatic style, racking up 53 possessions for Sandringham in the VFL in a huge win against Frankston.

Jack Billings is dropped from St Kilda's senior side after averaging 19 disposals through 11 games so far in 2018.

"This will be a moment that Jack looks back on his career and probably would rather it didn't happen, but it's been potentially a circuit-breaker to just get him back into form," Saints coach Alan Richardson said.

"We think Billings has got some really exciting footy for a long time ahead of him, and if you look across the competition, there would be some pretty good players not picked this week. That's all it is, really."

Jack Billings hopes that adapting his field kicking technique to his set-shot routine will help fix his goalkicking woes in 2018.

"Without giving too much away, I've just changed my run up a little bit and got it a lot smoother and tried to make it similar to my field kicking," Billings said.

"That's been the main thing. It's working well at the moment so hopefully it can continue."

Jack Billings signs a new two-year deal with St Kilda that will keep him at the club until the end of 2019.

"I wanted to get a bit of form up this year, but also I'm just so committed to the club … so there was no real rush," Billings said.

Billings acknowledged his goalkicking accuracy needed work after kicking 32 behinds with the Saints struggling to capitalise on their opportunities this season.

"It's frustrating and it's something I'm working on, but it's one of those things, it's easy to have 50-100 shots during the week but during a game you are really fatigued," Billings said.

"My field kicking has been pretty strong, I just haven't been able to execute, but I'm going to keep going for them and hopefully I can turn it around."

Jack Billings puts in a sublime performance in the Saints' 31-point win against Gold Coast at Etihad Stadium, picking up 30 disposals, seven inside-50s and a long-range goal.

"There's not too many midfielders that can go forward and do what those type of players do. And they're all different," Saints coach Alan Richardson said of Billings.

"But we'll need him to go through the midfield. He's already done that. He was in the midfield a bit today so he'll do a bit of both."

Jack Billings says he would love see his good friend Josh Kelly at the Saints in 2017.

"It would be nice. Obviously I grew up playing in all the rep sides with Josh. I know him really well and his family and he's flying this year," Billings said.

"It's been good to see him play well. You never know, there's obviously a few teams chasing him.

"I'd love him in the Saints colours next year."

Saints coach Alan Richardson says the comparisons between Jack Billings and Marcus Bontempelli are unwarranted.

"I want Jack Billings to be the player we drafted and I'm incredibly confident he'll be that. Will he win fewer awards than someone else? I don't care. That's where I sit," Richardson said.

Nevertheless, he did feel the need to sit down with Billings, to set some goals and to reassure him that he was tracking the right way towards achieving them.

"He wouldn't want anyone making excuses for him, but he hasn't had the best go at it physically," Richardson said.

"This pre-season has been very positive and he's done an enormous amount of work. He's been outstanding, and I like the way he's pushing himself and demanding more of himself and he becomes the player he wants to be."

Jack Billings says his enforced absence in 2015 because of a shin injury has made him more appreciative of every minute at the club.

Billings did not play after round 10 and said he found being on the sidelines extremely frustrating.

"I have never missed that much footy before. I love footy and I am really passionate about it, so it was really tough," Billings said.

He said the lessons he learned during the recovery process should improve his football.

"It is the most I have learned since I have been at the Saints, dealing with that [injury] and how I go about it I think it is going to make me stronger and hold me in good stead," Billings said.

Jack Billings has put the disappointment of a season-ending fracture behind him, saying in the long run he'll be better for it.

"No player likes to be on the sidelines watching the boys run out each week," he said.

"It was a bit of a shock to the system to be honest. I've never missed half a season, so it was quite challenging.

"The recovery was going to be quite lengthy, so I spent some time away and when I was cleared to start rehab, you've just got to find that motivation to get yourself right.

"I remember saying to someone at our best and fairest night that it felt like we were finishing for the year, but for me I was starting because I'd had the second half of the year off.

"It was unique, but I've definitely learnt a lot and I think it'll help me in the long run."

Jack Billings has been ruled out for the rest of the season after a hot spot in the young St Kilda forward's shin developed into a fracture.

"Jack was due to hopefully play the last couple of rounds but further scans have showed that his stress response has progressed more to a fracture line," head physio Andrew Wallis said.

"We see that as giving him the best chance to come back and have a full pre-season and get ready for next year."

Jack Billings is expected to miss at least another month with a "stress response" in his shin.

The 19-year-old last played in round 10 against Hawthorn and has since been a week-to-week proposition after complaining of shin soreness.

"We're just going to take our time with him," St Kilda head physio Andrew Wallis said.

"He had further scans last week which show a stress response, not a stress fracture in his leg.

"We'll list him as 4-6 weeks but we'll see how he progresses through."

St Kilda says the rash of hamstring injuries that has struck the club recently is more down to bad luck than poor management.

Seb Ross, Jack Billings, Farren Ray, Shane Savage and Dylan Roberton have all been hamstring victims during the Saints' pre-season.

"We have had a few pop up, but they've all been very different," St Kilda football manager Jamie Cox told radio station SEN.

"Nothing jumps out but the causes for these things can be many and varied.

"Regardless of injuries, we always analyse our program and I have total faith in our strength, conditioning and medical staff."

St Kilda is hopeful young midfielder Jack Billings will miss only a couple of weeks after injuring his hamstring during the Saints' NAB Challenge match against the Brisbane Lions.

The classy 19-year-old limped off during the first quarter of the three-point loss and did not return.

"It's a bummer. He's had a really good pre-season," St Kilda coach Alan Richardson said.

"We would hope it would only be a couple of weeks, but we'll have to wait and see."

Jack Billings extends his contracted with the club for a further two seasons, tying him to the Saints until the end of 2017.

"There are a lot of young boys now at the club and already we are starting to gel really well together," Billings said.

"We are pretty close off the field which is good and that will only strengthen as the years go on.

"I'm really looking forward to the next couple of years and seeing how we can develop and progress as a young group."

Jack Billings is the round 14 NAB AFL Rising Star nominee after tallying 25 disposals and kicking 3 goals in a 33-point loss to West Coast at Etihad Stadium.

"I think naturally you have to adapt pretty quickly and adjust to the quicker game style and bigger bodies," Billings said.

"It's a lot about having confidence when you're out there and I've just tried to do that.

"It's been really good, I'm really enjoying my footy at the moment."

After making his debut for the Saints in round one and impressing on the field, Jack Billings says his focus now is on team success.

"Now that you're in the team, you just really want to get a win each week. After a loss it's pretty bad, but I think personally I've got to keep working on my game and go from there," Billings said.

"I'm enjoying it. I'm trying to improve and build on each week so it's been good in that aspect, and I think I am doing that. I've got to keep working. But obviously I don't like losing, so hopefully we can get a win soon."

Leigh Montagna says he was a proud mentor when he watched Jack Billings run into an open goal and seal the Saints' surprise win over Essendon in round five.

"He's one guy that I've spent a bit of time with behind the scenes and I was really proud to see him so excited when he kicked that goal in the last quarter," Montagna said.

"We know Jack has got the talent but we probably thought he would take a bit of time to really build and he probably still will."

Jack Billings makes his AFL debut for St Kilda at Docklands Stadium with 4 disposals (2 kicks and 2 handballs) and a mark in a 17-point win over Melbourne.

St Kilda draftee Jack Billings injures a quad muscle during the club's high altitude camp in Colorado.

"Unfortunately Jack Billings has given his quad a little bit of a tweak today but it is going to be a fairly demanding campaign and we need the blokes to get the work in their legs," St Kilda coach Alan Richardson said.

"He is probably not going to be back kicking until after Christmas but he will still be able to do a fair bit of the load work."

Jack Billings joins St Kilda after being picked up with the Saints' no.3 pick in the 2013 NAB AFL Draft.

"We've had it in our minds for a long time he was going to play AFL footy but when it comes, you really do need to pinch yourself," his father Graeme Billings said.

"It's something he's always wanted so you sort of picture it but when we see him out of the field and at training, it will be something very different.

"Now he's going to be full-time and get the right treatment and teaching and coaching … it's just fantastic."