Holmes Solid in AFL Debut for St. Kilda

Two years ago, Chicago-native Jason Holmes didn’t know that Australian Rules football existed.

On Saturday, he played it at the highest professional level the game has to offer – the AFL.

Granted, this was only a preseason game, the opening match of his St. Kilda Saints’ 2015 campaign played in the small Brisbane suburb of Burpengary.  But to be only the second born-and-raised American player to play AFL football, this was kind of a big deal.

The result?  Not bad at all for a debut. 

Holmes had 2 disposals, one fantastic mark in defense, and seven hitouts, one of which led to a Saints goal in the opening half-minute of the fourth quarter, as the Saints fell to the wayward kicking Brisbane Lions 58-55 on a breezy late-summer afternoon.

The 6’7” ruckman was one of two substitutes listed on St. Kilda coach Alan Richardson’s gameday roster.  After sitting out the first half, Holmes was activated and began the third quarter in the central ruck.  His first 20 minutes of top-level senior football were largely quiet; just one hitout, and a free given away as the Saints were trying to claw back from a ten point halftime defecit. 

He was involved in a good deal of contests, but the Lions big men were able to neutralize him.  He looked wary at times, and in some ways, his inexperienced showed.  

Quarter number four was a different story, however.  It began with Holmes winning the opening ruck, which allowed the Saints’ midfielders to work a chain of passes towards young forward Maverick Weller, who kicked a clean goal on the run from 30 out.

From there, his confidence seemed to grow a bit.  The Lions themselves are trying to improve after a mediocre year in the ruck in 2014, and Holmes was able to use his size and ability to assert himself in the contests.  His other highlight came midway through the fourth quarter, when he took an impressive, leaping, contested defensive mark inside his own 50 meter arc.  He would amass five more hitouts before the final siren, but played a tight game off the ball and earned praise from game observers.

Holmes is the first American national to play in the AFL since Shae Macnamara competed for Collingwood in the 2010 NAB Cup preseason.  Macnamara was delisted by the ‘Pies not long after his stint with the senior team.  Holmes’ debut comes after impressing many within the club for St. Kilda’s VFL side at Sandringham.

The Saints have a largely young group of players with trying to turn around last season’s wooden spoon result.  Holmes is trying to be a part of that group, if not at the beginning of the year, then possibly somewhere down the line.

As for the immediate future, he will be hoping to be recalled to the side for St. Kilda’s next match next Saturday, March 7th, against Essendon.  The game will be in Morwell, about 100 miles east of downtown Melbourne.  You can catch that game and the rest of the AFL NAB Challenge Cup for free through WatchAFL.

Photo Credit: Getty Images via the Age