Specialist wingmen might be a dying breed in the modern game, but they are far from extinct, with St Kilda possessing one of the best in the competition in Jack Newnes, according to Saints Assistant Coach Adam Kingsley.

Newnes, 23, continued his incremental year-on-year rise in 2016, continuing to glide along a north-east trajectory, much like he has done since debuting in 2012.

The gut running midfielder played all 22 games this season (he has played the last 66 games straight), producing a career-best season that culminated in a fifth-place finish in the Trevor Barker Award – the best result of his career to date. Newnes averaged career-highs for possessions (23.3), uncontested ball (16.8), inside 50s (4.7) and metres gained (409.0).

And while Sydney star Dan Hannebery was named on a wing this year’s All-Australian side, and more traditional wingmen, Giant Tom Scully and Eagle Andrew Gaff, were named in the squad, Newnes isn’t far behind them, part of a handful of young, dashing wingmen that includes the Western Bulldogs’ Lachie Hunter and Hawthorn’s Isaac Smith.

“The aim for ‘Newnesy’ was to become the best wingman in the game, so he’s well down that path – I think that he’s in the top few,” Kingsley told saints.com.au.

“He’s tough on the inside and he really runs and works hard on the outside; he’s got great endurance and great leg speed; he’s a beautiful user of the ball; he works back to help his defence and he gets forward and kicks goals. He had a really impressive season.”

In an age where statistics are an economy all of their own, Newnes’ most influential trait is his work rate. It’s something that is difficult to pick up on the broadcast, but down the ground vision will show you who works the hardest. And it’s Newnes’ ability to work beyond the threshold that Kingsley says sets him apart.

“He works extremely hard. From a stoppage, he’ll be the first one back to support our defence, he’ll also be the first one inside our forward 50 to put pressure on from a midfield perspective,” Kingsley said.

“So he’s the best equipped to be able to do that, but he’s certainly prepared to do that. He’s very mentally strong; he pushes through pain and pushes through the discomfort of tiredness and fatigue. We’re really pleased with the way that he’s tracking.”

Like he had done across the first four years of his career, Newnes elevated each element of his game again this season, taking the next step in the process. For Kingsley, Newnes’ improvement came from his toughness, efficiency by foot and an even better work rate.

“I think he just took each element of his game to a new level than what he’s been previously,” he said.

“I think he was tougher inside than what he has been in previous years, I reckon he worked harder on the outside, his kicking improved – he had a bit of a tendency to over kick the ball and shank a few but he didn’t have that issue this year. So I think he made slight improvements in each of those areas.

“I think he’s in the top few wingmen in the league in terms of his effectiveness, so he’s right up there, it’s going to be hard for him to make significant improvements but he can continue to grow incrementally in all facets of his game. I don’t see him not improving but he’s already at a really high level now.”

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