I have to say, as an American, I'm very excited about the idea of Jason Holmes playing for the Saints. The club leadership is impressed with the progress Holmes is making in his skills development. Really, I'm not surprised his ball handling skills have come so far so quickly, since Holmes was already a high-level athlete. One always makes the most gain in the first year of working on new skills. The real question will be how his game play comes along.
Skills vs. play - it's the classic disparity between how good you are and how well you play. Skills are what you've got; game play is what you do with them. A Spaceballs quote comes to mind.
It takes a long time to develop a strong understanding of the game and how to put one's skills to use. Just ask Rhys Stanley. We all know Stanley is tall, fit, and talented. But put him up against the best forwards in the league, say Cloke, Hawkins, Franklin, or Riewoldt... and he'll get schooled all day. Things like positioning, judging the ball in the air, timing your jumps, and myriad other nuanced aspects of the game take years to learn well. That's why a highly skilled youngster is rarely as effective as a seasoned player of above-average skills. That's why Riewoldt takes so many marks and is paid so many free kicks (ironically, Nick really needs to work on his kicking skills on set shots). And it's why Holmes won't be able to make a difference in the next couple years, unless he's a superstar athlete who's about to surprise the entire footy world (which would be pretty sweet).
The news that Holmes' skills are developing well is still great news. And it would be awesome if he could get a few games in this next season. My hope is that Richardson has a better handle on developing young players' game play than Watters did. If he does, Holmes and the rest of this young Saints team are going to be very powerful in the coming years.
