During the Round 2 Friday night draw against Richmond David Armitage set a new career high for possessions having 10 kicks and 15 handballs, he also laid eight tackles. Armitage won a game-high 14 contested possessions and was great around the stoppages having a game-high nine clearances. Armitage received three votes in the True Sainters Player of the Year award for his Round 2 performance against Richmond and was also in St Kilda’s best players in Round 3 against Essendon.
David Armitage was picked by St Kilda with selection 9 at the 2006 National Draft. Armitage was recruited from Queensland club Morningside at 18 years of age, weighing 83 kilograms and being 183 centimetres tall. In 2006 Armitage played in defence and the midfield for Morningside and won the Rising Star Award in the AFL Queensland League. The profile for Armitage in the AFL Record Guide to Season 2007 said “Caught the eye at the 2006 AFL Draft Camp, where he recorded the quickest time for the agility test.”1
After starting the 2007 season with St Kilda’s VFL affiliate club, the Casey Scorpians and being named an emergency for Round 6 and 7 David Armitage made his AFL debut in the Round 8 28 point loss against Hawthorn at the MCG. On debut Armitage had five kicks, four handballs, took three marks and laid four tackles.
Armitage retained his position in the St Kilda side for the next two games but had less than 10 disposals in each of these games and was dropped for Round 11. Armitage spent the rest of the season playing for Casey and was frequently in the Scorpians’ best players. In 2007 Armitage played three AFL matches averaging 48 minutes, 3.7 kicks, 3.0 handballs, 2.3 marks and 2.3 tackles per game with a disposal efficiency of 90.0%.
Armitage played all four 2008 pre-season games for St Kilda including the Wizard Cup Grand Final win against the Adelaide Crows at AAMI Stadium, David kicked four goals during the Pre-season competition, ranked equal fourth at St Kilda.
St Kilda overlooked Armitage for the Round 1 2008 side, the VFL season started a week later and in his first game for the season David received a one week suspension. After serving his suspension Armitage played one game in the VFL and was recalled to the St Kilda side for the Round 5 match against Essendon. Armitage was impressive against the Bombers with 13 kicks, seven handballs, four marks, three tackles and two goals.
Armitage played the next three matches, kicking four goals during this period but failing to have more than 10 possessions in any of these games and was dropped for Round 9, being named an emergency. In Round 10 against Melbourne Armitage had 16 possessions and laid four tackles but after having 10 possessions and laying one tackle in the 27 point loss to the Western Bulldogs the following week David was again dropped.
For the second time in a month Armitage spent just one week in the VFL before being brought back into the St Kilda side and he then played five consecutive games from Round 13 to Round 17. In his first two games back David had at least 11 possessions but after having less than 10 possessions in each of his next three games he was dropped back to the VFL for the third time during the 2008 season.
Armitage was named an emergency for Round 22 and the Qualifying Final against Geelong and then returned to the St Kilda side for the Semi Final, having 10 possession against Collingwood. In the 54 point Preliminary Final loss to Hawthorn Armitage had an equal career low four possessions whilst laying a then career high seven tackles.
The profile for Armitage in the 2009 AFL Prospectus said Armitage “was dominant at VFL level, being named in the best players in eight of 11 games and averaging 24 disposals, which made it even more surprising that he struggled to get more opportunities at senior level.”2
Seven times during the 2008 season Armitage had at least 10 possessions, on four of these occasions David did not play in the AFL the previous week and in his first two seasons a strong pattern had emerged with Armitage’s best performances coming in the first week or two after being recalled to the St Kilda side and then his output would drop significantly after several consecutive games for the Saints in the AFL.
In 2008 Armitage played 13 matches averaging 74 minutes, 5.9 kicks, 4.3 handballs, 3.0 marks and 3.3 tackles per game with a disposal efficiency of 76.7%. During 2008 Armitage averaged 0.77 goals per game, ranked sixth at St Kilda behind Nick Riewoldt (2.71 goals per game), Stephen Milne (2.5), Adam Schneider (1.47), Justin Koshitzke (1.36) and Jason Gram (0.8).
The profile for Armitage in the AFL Record Guide to Season 2009 said “The former Queenslander knows how to win the ball at stoppages, but needs to develop his run and outside game.”3
St Kilda were the dominant side during the 2009 home and away season and Armitage was on the cusp of senior selection for much of the season having been named an emergency nine times in the first 18 rounds. Even with a host of stars including Lenny Hayes, Leigh Montagna, Nick Riewoldt, and Brendon Goddard missing the Round 19 match against Hawthorn at Aurora Stadium Armitage was still overlooked, being named as an emergency yet again. It was only when Nick Dal Santo was a late withdrawal that Armitage was brought into the St Kilda side.
Armitage made the most of his late call-up and was outstanding with 17 kicks, five handballs, five marks, a goal and 10 tackles. The Saints applied immense defensive pressure, laying 115 tackles to Hawthorn’s 68 during the 25 point victory. Armitage received the first Brownlow Medal votes of his career, being judged best afield even though he spent most of the final quarter off the ground due to an injury concern.
St Kilda’s star players returned for the Round 20 match against Essendon, yet the Saints suffered a shock two point loss. Armitage kicked two goals and was kept to only seven possessions against Essendon and was dropped for the Round 21 match against North Melbourne, being named as an emergency.
Lenny Hayes was a late withdrawal for the match against the Kangaroos which resulted in Armitage being a late inclusion to the St Kilda side for the second time in three weeks. David had nine kicks, nine handballs and laid 13 tackles against North Melbourne to be named in St Kilda’s best players in the official AFL records. St Kilda lost to North Melbourne by five points to make it two losses in a row after starting the season with a club record 19 straight wins.
St Kilda vice-captain and two-time All-Australian Lenny Hayes returned to the St Kilda line-up for the Round 22 match against Melbourne at the MCG. David Armitage was the one who lost his spot and could be considered very unlucky after being named in St Kilda’s best players in two of his three matches.
Armitage was unable to get back into the St Kilda side during the 2009 season, being named an emergency for the Preliminary Final against the Western Bulldogs and the 12 point Grand Final loss to Geelong.
In 2009 Armitage played three matches averaging 83 minutes, 10.0 kicks, 5.7 handballs, 3.0 marks and 8.7 tackles per game with a disposal efficiency of 68.1%. Armitage continued to excel in the VFL, finishing second in Sandringham’s best and fairest.
In his fourth AFL season Armitage commenced in the St Kilda side and played the first six matches of the 2010 season. David played with greater consistency than in previous seasons and had at least 10 possessions in every game with the highlight being 12 kicks, 12 handballs, five marks and five tackles in the 15 point Round 4 victory against Fremantle at Etihad Stadium.
Although Armitage had only 10 possessions in Round 6 against the Western Bulldogs he was influential in the Saints great fightback, kicking two of the last four goals of the match allowing St Kilda to remain within striking distance of the Western Bulldogs, the Saints kicked three goals to nil after the 18 minute mark of the last quarter to gain a hard fought three point victory, 49 points to 46.
In Round 7 Jason Gram returned after two weeks on the sidelines with a groin injury and Armitage was the player who lost his spot in the team. Armitage returned to the St Kilda side in Round 8, having 13 possessions and laying six tackles against Essendon.
Armitage was dropped from the St Kilda side and suffered a set-back when a knee injury forced him to miss six VFL matches. After returning through the VFL in Round 20 Armitage was named in St Kilda’s side for Round 21 against Richmond. Armitage had 13 possessions against the Tigers followed by 21 disposals and seven tackles against Adelaide in Round 22.
David was dropped and didn’t play in any of St Kilda’s four finals in 2010 however he was named an emergency for the Qualifying Final against Geelong and the Grand Final Replay against Collingwood.
In 2010 Armitage played nine matches averaging 83 minutes, 7.1 kicks, 8.7 handballs, 3.2 marks and 5.6 tackles per game with a disposal efficiency of 71.8%. In the first six Rounds of the 2010 season Armitage was ranked sixth at St Kilda with 0.90 supercoach points per minute, however he played only 66% game time during this period.
Many people had expected that with the departure of Luke Ball after the 2009 season Armitage would be able to cement his position in the St Kilda side during the 2010 season, taking Ball’s spot as an inside midfielder. Although Armitage again showed throughout the 2010 season that he is capable of playing some very good football for St Kilda he was unable to do so consistently enough to hold a permanent position in the St Kilda side.
Armitage fans could argue that he has not been given enough opportunities in terms of playing games for St Kilda and then getting enough game-time when he has been in the side. Due to a variety of factors it appears that Armitage will receive increased opportunities to play for St Kilda during the 2011 season.
St Kilda are placing a greater emphasis on playing their younger players and due to the introduction of the substitute player during 2011 the ability of clubs to rotate players has been diminished. The season ending knee injury to champion midfielder Lenny Hayes will also create more opportunities for other inside midfielders to step up and take on more responsibility.
During the first three rounds of the 2011 season Armitage has played 78% game time which is lower than most of his St Kilda teammates but still represents an increase of approximately 10 minutes on his previous highest average game time of 83 minutes during 2009 and 2010.
Armitage has improved his consistency, having had at least 10 possessions in his last 14 games and he has started the 2011 season in promising fashion, having back to back 20 plus possession games for the first time in his career against Richmond in Round 2 and Essendon in Round 3. As has been the case in his junior career and in the early stage of his AFL career his strengths in 2011 have been the ability to win clearances, contested possessions and his tackling.
The challenge remains for David Armitage to sustain his current level of performances throughout the 2011 season. If Armitage is able to achieve this he will make the much awaited progression from being a fringe player to an integral member of the St Kilda team.
- AFL, AFL Record Guide to Season 2007, page 262
- Champion Data, AFL Prospectus the essential number-cruncher for season 2009, page 240
- AFL, AFL Record Guide to Season 2009, page 262
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