Yes i am still skeptical on Wright myself. At training he simply struggled to take a contested mark. Ridley and Ambrose beat him comfortably in high marking contested situations. They are working hard on it and he was clearly frustrated and trying to
Improve that area though. His mindset on improving was fine but my expectations were more realistic after watching him. When he was on a lead or found space he looked great. His kicking for goal is really good. I think there is at least 30 goals in him
I havenāt watched him play much, but based on solely on stats, heās a step up from McKernan. He averages not far from half a goal a game more over his career than McKernan and thatās playing in a worse team. So unless heās gone backwards there is every reason to suggest he could be capable of 30 to 35 goals over a full season.
I think it would be a concern if heās meant to be our No.1 tall forward though. If he was playing on the second best defender and spending some time pinch hitting in the ruck, I would think thatās what suits him best.
Also a little more consistent than Smack. Usually 1-2 goals a game instead of 0 for 3 weeks then 4 or 5 in one game.
This is the Jones thread so Iām not going to labour the point. But Wright to me lacks the appetite to compete and win contests at AFL level. Thatās a big hurdle to overcome and not something you could say about Smack.
This seems consistent with other watchers and might well be the reason why he couldnāt get a game with the Suns.
Hereās hoping he can work on it over summer, but I honestly donāt think he should make the 22 if he canāt at least make a contest and bring the ball to ground. We canāt afford to have tall targets that we canāt kick to - it completely upends our ball movement.
Is that you, DJR???
We gave up a 4th round pick for a contracted key forward. I think that sums up how highly rated he is by his old and new clubs.
you started off lid jammed on, to him kicking at least 30 goals next year. thatās impressive
and personally, Iād be blown away if he went from not getting a game with GC for a couple of years to a 30+ goal forward, its pretty unrealistic. the trade makes complete sense and he probably has upside (we hope) but thereās also a reason he didnāt get a gig at GC for quite a while
I think peoples expectations should be tempered. heāll no doubt get a go early but as soon as Harry Jones is showing form, Iād be playing him
30 goals out of Wright would be a massive win.
Itās possible, but itās best case scenario territory.
Heās kicked 30goals in a season already twice hasnāt he?
Itās hardly a stretch
I dunno, but how many blokes go from the neafl reserves for a couple of years to a 30+ goal key forward in the AFL?
Crameri in the VFL?
Stewart went from NEAFL to a 20-odd goal forward in one year.
Iām very curious about how much improvement Wright manages over the preseason. If itās his focus, getting tailored coaching and drills at every opportunity, then he will be better by round 1. The question is how much better will he get his contested marking.
good examples, but obviously they are the exceptions, not the rule. I hope Wright becomes that solid dependable tall we need but Iāve got my reservations due to his last few years
Worst thing we can do is plonk Wright in the goal square, kick it high and long, and then wonder why he isnāt marking anything.
His contested marking is unlikely to ever get too much better, but he moves alright and has a decent tank.
Iād play him at half forward.
As for Jones⦠Surely anything more than 7-8 games this year would be an outstanding result.
Mitch Brown over 2018 and 2019 averaged 1.3 goals per game for us, which would have put him at 29 goals for the year if he played all 22 games.
Over his career, Wright has averaged also 1.3 goals per game. So iād say 30 goals in a season is around the mark as a reasonable target for Wright to target this year.
If we can get Stewart, Wright and Tippa getting close to 30 goals each next season to support Stringer (who say gets 45), thatās a good result for us
Iāve said it before, but I see his situation very similar to Stewart, except Wright has more runs on the board than Stewart did when we got him. (Possibly still does.)
Stewart has been a handy pickup, and still may prove to be more than that. Thatās about the level Iād expect from Wright. Heāll never carry the forward line, but he might be handy for some goals. And we need goals.
Jones has an incredible tank apparently. He wouldnāt need to play as a big forward straight away. He could play as a HFF who moves up the ground, and tires out his opponent.
I think he will play more than 7-8 games personally.
He didnāt really have a season last year, so heās essentially coming in as a brand new recruit.
Seems a real stretch to me to expect much more than a handful of ālearning the ropesā type games out of him this year.
They certainly may take the āpump games into himā option, but I wouldnāt be expecting much in terms of output.