An observation is different to complaining i might add.
More pointing out that the grass isnāt greener on the other side.
We got Wright for a bargain. Brown has elite strengths, but they arenāt where Wright is lacking. Brown would also cost an absolute fortune.
We played the game hard to get Wright for that bargain. Made a move for McDonald so GC would give us a better deal.
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Wright lost his spot because GCS preferred the King/Day combo. So King > Wrightā¦well, we all knew that. Doesnāt mean that Wright is no good.
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Iāve been thinking about what Wright would be doing in this situation. He knows his contested marking is a weakness. He knows this is his last chance. Weāve got mature options that can take the KPF spots and a bunch of talented young talls that will be coming hard. He has this year to cement a spot in the preferred forward line up. After that Jones will be mature enough to warrant getting regular games.
So I expect heāll be taking every opportunity to have a 1:1 marking contest. He could realistically have 1000+ marking contests before round 1.
Stewart turned his contested marking around. Our coaching staff know how to teach this skill. Motivation clearly isnāt an issue. Personally, Iām not jumping too early, will be watching the training reports to see how he improves over the next few months.
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Peter Wrightās contested marking was always a weakness. True.
But Harrison Jones slipped to 30 because his contested marking was almost non-existent at TAC level.
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Most juniors arenāt known for their contested marking especially young talls who are under 80kg
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Hey careful what you say about jones he is our savior.
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I respectfully disagree. Players that do not take contested marks against their peers at TAC level generally struggle to take them in the AFL even with strength and conditioning. There is a reason why such an elite runner with amazing pace and a terrific kick slipped so low. Recruiters were worried about his lack of aerial prowess.
I have heard he has grown in height which gives me hope he will at least make a good contest in the air.
FWIW I wonder why all the advocates for starting Cox on a wing havenāt considered starting Jones on a wing. Jones is quicker and, in my opinion, is cleaner at ground level.
I think he is much more likely to be a saviour now that he has 4 key position peers to spread the expectations of our fans with.
Theyāre about the same, speed-wise. And Jones is a fairly good mark, in any case.
For what itās worth I keep remembering the comment from one of the kick & giggle games along the lines of āThe penny dropped for Harrison after half time and he started to get on his bikeā
Makes me think that game day positioning and tactics are the biggest thing he might have to work on.
And 10 or 12 a side games donāt help that.
You donāt see many contested marks being taken at 18s level and the ones doing so are mostly your well developed kids pushing 100kg anyway. Itās a very hard skill to gauge at that age. I think many clubs try to develop that side of the game themselves and hope for the best.
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Been described by some 18s opponents as their hardest matchup because of his running patterns. I donāt think that side is a big concern, his biggest concern will be if he can develop his contested marking and become a āpresenceā.
Contested grabs are over rated, Levi Casboult has the best set of mitts in the competition and he is trash.
Iāll be judging Jones by how many uncontested marks he takes in the forward half and what he does with those possessions. With his running he should also be offering a lot of defensive effort for a KPP too.
He is more a Gunston than a Daniher type of mobile tall.
Thatās a fair point about contested grabs, but you at least want someone who can bring it to ground in those situations rather than letting the opposition defenders mark it
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Bringing it to ground is arguably easier for guys who donāt expect to win the contested mark every time, see Daniher who was an āall-or-nothingā prospect.
Itās what makes Hooker so good in those situations (defenders mentality)
It should be a coachable trait.
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Someone mentioned it, but Ben Brown is the perfect example of a player who kicks goals simply because his running makes him a difficult opponent to match up on. Contested marking isnāt his strength yet heās kicked 60+ goals multiple times. As long as Jones can lead in space and get some separation from his opponents, he should be a decent forward. Might see him improve in contested marking now heās taller and stronger.
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Ben Brown does what he does very well, but those types of players arenāt as highly regarded as you might think irrespective of his goal kicking record. Itās why North werenāt upset that he left, despite the backup options, and itās why there wasnāt an abundance of clubs lining up to get his signature.
Heās very much a one trick pony and thats lead, mark and goal. Sure it sounds exactly what you want but it makes your attack look very one dimensional and it requires space in attack for Brown to lead into if you want to utilise him to full effect.
The better sides in the comp want to trap the ball in attack and have contested marking players that can compete and then bring the smalls into the game. Richmond and Port are probably the most obvious sides but Geelong and Brisbane are very proficient at it also.
Stringer is the forward opposition clubs put the most work into when planning for us.
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