He earned some credit back tonight.
Definitely not sold yet, but there’s hope.
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3 good marks is more than I can remember him taking in one game. I don’t remember too many clangers either. Hopefully this isn’t a one-off.
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His last 2 games have been decent. Certainly put his body on the line.
I’d like to see him be more active in games rather than being passive.
I still don’t think he has it but been much better last couple of weeks
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I’m of the view that his evolution has been more impressive than we give credit.
He simply hasn’t been a primarily defensive player previously. He had been used as a rebounding player/wing/half forward given his good use of the ball.
He still needs to work on halving contests more and defensive positioning but, for his first year in the role, in an under siege and cobbled together backline, he has been okay.
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He has significantly improved since round 1. I really think he has gained confidence in himself & his body and could be a main stay in the team long term. Now watch him absolutely ■■■■ up as i’ve written this knowing our luck lol
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Absolute spud
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I really didn’t rate this guy early doors but he’s growing on me. Are my expectations just getting extremely low or is he going ok?
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Expectations have become low - he’s alright that’s all
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Jaxon’s a decent role player. As the season’s progressed he’s reduced the frequency of those WFT moments that make you want to delist him on the spot.
I think he’ll eclipse his old man and get to 100 games. The banner will read like one of those slightly backhanded compliments… ‘Congats on 100 solid games”.
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I remember the banner when Mark Bolton played 100 games - “Congratulations on a 100 great games”.
Very deceptive I felt, then and now
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Adam Goodes disagrees.
We really did carry some average players through those semi-successful early 2000’s didn’t we. Bolton, Henneman, Lalich, Forster-Knight, Reynolds, Bullen, Bannister….
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another blitz pre mature whipping boy who turns out isn’t that bad after all. good old blitz . you gotta laugh sometimes
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When he copped criticism earlier in the season, it was because he deserved it. I was one of the vocal ones against him. To his credit he has turned things around and become much more steadfast.
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His positioning on Saturday against his opponent was literally the worst I have ever seen. No awareness of what the leading lanes will be based on ball position. No touch on his opponent, yet not blocking his space. He just… doesn’t defend.
The only contests he’s ever in are when the opposition kicks badly to their forwards, and his loss rate in those must be astronomical.
I don’t remember seeing an AFL player so out of their depth as him Saturday.
No good, stupid moustache also.
Concur on this point. It isn’t so much a mo’ as an excuse for not cleaning his nose properly. l think he grew it so he could get into pubs underage, then just forgot to remove it once he became of age.
Ill have to watch him closer this week v Geelong (may not be best indication cos I assume it will be an avalanche of goals)
But I’ve thought he’s been reasonably solid the past say 8 games, fact he’s played every game I think makes him a cert to get a deal for next year which I think is ok, but you’d like that to be purely for depth purposes and not B22.
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He’s only depth if someone is better than him. Who would you play as a half back in his place? Trying to get Coleman out of Brisbane might be worth a shot, back our fitness department to get him right?…?
I think you’ve gone early.
As per whipping boy rules, he’s one poor game away from being re-entered into the canon. And that’ll be repeated for the next few weeks as all his negatives are hyper analysed.
I think he’s been serviceable. It is great that he’s improved over the season.
I’m not sure where he fits in though. Ideally, he plays a similar position to Redman (on opposition medium sized forwards).He can’t play on tall forwards (Redman is better than him against those opponents) and he’s limited against opposition small forwards. I’d say he’ll only take on marking small forwards like Jamie Elliott which I think Redman can handle him better.
Defensively he’s getting better, but he’d be average at best. Offensively, he is neat without being damaging. Eventually, Johnson plays ahead of him once he’s developed a little further.
I think he’ll stays on the list next year. But I’d cut him and look elsewhere. It’s disappointing that we aren’t prioritising small defenders through the draft or MSD picks. Who have we picked up in the last 5 years? Jake Kelly, Allistair Lord, Garret McDonagh, Lumon Lual (who has turned into a wingman), Archie Roberts (was a wingman now playing backline), Zak Johnson (projected to be more of a midfielder than a defender), Jayden Nguyen (needs time to develop into a lockdown defender) and Jaxon Prior (played wing, shifted to backline in VFL last year).
The way teams build their regular 23 with 2 to 3 small forwards, I’m just surprised we aren’t trying to counter opposition teams. We have the tall defenders to best combat tall forwards (as long as they can get on the park). Hopefully Rosa starts prioritising it. I’m not expecting using first or second round picks on these kind of players, but to try and draft 1 per year that doesn’t end up being delisted within a few years would be handy.
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Roberts was AA in the U18s as a half back, Johnson played half back as well as midfield in U18s too, Nguyen was drafted as a defender, and Prior was a defender when we picked him up too.
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Correct.
And they’ve all been past pick 50 for memory. Maybe that’s where you find small defenders.
I’m sure they’ll turn out okay, but I think we need a few more developing.
These players can switch between midfield and defensive roles, but I’d say Zak is going to be more of a midfielder than a defender. Archie was a great pick and should stay in the backline. As he was doing earlier this year, he’ll have time on the wing. Nguyen needs time to develop. Prior has already been overtaken by one of those players. I hope he’s overtaken by the other two next season (should Prior remain on the list).
Would love more options though. There’s every chance one of them becomes Alistair Lord. Or even Lual and plays elsewhere.