Well in a line of terrible mid performances… he was ok for me.
This is what we have been reduced to. Our best players are just “less ■■■■” than the others.
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Roberts improved on last week, I can’t say that about any of the senior players
yep. I give him more lead way because he is still learning a brand-new role
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I’d go back and watch the game again, but I don’t hate myself that much. All I saw all day was targets being missed by all our midfielders.
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3rd most metres gained on ground.
Most rebound 50s for the game.
4 intercepts.
No tackles from him kondo and Nguyen admittedly concerning but when it was coming in it was coming in getting marked and that was it not like there was an amount of forward 50 stoppages to work with.
12 pressure acts was the 7th most for the bombers and the highest of all their defenders.
Can say about the whole team output and their tackling but like I commented after last weeks game I do think we all need to stop acting like Johnson doesn’t defend or is some sort of defensive liability while not the finished product.
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He actually seems like he can navigate himself through traffic quite well as well. He doesn’t just gather it and blaze away, or just throw it on the boot, but he’s more than capable of sidestepping and weaving through the congestion before disposing. Call it good spatial awareness, I guess. A nice trait for him to have. Should play every game this season if he is up for it.
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played midfield / defence in his draft year. Johnson definitely can end up a midfielder in time
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Half back is the perfect place for him. Leave him alone.
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That won’t work. BS prefers round pegs and square holes.
Never takes a backward step. In an ocean of manure he was floating on the top.
How is Johnson a natural midfielder exactly?
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He ended up playing defence precisely because he wasn’t cutting it in the midfield.
I’m fine with giving him a shot in there, people mature and develop at different rates, but lets not pretend that he’s some midfield star as a junior who’s being stifled in defence. His best footy (IMO) was on a wing as a bottom ager, and in defence in his top age year.
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If you are reading this zak, ask for a trade.
Please, do not waste your career here
There are constant complaints on here about players (Martin, Duursma, Roberts etc) being moved out of a position they are performing well in. Johnson is showing great signs at half-back, yet after 10 games there are calls for him to play midfield.
He’s doing well where he is, and he’s definitely got some of the required skills for the position. Leave him where he is.
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From what I’ve seen, his movement through traffic and good peripheral vision will lead him to the midfield at some stage.
He reminds me a bit of Mark McVeigh.
It might just be the ability to hit an absolute bullet pass off a step or two.
If anything, Johnson will get a few token CBAs and be pushed up the ground from time to time as a trial. But that’s more likely to occur when injuries hit us, not when there’s other options available.
More often than not, when we switch a player’s position, we do it with a large block of training in that position. And it’s usually done through pre-season.
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Like this assessment. Dominated School Footy as a Midfielder who could kick a few goals but a much different standard in that School Division. Was solid as a mid at Coates level but the move to defense coincided with how stacked that Vic Metro midfield crop was wouldn’t argue he was a better mid than Ashcroft, Smith, Reid, Smilie, Moraes and Gross when at the National level. His biggest weapons of footy iq and ball use are not that likely to shine at centre clearance and inside the contest. Someone like Robey and Sharp on the list would be better suited to more midfield minutes than Johnson would. A rebounding half back role ala Dan Houston is probably the ideal mold for him. Or get him up the ground and off a wing as you mentioned which he showed he was capable of in the Futures game when he lined up against Finn O’sullivan.
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Agree with everything you say here.
I also reject this idea that every talented kid needs to become a midfielder. We clearly need Zak’s qualities off the half back line. Why not leave him to develop in that role?
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