Thanks for sharing. I hadn’t seen much of him.
With the round 5 game…
His 2nd goal from 50 looked good. Very good kick.
That 3rd goal where he was on his own in the forward 50 with no one anywhere near him just won’t happen at AFL level.
The highlights did get better as the game went on though. Looks like he has good leading patterns. I liked that he reads the bounce of the ball pretty well. He seems okay.
The other video looked okay too. I liked that he started working his way up the field with his leading which is a must at AFL level and on one occassion when he marked, he turned quickly to look for another option.
I can see why he’s been given an opportunity. Hopefully he can take advantage of the opportunity.
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I’m not sure what prime Stewart looked like at AFL level. That’s being honest.
And Hunter may end up that way. Hopefully, we don’t spend too long waiting for it to develop.
A 1 year extension seems reasonable to re-assess whether he actually improves during that period.
Disagree. In my opinion, Jones doesn’t have that hard edge to make it at AFL level as a key forward. He is soft, gets pushed off the ball too easy and will likely be delisted next year.
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Only way he gets delisted is if his attitude isn’t where it needs to be and / or he remains largely injured and unable to train and play.
He gets easily pushed off the ball because he’s yet to develop the size and strength needed. As he starts building his body strength and size, when he actually starts training, those weaknesses will reduce. I don’t think he’s soft. He lacks size and strength as just noted and also lacks confidence. He simply needs to get his body and conditioning sorted.
And whilst I don’t think he’s soft, it hasn’t effected Peter Wright or the Weid who aren’t physical and both ‘soft’. I think Jones is more talented than Wright and better in contested situations than Weid. A fit and conditioned Jones will make many posters around here think again if he gets things right off field.
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Jones is also very good if the ball hits the deck.
Which has nothing at all to do with Jaiden.
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he always looked more likely playing as that mobile 3rd tall who could work up and back
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In those two highlight clips posted above, Hunter lead to ball more times than I can remember seeing an Essendon forward in the whole of the 2023 season. Looks to be a genuine forward. Imagine a (fully fit) forward line of Hunter, Langford, Wright, Perkins, Gresham, and another small forward (to be determined …but maybe Collard?).
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I love the excitement around Hunter here.
Personally, I’m going to reserve judgement until he plays a game.
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Our our mids ready to deliver properly to a lead-up forward?
Are you kidding… waiting until he plays a game?
This is going to be bigger than the Courtney Johns thread. Watch this space.
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Is that game called Yahtzee?
Thanks for sharing. That’s different to what I see in Hunter.
Stewart does look third tall like. In the mould of Stringer or Langford. But with more of a work up the ground and punish over the top. There wasn’t much lead up work from him like the Hunter plays.
Hunter looked like he’d be challenging Weid, Jones, 2MP and maybe our resting ruckman in the forward line (depending on setup). It may not translate to AFL, but that’s the opportunity he faces.
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Will you never learn!
Look what happened with Voss.
You have to go early on these things for the true roller coaster experience.
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I love your optimism. Fingers crossed it works out and he becomes that 2nd key forward we are craving.
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I don’t see it either.
He reminds me of a slightly less nimble/crafty Josh Kennedy (iirc Kennedy was also a bit of an enduro freak as a junior).
Looks like he gets a lot of his touches via football nous which will translate to AFL but it’ll be interesting to see how well that overcomes some of his (relative) physical shortcomings.
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12 possessions. 9 marks (game high). 4.1 kicked, passed off a few also in this game.
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Best since Lloyd
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Could be anything.
John Coleman ONLY got 12 goals on debut.
I’ll leave it there.
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People have shirt memories. Jones showed plenty of what he could become during his first season (2020 injured) in 2021… He’s missed valuable development time since which has curtailed his progression. Whatever the causes and drivers of his fitness issues, hopefully 2023 sees him turn a new chapter and we all see glimpses, more often, of what he’s capable of.
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