Former #17 James Stewart

Watched the last quarter of the NEAFL GF on NITV last week . Commentators said Jimmy had not had a major impact up until then , but from what I saw he scored 2 opportunistic goals and was involved in another. Seeing that GWS won by less than a goal you would have to say he had major impact. Opponent was Ted Richards so commendable effort.

Did a couple of nice things in the second half. Destined to be a solid back-up for now

Will judge him once he has Hooksy and Joey next to him. Won’t be taking the best defender and can play as that 3rd forward/ruck.

Can people stop naming him “Steward”? He isn’t showing anyone where to go at this point.

Photo by Karma. Looking pretty beastly!

https://instagram.fmel1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/t51.2885-15/e35/15624022_223745568082948_1482705959930298368_n.jpg

wears a cap too!

Where is the Hun investigative communication specialists reporting on this momentous event?

I doubt Stewart is AFL standard but we will receive a true indication when he is played as the third tall forward.

Geebus people, he is just a pup, give him a bit of time

Can people stop naming him "Steward"? He isn't showing anyone where to go at this point.

But he is ruling the forward line only until the return of King Joe…

No doubt Stewart has a great body for AFL and is very athletic. But as Joey demonstrates, it is not enough to be very tall, he has to try to get a run at the marking contest and establish horizontal or vertical separation. In every overhead marking contest that I noticed on Thursday night, the defenders easily spoiled him. Time will tell.

I thought it was a tough game to assess where JS is at… missing 2/3 of the likely key position match ups and left isolated down forward for much of the first half. I was actually impressed that the kid kept working and by the end of the second half had contributed a couple of nice things.

The bit of play in the last 2 minutes on the boundary line was the highlight for me… not just that fanta kicked the goal but it showed that the kid has some footy smarts and some great agility for his size…

I still worry that it will be too slow if we try to go with Hooker, JD and JS but it could work if we only take in one ruck. So then you have to weigh up whether JS is offering more than TBell. For me that is the consideration and spot that he is fighting for.

I thought it was a tough game to assess where JS is at.. missing 2/3 of the likely key position match ups and left isolated down forward for much of the first half. I was actually impressed that the kid kept working and by the end of the second half had contributed a couple of nice things.

The bit of play in the last 2 minutes on the boundary line was the highlight for me… not just that fanta kicked the goal but it showed that the kid has some footy smarts and some great agility for his size…

I still worry that it will be too slow if we try to go with Hooker, JD and JS but it could work if we only take in one ruck. So then you have to weigh up whether JS is offering more than TBell. For me that is the consideration and spot that he is fighting for.

I agree. With Stewart likely to play all 3 preseason games, TBell is surely no chance for round 1, and will have to do a number of solid hit outs in the VFL practice games which he needs to dominate, with a view to selection round 3-4 or later…

Looks like the guy that plays Prince Philip in The Crown.

Showed enough for me to play round 1. Has a real crack and and pretty agile for a big fella. Will still take time to develop and is another year or two from breaking games apart but will play a very solid role for us

I thought it was a tough game to assess where JS is at.. missing 2/3 of the likely key position match ups and left isolated down forward for much of the first half. I was actually impressed that the kid kept working and by the end of the second half had contributed a couple of nice things.

The bit of play in the last 2 minutes on the boundary line was the highlight for me… not just that fanta kicked the goal but it showed that the kid has some footy smarts and some great agility for his size…

I still worry that it will be too slow if we try to go with Hooker, JD and JS but it could work if we only take in one ruck. So then you have to weigh up whether JS is offering more than TBell. For me that is the consideration and spot that he is fighting for.

I agree. With Stewart likely to play all 3 preseason games, TBell is surely no chance for round 1, and will have to do a number of solid hit outs in the VFL practice games which he needs to dominate, with a view to selection round 3-4 or later..

TBell doesn’t need to dominate anything. He just needs to play good, solid football and hope the coaches want to go with two genuine rucks. I they do, he’s in. If they don’t, it’s probably Stewart (my personal preference) or Brown - Francis if he gets his fitness levels up sufficiently.

Geebus people, he is just a pup, give him a bit of time

Hang on ben, he’s played a single pre-season game, surely that’s enough of a sample to judge. I thought he presented pretty well - first hit out, new club, new team. Can’t believe the knee-jerk jerks on this board. You’d think we’d be used to it by now.

I think the idea of a “3rd tall” is becoming outdated. Three tall marking targets in the forward line is one too many in the modern game. You want 80%+ of your kicks inside 50 to be aimed at moving targets, hoping to be able to hit them in space. Whoever can do that well is more likely to be successful, regardless of their size, rather than someone tall who uses their height to advantage. There are so few contested marks in the game now that ability to use your height to take a contested mark is an over rated attribute, a hangover from the way teams used to aim to kick goals.
Two talls up forward is plenty. Maybe a third helps for when you are resting either of the two, or using one to pinch hit in the ruck, but that third should be someone who is predominantly an agile and dangerous player when the ball is on the deck eg Langford or Laverde.

I left the game being quite critical of him but as people have pointed out, it’s a tough game to judge him. It will be better so see him with a JD and Chook roaming the forward 50 and taking some heat off of him, it might help.

Took him a while to settle and get involved, but he presented and contested all night. Showed more as the game went on, and his set up of Fanta’s last goal was v good work. First game for a new club, still getting used to the team, showed some promising signs.

Stewart competed very well, and was never actually beaten, although he didn’t win many either. If it comes down to a third tall, I think McKernan would get that, unless ultimately they go for Bellchambers with Leunberger. The latter played very well.
In my opinion he is a good prospect for the years ahead.

Agree 100% on the marking. If he can split the contest and lead to dangerous places (ie. not the boundary) Green, Fantasia etc. will take care of the rest.