12 hours ago, dino rover said:

What I noticed was how many of our goals on Sunday resulted from contests in the air near to goal with Jackson and or McDonald contesting if not marking.

...

He could do worse than to study Hawkins lead technique - he has a great lead / double back / lead again technique.

...

 

 

11 hours ago, BW511 said:

... I believe a lot of his positioning in marking contests create spillages to the dangerous spots we want to be hitting. ...

 

1 hour ago, monoccular said:

...
Almost deliberately palming it down rather than spilling the mark, showing confidence in the crumbers. 

I thought it looked like he was deliberately bringing the ball down at times. He would contest from the side and palm towards our crumbers. Contested pack marks in the wet are difficult and rare, so it's the % option.

4 hours ago, Dr.D said:

1 goal in 4 games. if he was 28 we'd be saying he needs to get dropped. Pedersen used to do this role but kicked his 2 goals a game at the same time. Just saying some truth bombs. 

80 career games for 70 career goals and only once kick more goals than games in a season while at Melbourne.

2 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

His position in the side is invaluable as it’s allowing Gawn to play career best footy.

Yep he is gaining experience and is going to improve with every single bounce... meanwhile the opp are like oh sheet where's Gawn gone! 

Edited April 13, 20214 yr by 1 red eye 1 blue eye

Every week he’s improving his ruck work (which is the number one reason we got him) and he’s at point we’re no longer losing as much when Gawn needs a rest from ruck duties. Around the ground he’s covering A LOT of territory and does it almost effortlessly. Is he a forward? Only for the purpose of picking a side, he does so much more than just be a second forward target. 

The important thing that is happening now is that our structure is creating the very thing that Goody and Co wanted last year (but for me didn’t have the right mix and structure). It’s making Fritta our main forward target to hit up a lead and be our leading goal kicker right now. 

Jackson’s role is helping to create it by making his direct opponent more accountable. What is happening right now is bigger than one 19 year old not kicking a goal a game. Everyone is playing a role that is critical to the success of the team. 

Edited April 13, 20214 yr by Pates

14 hours ago, Dr.D said:

As I've pointed out successfully in pre-season. he isn't a forward. I think 1 goal in 4 weeks and barely any shots on goal proves this once and for all. His role is important for Gawn to get breaks though and when he goes into the ruck he is good at ground level. 

 

I’ve seen him get his hands to the ball in more forward marking contests than Jeff White did in his entire career. He knows what he’s doing, he’s just a kid and you’re just impatient and a terrible judge of football. 

On 4/5/2021 at 12:02 PM, Stretch Johnson said:

Flying under the radar this kid.

His development trajectory for a young tall is beautiful.  Going to be a genuine star of the comp.

I wondered if he was going to be more athlete than footballer.. his footy IQ is as good as any in our team.  He knows how to play footy.

It's the ground ball gets for me. He is insanely good in this area, which makes him so dangerous in stoppage, because he can butter up his own tap work or literally attend stoppages as a genuine mid.

I reckon there were at least 3 moments against Geelong where in the wet he picked the ball up cleanly like an A grade small.

If all he had was contested marking I'd be frustrated by his inability to hang on to marks at the moment, but that will come. What he's illustrating to this point is footy IQ, particularly in the forward half and great spatial awareness.

Be fascinating to see what sort of player he is in 2 or 3 years time.

He’s going to be a dominant force when he’s 23 with 7-8 kgs more muscle and another 80 games experience...already holds his own against bigger and stronger men, we’ve nailed this pick in my opinion

13 hours ago, spalding said:

I watched him quite closely at the game, and the number of times he was held from running at the ball when full forward was really annoying. And when Gawn got done for less of a hold on Stanley in the last quarter I lost my s$&@. 

Was woeful.

Oliver held onto off the ball a lot of tge rime as well.

18 hours ago, Axis of Bob said:

As a key forward, Jackson is currently the best contested mark (statistically) of any Rising Star qualified player. He has 5 whilst the next best (Georgiades, Koschitzke and Treacy) have 3. 

He's also second for contested possessions, first for hitouts, third for clearances, etc.

So, for a 19 year old tall forward who also chops out in the ruck ..... he's doing exceedingly well. 

Dr D is just a troll, but blows up his credibility too often to be any good at it.

Well to be fair, Jackson's played four games whilst Treacy's only played 1 and the others only 3.

Still, on averages, Jackson is 2nd with an average of 1.25 contested marks per game.

On averages, he's also 2nd for contested possessions and 4th for clearances.

I was wondering about just how rare it is for a teenager to be holding their own rotating as a ruckman and forward with such effectiveness. The only easy source I could think of was the '22 under 22' teams the AFL puts out. So, here's what I found for rucks;

2012:  Nic Naitanui in his 4th season

2013: Tom Nicholls in his 2nd season... kind of confirming there aren't that many examples to work with.

2014: Jarrod Witts in his 2nd season.

2015: Brody Grundy in his 3rd season.

2016: Brody Grundy again.

2017: Peter Wright's 3rd season, when he played forward and had 5 hitouts a game, again the shortage of 'kid rucks'.

2018: Sean Darcy, in his second season, played only 8 games filling in but did well.

2019: Tim English in his 3rd season.

2020: Sean Darcy again.

Touch wood, but Jackson seems to be an early lock for the spot this year and his realistic trajectory could see him surpass any other 2nd-year ruckman I can think of.

17 touches, 5 marks, 5 inside 50's and 23 hitouts.

Inches closer and closer to his exciting breakout game where he clunks some big marks and kicks some goals and does it all.  What a package!

Edited April 18, 20213 yr by Pickett2Jackson

He looks as clean as Clarry in the contest 

2 hours ago, Pickett2Jackson said:

17 touches, 5 marks, 5 inside 50's and 23 hitouts.

Inches closer and closer to his exciting breakout game where he clunks some big marks and kicks some goals and does it all.  What a package!

Plus a goal that Tmac took off him in the goal square

The best 19yo talent I've ever seen at Melbourne, and the perfect player for right now because he complements Gawn so well.

This bloke will be anything…as soon as he starts taking marks.

I know this might seem wild but is it worth putting him out on the wing every now & then to see how he goes there ?

Him and Gawn are going to be the best 1/2 ruck combo we have ever seen

2 hours ago, Chook said:

This bloke will be anything…as soon as he starts taking marks.

I agree. Although I’d rather he be something. ?

Seriously, he gets into the right spot to take marks in important positions on the ground. That in itself is great for a 19 year old. Now, he just has to hold more of those marks and kick a bag. Go Dogga!

2 hours ago, Fanatique Demon said:

 Now, he just has to hold more of those marks and kick a bag. Go Dogga!

I’ve noticed in the last 2 weeks that his problem seems to be he is jumping a fraction too soon so he is getting to the flight of the ball but it’s just a fraction too high and hitting the top of his fingers. When not if he works that out and jumps a fraction later  he will be unstoppable. Then he and Gawn need someone to teach them how to kick goals and the Dogger will have truly arrived. King brothers what King brothers. 

Edited April 18, 20213 yr by It's Time

6 hours ago, Alex Flood said:

I know this might seem wild but is it worth putting him out on the wing every now & then to see how he goes there ?

I agree. I think you can rotate him and McDonald out of the foward/wing

Seriously talented.

7 hours ago, Garbo said:

Him and Gawn are going to be the best 1/2 ruck combo we have ever seen

He certainly adds versatility, with his ground work potentially putting Max and he ahead of even the Jimmy / Strawb combination. 
 

And for someone who has had, as I understand it, time away from footy, he shows a great understanding of the game and of the team set up. 

Edited April 18, 20213 yr by monoccular

His spread at stoppage is incredible.  The way he follows the ball up elite.  He also seems to pop up and link so well as well - definitely in a way that Max doesn't (different sort of player of course).  He is one hell of a player. 

Loving him in the team, gives us so much versatility with Max being able to be sent to either end depending on the game;

Jackson has been in 118 Ruck Contests this season (21st most) Won 59 of these (18th best) - So he's more than holding his own despite his inexperience.

It's freed Maxy to just roam and do what he does best, take 16 contested marks (1st in League) and 16 intercept marks (9th) in League)

 

 

 

Had a good game , max could go back and forward  crating havoc . Took leading marks on the wing , happy with his progress

Not sure if I have posted elsewhere, but playing back up ruck he had more hit outs himself than the Hawk ruckmen combined, as well as offering so much around the ground, on the ground and up forward.