Absolute star.

He’s the best defender in the league right now and will be the first person the AA selectors put down when selecting the back 6.

Has also played in a GF so also has great finals experience.

Had a terrible first half, punched balls he'd usually mark, gave away the reversal free kick and panicked with the ball. 

Townsend got under his skin a fair bit in the 2017 grand final. 

Whatever the coaches said or Jake did at half time last night we need to bottle for the rest of the year. When he plays with that confidence and calmness and the team gets it right up field he really is a special player to watch.

2 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

Jake Lever was too expensive ("two first rounders" etc.).

Steven May was too expensive ("we gave up Hogan/pick 6/Ben KIng for May" etc.).

Whatever happens from here, I hope (but do not expect at all) that Demonlanders learn from this the next time we trade out a high draft pick for an established player.

King will be nice but May more important in the here and now, if we get even one flag and may is a big part of that it’s paid for itself and more. Lever no question we have already won that.

Edited August 22, 20213 yr by Garbo

So given he played every game, that would also be the highest total intercept marks in a H&A season.  Just putting that out there. 

10 hours ago, At the break of Gawn said:

will be the first person the AA selectors put down when selecting the back 6.

Seen several AA teams without him. 

Thought it was bizarre but wasn't sure if it was my bias

17 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Now it’s become crystal clear as to why Adelaide charged us 2 first rounders to get him.

Clearly one of the best defenders in the game, and it’s pretty awesome that we’ve got both Petracca and Lever from the 2014 draft.

Yeah they wanted 2x first rounders and only wanted to pay him $450k a season.

Absolute trade special, shrewdest bit of business conducted by the MFC.

Bet Tex Walkers happy. 😂

Edited August 23, 20213 yr by Win4theAges

There was a passage in the last quarter I think, possibly directly after Lever had punched the ball over the boundary, with Lever and May were both in the frame, both pointing and telling other defenders where to position themselves.

As good as Salem, Tomlinson, Petty etc are, you need talented, experienced leaders who are vocal.

Jordan Lewis played a similar role in his short stint with us.

I firmly believe that we would have given the premiership in 2018 a real shake - until he did his knee...

Our back 6 is the best in the competition and will only get better.  Lever/May/Petty/Tomlinson/Smith as your talls, then you have a really young attacking mid/smalls Salem/Rivers/Bowey/Hunt and I reckon there is a player at Casey that will slot in over time D Smith.  

Lever has had a good season but he needs to back 6 playing as a unit to enable him to play his role.

The best thing with our backline you can see May playing for 3-4 more years the rest have 5-10 years left in them.

On 8/22/2021 at 1:10 PM, Deesprate said:

Has been an amazing acquisition. I really like how he thinks his way through. That set play to Gawn showed real nous. Could easily have blazed away. He has been a massive factor in our rise.

Max said on Triple M that they both made eye contact and understood the plan.

Brilliant piece of football, out-thinking 6 Geelong defenders.

On 8/22/2021 at 1:14 PM, Little Goffy said:

The range of important stats which both May and Lever feature in prominently is all the more impressive because of how well they shared the burden of responsibility.

On a less dramatic note, Lever was the player who spent the most time actually on the field in the 2021 home and away season with 22 games 99.14% time on ground.

Confusing Archimedes no end, Lever has been an immovable object.

 

And he's only still 25. Huge number of seasons to look forward to for him  - and us.

Huge Lever fan. Was always supportive of his inclusion, and the price we paid for him - even through the difficult period after he started (it's crazy to think anyone will slot into any team structure, no matter how good they are)...

... But I have to be honest, when I saw it was Lever taking that kick, I wasn't thrilled. I would have preferred almost anyone else for the final kick before the siren. But oh boy, when the ball left his boot, you knew exactly where it was going. 

Maxy did what he needed to do, finally buried his demons directly in front of goal (I hope!!!), but Lever made it happen and will continue to be critical in our path to success this year!

33 minutes ago, Demon17 said:

 

 out-thinking 6 Geelong defenders.

And two Geelong forwards who looked very shell shocked. You can literally pin point the moment Hawkins goes "ah [censored]"... so beautiful 

On 8/22/2021 at 1:08 PM, leave it to deever said:

Cool headed enough to kick to max and not go the torp.

Experience counts.

reckon he was good enough to kick a goal with a drop punt (esp with a little runaround the man on the mark)........but we'll never know

must have been a tough decision for him with 30 players in the goal square

fantastic execution in the end......centimetre perfect

16 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

Had a terrible first half, punched balls he'd usually mark, gave away the reversal free kick and panicked with the ball. 

Townsend got under his skin a fair bit in the 2017 grand final. 

Whatever the coaches said or Jake did at half time last night we need to bottle for the rest of the year. When he plays with that confidence and calmness and the team gets it right up field he really is a special player to watch.

Huge effort to turn things around in the 2nd half. The fact he was very average in the first half makes his second half performance all the more impressive. He seems the type of player that is able to move on from mistakes and back himself in to win the next contest and continue to hunt the footy. His self-confidence was pivotal in getting the win against the Cats. I'm not sure May has the same resilience - or at least he didn't on Saturday night. He didn't look confident under the high balls all night after a shaky start. Although I'll back in May to bounce back with a huge game this week. 

On 8/22/2021 at 12:37 PM, BDA said:

Phenomenal leader.

And best moustache in the AFL

An awesome leader and no doubt will captain this club. A clubman of the highest calibre and leader of men. 

An incredible asset to the club. Never out of the game

3 hours ago, Demon17 said:

Max said on Triple M that they both made eye contact and understood the plan.

Brilliant piece of football, out-thinking 6 Geelong defenders.

Again!

On 8/22/2021 at 1:07 PM, BDA said:

Phenomenal leader.

And best moustache in the AFL

Im pretty sure that's what he was saying to the cats player who he jumper punched and had the free reversed. It was worth it.

4 hours ago, Jaded said:

And two Geelong forwards who looked very shell shocked. You can literally pin point the moment Hawkins goes "ah [censored]"... so beautiful

That moment when Hawkins looked around for whoever was supposed to be covering Gawn, only to realise it was him?  Solid gold. 

6 hours ago, Demon17 said:

Max said on Triple M that they both made eye contact and understood the plan.

Brilliant piece of football, out-thinking 6 Geelong defenders.

I think they although that the geriatric home night nurse had called “supper then lights out”!   None of them seemed at all interested.  Gobsmacked that it was uncontested.  Great connection.  

Edited August 23, 20213 yr by monoccular