I have been thinking quite a bit of late about a piece of information I conveyed in my last training report. I posted that IMV The best 3 trainers on the ground were Clarry, Sparrow and Jack Viney.

Over the holiday period I have been watching all the finals and quite a few home and away matches ( of which I have the full set) and have come to a number of conclusions about Jack Viney  and although I have been critical of his game in some instances in the past, I now believe he is a much better player than he ever was! A few pionts

1 The style of play the trademark see ball get ball remains

2 As the season progressed I saw new levels of team 1 % increasing like blocking, shepherding, and a more emphatic buy in of team first ethos. Now I'm not suggesting for one minute that these were lacking but I saw a more refined Viney part of the machine mantra and this has made him a much better player

3 In critical games he was instrumental in allowing Clarry and Trac space and time to do their thing and because he was so brutal in his approach that no-one or anything was going to stand in his way and this is a Viney trademark.

4 His finals series was selfless as it was" Briiliant" with his take no prisoners approach and his ball use and more importantly his decision making was stellar. He now gives of much more efficiently to almost first option than ever.

5 I also noticed his team mates get around him at regular intervals and vice-versa, hence a genuine rapport and empathy is evident. 

6 He remains an excellent V.C to Max and leader in his own right. I think he is more suited to V.C than Capt because maybe just maybe he doesnt feel the onus to have to do it all himself.

So after analysing and watching and looking for the obvious and not so obvious I concur that Jack Viney is a vital cog in our quest for Back to back Premierships and that his improvement as a player is well evident! 😁

Edited January 25, 20223 yr by picket fence

He dished off the ball instantly in the finals series, he is a different beast when he decides not to hold possession too long

Edited January 25, 20223 yr by adonski

Agreed.  Case in point was his critical touches at the two centre bounces that resulted in the final two goals of the 3rd Qtr of the GF.  The first a "blink & you miss it" handball out of the middle to Trac, and the 2nd, a deft little toe tap into Jacko's path.

In both cases, the very obvious parts of those plays was the dominance of Clarrie & Trac.  But, that wouldn't have happened without Viney's vital touches at the coal face that made their involvement possible!

Yes precisely! This is what I also picked up thanks for the "Gravitas" and observations Vagg

Born to play finals is Viney

#BeastMode

Clark Keating like. I wouldn't even bother playing him until the finals this year then let him rip.

If there was a best in finals award he would easily be in top 3.

He was arguably the most consistent player over the 3 matches. You’d hate to have this bloke as your opponent!

His final series was exceptional, as a “Team” player 

his GF was just as important as CP5

Fantastic finals series and an exceptional GF by Jack. The more you watch the GF replay or highlights the more you notice Jack’s leadership and team first mentality off the ball.  
Leading up to Fritsch’s 4th ( the jump and recover goal) you’ll notice Oliver and Viney run forward after Trac’s kick out of the centre square and as Jack is about to enter our forward 50 at full tilt he motions back to Trac to stay put with the lagging Dogs’ mids. 
Might not seem like much and some players can be excused for forgetting an instruction or two in the heat of battle but it just demonstrates why we had the season we did. 

Am looking forward to seeing what he can do with a full pre-season under his belt instead of the foot issues that he has carried for many weeks over the last few years

I think of some of the greats of the game who had proven over time in being able to stand up in big finals and perform. They build a reputation as just going up another level when finals arrive. Their sheer brutality and intense hardness was something I admired about these blokes and everytime these guys played in September everyone around them walked taller.

Guys like Michael Voss, Nigel Lappin, Luke Hodge, Joel Selwood are probably the ones who stick out the most.

Jack Viney sits alongside these guys quite comfortably. 

Nothing new to read here ... has always been team first and adapted to suit the team ... when we had no gun mids he took it on himself to drive the midfield and carried us on his shoulders in the 2018 finals on one leg ... he now has midfield support and has decided to play more of a defensive mid role ... he will adapt again when the team needs it ... one of the first to sign on long term from the A grade cohort and set the example 

Edited January 25, 20223 yr by Demons1858

So many bellends told me we should trade viney 😂

8 hours ago, picket fence said:

I have been thinking quite a bit of late about a piece of information I conveyed in my last training report. I posted that IMV The best 3 trainers on the ground were Clarry, Sparrow and Jack Viney.

Over the holiday period I have been watching all the finals and quite a few home and away matches ( of which I have the full set) and have come to a number of conclusions about Jack Viney  and although I have been critical of his game in some instances in the past, I now believe he is a much better player than he ever was! A few pionts

1 The style of play the trademark see ball get ball remains

2 As the season progressed I saw new levels of team 1 % increasing like blocking, shepherding, and a more emphatic buy in of team first ethos. Now I'm not suggesting for one minute that these were lacking but I saw a more refined Viney part of the machine mantra and this has made him a much better player

3 In critical games he was instrumental in allowing Clarry and Trac space and time to do their thing and because he was so brutal in his approach that no-one or anything was going to stand in his way and this is a Viney trademark.

4 His finals series was selfless as it was" Briiliant" with his take no prisoners approach and his ball use and more importantly his decision making was stellar. He now gives of much more efficiently to almost first option than ever.

5 I also noticed his team mates get around him at regular intervals and vice-versa, hence a genuine rapport and empathy is evident. 

6 He remains an excellent V.C to Max and leader in his own right. I think he is more suited to V.C than Capt because maybe just maybe he doesnt feel the onus to have to do it all himself.

So after analysing and watching and looking for the obvious and not so obvious I concur that Jack Viney is a vital cog in our quest for Back to back Premierships and that his improvement as a player is well evident! 😁

Agree absolutely PF. Has changed his  game  now gives first upturn off doesn't take on opponents in a show of strength.His  close in work is brilliant and his disposal is now good/very good.

I had thought he may get a spot in the Top 20 as I can't recall  WJ including him in the 100 so far. Please correct me because JV is a big occasion player and he is now in his sweet spot at Melbourne.

What about JV mark2.0  Tom Sparrow !!

 

Viney is a very good player and leader at the MFC and will be forever in history as an important premiership player.

Consistently the best finals player across 2018 and 2021 campaigns.

Oliver and Petracca contributed to Viney's rise and became better players themselves because of it.

They no longer all go for the same ball. See ball get ball was damaging for us when we had too many doing it.

Since Yze came we seem to operate much more methodically.

Didn't Goody say that Jack was his favourite player in an interview with Gus pre GF?

Agree with much of the sentiment here. Was BOG against the sCATs, in everything it seemed and followed it up for the big show with a committed performance. Jack has that seemingly rare elusive old fashioned characteristic as a footballer he plays for the guernsey.

Edited January 26, 20223 yr by Tarax Club
Australia Day You beaut!

Yeah, I feel like I have to post on this thread. I have been guilty in the past of thinking of JV as to one dimensional and of driving some of the behaviours that I thought were holding us back. Ball hunting, trying to take everyone on with brute strength rather than look for a block to get someone clear.

 This final series was a different Viney, he played a much more complete role, breaking the oppositions stoppage structures and either freeing trac or clarrie for the extraction or doing it himself.

I’ve never posted in criticism of him, that’s not really my style but I apologise for some of the things that I was thinking. Thank God I’m not in charge of list management!

A fit JV is one of our three top bulls, the three of them work so hard for each other, what great role models they are for our younger brigade and they all acknowledge that Harmsey, ANB, Langdon, Gus, Sparrow & JJ make it possible for them to shine. JV has become a great leader and selfless team player. Todd would be mighty proud of his boy.!!!

We have two of the best leaders going around, Gawn and JV. Both lead buy example, it has taken awhile for this group too mature and Jack was guilty of trying too lead and carry em on his back whilst maturing himself. Goody made the rite decision giving the captaincy too Gawn, and releasing Jack of that burden, and since has become the leader he is onfield, a much more team orientated player. Gawny is the leader of enjoyment outta this game that seems too get lost by the pros, easy to say when winning I suppose, but hey, I’m sure enjoying it.

11 hours ago, 58er said:

Agree absolutely PF. Has changed his  game  now gives first upturn off doesn't take on opponents in a show of strength.His  close in work is brilliant and his disposal is now good/very good.

I had thought he may get a spot in the Top 20 as I can't recall  WJ including him in the 100 so far. Please correct me because JV is a big occasion player and he is now in his sweet spot at Melbourne.

What about JV mark2.0  Tom Sparrow !!

 

Yes. Sparrow is becoming the brute that we have always had in JV, and IMO his disposal skills are way ahead of what JV’s were at this stage of his growth. A joy to watch

2 hours ago, Wrecker46 said:

Oliver and Petracca contributed to Viney's rise and became better players themselves because of it.

They no longer all go for the same ball. See ball get ball was damaging for us when we had too many doing it.

Since Yze came we seem to operate much more methodically.

I agree that Yze’s influence may be much underestimated and under appreciated 

Really pleased you started this thread, Pickett.

Viney had a fantastic finals series and great back half of the year.  Like others, I reckon he's improved his game and he's not trying to do too much.  He's playing more within his limitations and the beneficiaries have most certainly been the dynamic duo.

Gawn, Oliver, Petracca and Viney is as good as it gets in the centre square.

12 clearances in the GF is the second most ever in a grand final and his family mut be thrilled that he played so well in a drought breaking premiership.

Jack may not be the most polished footballer, and has copped stick here for it, but was made to win finals. He's a better version of Brett Kirk who couldn't kick, mark or hand pass but was a vital ingredient of two premierships.

I'm old enough to remember the physical belting the MFC received from Essendon in our previous GF appearance 

That particular day we were simply not capable of tacking up the physical challenge and hurting the opposition

If you watch the opening minute of the GF again it is Jack who sets the standard immediately in terms of uncompromising bone crunching tackling - we didn't look back after that