Welcome to Demonland: Aidan Johnson

[Farmer 877]

7 hours ago, Bingo said:

Not sure why all the negativity??

Personally, i love this pick. We absolutely need a competitor in the forward half of the ground (in addition to JVR). This is exactly the reason we persevered with Petty this season when form was nowhere to be seen, and the same reason why Fullarton and Schache were not selected. Playing key forward is more than being tall, you need to want contact, and AJ looks to have that, is physically developed and is plug and play. This also allows Petty to go back if necessary and judging on training reports, is on the cards. 

We've also lost key position depth as mentioned with Brown, Schache and Tomlinson in addition to McDonald and May nearing the end. Not to mention the swing and miss at Derkson.

Exactly. He might well end up a key defender . At #70 or whatever we’ve picked up a bloke who kicked 53 goals at Laverton and then played a whole year at Werribee as CHF, and they won the flag. I think it’s a great selection 

[Sir Why You Little 37,033]

4 hours ago, Doug Reemer said:

Yes he looks like Ray!!!!😡

[Davos 906]

 

Good chat.

Seemingly a down to earth fella - going to be easy to cheer for. 

[DemonWA 3,933]

I like the look of this bloke tbh. 

[DeeSpencer 25,678]

15 minutes ago, Davos said:

 

Good chat.

Seemingly a down to earth fella - going to be easy to cheer for. 

Was he saying he did a couple of preseason sessions at Casey or Shaun Mannagh did? I think he was saying he did and then decided to finish his apprenticeship. Certainly one for the JT files if they nearly had him at Casey a few years ago.

Edit: JT draft wrap confirms they had him in line to come down to Casey a few years ago.

Edited 10 hours ago by DeeSpencer

[dino rover 714]

10 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

https://www.facebook.com/werribeefc/videos/1078586600584157/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

I don’t see particularly “tough” I see a fwd who has a defensive aspect 

perhaps we lack fwd pressure and presence and AJ brings that

sheesh having a shaved head and coming from the country isn’t instant tough guy cred for mine 

low bar

backing into packs head over the ball that’s tougher 

[Davos 906]

1 minute ago, DeeSpencer said:

Was he saying he did a couple of preseason sessions at Casey or Shaun Mannagh did? I think he was saying he did and then decided to finish his apprenticeship. Certainly one for the JT files if they nearly had him at Casey a few years ago.

 

He trained with Casey for a bit during preseason a couple of years ago - JT mentions it in his recently published interview as well. Assume he then went to Werribee to play with their Albury contingent, after he'd completed his apprenticeship. 

JT mentioned that the club have been monitoring him for years, going back to when he was playing for Lavington.

[BAMF 4,349]

20 minutes ago, DemonWA said:

I like the look of this bloke tbh. 

Me too. Speaks well. Has worked hard to get the opportunity. Seems humble.

24 years old puts him the same age as Sparrow and the 2018 draft class.

[Davos 906]

12 minutes ago, dino rover said:

I don’t see particularly “tough” I see a fwd who has a defensive aspect 

perhaps we lack fwd pressure and presence and AJ brings that

sheesh having a shaved head and coming from the country isn’t instant tough guy cred for mine 

low bar

backing into packs head over the ball that’s tougher 

Yeah, nah. He's tough. 

Do yourself a favour and watch the VFL GF replay. He got the better of the Southport ruck, who is considered to be one of the VFL's toughest, on multiple occasions despite being two inches shorter. He also set the tone up forward - his "toughness" was a major contributing factor to their win. 

Also worth noting that the Werribee small forwards feasted all year (not just in the GF) on the back of his competitveness in the air. He's rarely out-marked. 

[dino rover 714]

Out marking is useful but not tough

i love that he could be an enforcer type 

fritch aint and the rest of the fwds aren’t scary enough at all

Sadly in the modern game if someone bangs their head in a tackle - 3 weeks 

 

[dazzledavey36 54,861]

 

[DeeSpencer 25,678]

These are the highlights of probably his best 3 vfl games. He does a good job or presenting and jumping at the footy. 

[gs77 4,223]

2 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

 

... and then Goody knocked on his front door! 

[Supreme_Demon 3,834]

Can't wait to see him take on Collingwood and Brayden Maynard!

Will be the battle of the MCG!

[John Demonic 5,789]

We've got the biggest Johnson

 

[monoccular 17,424]

23 hours ago, DeeZee said:

We were caught out last year with back ups for Max ,now we have two mature age Ruck forwards just in case we need them.

Good selection.

and we still have Fullerton 😮

10 hours ago, beelzebub said:

Been pondering  over this.

It's  a double sided coin I feel.

On one side...  well it does call into question how some are travelling and they're re-evaluation ( possibly 🤔  ) 

The flip side is... is it not comforting in a fashion that they are  and steps to remedy the imbalances are taken ? 

If some are not for the big game or likely to more time than first thought then I applaud the f.d. for taking reality on and making adjustments. 

Be more concerned  if they didn't.