I've found the best way to think about it is that he is a defensive forward, he's not really there to kick bags but to make a contest, bring it to ground and apply pressure, something that our forwards last year weren't really doing.
As bad as it is for us as a team if we don't appeal again, and hopefully get JvR off then the AFL has just set a ridiculous new precedent that will alter the way the game is played, scary stuff.