Welcome Welcome to Hawthorn, Changkuoth Jiath - 2017 category B rookie

[Strapping Young Lad]

 

[HedgeFund]

Really hoping it all comes together for CJ this year. So much potential. Just needs a clean run without injuries and to demonstrate consistency of impact. Is one of those rare game winners at his best.

That’s a pretty big call. He’s only played in 13 wins in the past 5 years.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Could well lead to our defensive rebound becoming more reliable/attacking, whilst helping Weddle become much more dangerous.

Maybe. Personally I'd prefer if we just use him as an attacking weapon and not potentially limit him by forcing him to defend an opponent.

 

[kirbatron]

sky's the limit here.. if mitch gets this magnet right lookout

 

[The Spirit of Cricket]

Maybe. Personally I'd prefer if we just use him as an attacking weapon and not potentially limit him by forcing him to defend an opponent.

all Amon's stats went up when he played that position last season though. being super accountable as a floating HBF isn't really a thing in the modern game. Naicos, Sheezel, Short etc. aren't often inhibited by needing to defend. i'd argue moving him to HBF is actually unleashing his attacking weapons more as he can get the ball more often and set up rebounds with his run and good disposal

in fact, i think this move will prove so effective he's a must-start in your fantasy team

edit: worth noting his inside 50s count didn't change much so we won't lose that element of his game either

 

[Tony3163]

all Amon's stats went up when he played that position last season though. being super accountable as a floating HBF isn't really a thing in the modern game. Naicos, Sheezel, Short etc. aren't often inhibited by needing to defend. i'd argue moving him to HBF is actually unleashing his attacking weapons more as he can get the ball more often and set up rebounds with his run and good disposal

in fact, i think this move will prove so effective he's a must-start in your fantasy team

edit: worth noting his inside 50s count didn't change much so we won't lose that element of his game either
View attachment 1898559

People are very stubborn about Amon at half back.

 

[Brant]

Maybe. Personally I'd prefer if we just use him as an attacking weapon and not potentially limit him by forcing him to defend an opponent.

Post #1,179 nails it for me. Far better than I can respond on a Sunday afternoon

 

[burger09]

Big year for CJ.
Hopefully he can stay fit.
Is he best 22? Another unknown. Can he find a niche on the wing?
Less defending (Not his strenghth).
Is his ball use good enough? Has Weddle taken his spot?
Hopefully we can play both and make it work.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Great insight into the work they did with him to understand his body and the biomechanics of his movement.

Hopefully he gets to play out the year with new found confidence in his body.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

I still see CJ as a half back flanker personally.

I don't think his decision making with the ball is consistently good enough to be a winger.

And one of his main strengths is that he is very good overhead for his size which is a skill better utilised across half back than the wing.

Hopefully he can get his body right this year, as I heard an ex coach say once "a players most important capability is their availability".

 

[rei154]

Big year for CJ.
Hopefully he can stay fit.
Is he best 22? Another unknown. Can he find a niche on the wing?
Less defending (Not his strenghth).
Is his ball use good enough? Has Weddle taken his spot?
Hopefully we can play both and make it work.

I'm fairly confident our next finals side is going to rely on both Weddle and Cj.
If Cj comes back having improved/grown since his last appearance we are going to be laughing.

 

[cryptor]

Maybe. Personally I'd prefer if we just use him as an attacking weapon and not potentially limit him by forcing him to defend an opponent.

Every player on the field is accountable to defend when the opposition have the ball though. That's bare minimum.

And likewise an opposition forward will be accountable to defend him when we have it. Which is where I think Sam sees the value of having these creative players with elite running power at half back. A lot of forwards aren't that defensively minded so I'm expecting to see our half backs able to create that overlap run as a free man surging forward.

Which is probably why we're seeing Hardwick up forward now. A senior player who knows how to play forward but also brings an elite defenders mindset to a group of players who will need to be responsible for quelling the opposition's rebound of their own half back line.

 

[cs61]

all Amon's stats went up when he played that position last season though. being super accountable as a floating HBF isn't really a thing in the modern game. Naicos, Sheezel, Short etc. aren't often inhibited by needing to defend. i'd argue moving him to HBF is actually unleashing his attacking weapons more as he can get the ball more often and set up rebounds with his run and good disposal

in fact, i think this move will prove so effective he's a must-start in your fantasy team

edit: worth noting his inside 50s count didn't change much so we won't lose that element of his game either
View attachment 1898559

Also I didn't even realise he had moved to the half back line until Simpson said it in the post season defender writeup, he just seemed to be roaming around getting the footy and setting up play as usual. But as you've shown with stats, I noticed he was playing a bit better but thought that was him gelling with team mates, didn't know it was a positional switch.

 

[TylerDurden]

I've got CJ and Ward as starting wings for the Dons game.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Every player on the field is accountable to defend when the opposition have the ball though. That's bare minimum.

And likewise an opposition forward will be accountable to defend him when we have it. Which is where I think Sam sees the value of having these creative players with elite running power at half back. A lot of forwards aren't that defensively minded so I'm expecting to see our half backs able to create that overlap run as a free man surging forward.

Which is probably why we're seeing Hardwick up forward now. A senior player who knows how to play forward but also brings an elite defenders mindset to a group of players who will need to be responsible for quelling the opposition's rebound of their own half back line.

Yes, I think we are all aware that every player is accountable for their opponent to varying degrees. But if you're playing in the backline your primary role is to defend, which isn't the case as a wingman.

Opposition coaches will target Amon, especially if he's got a licence to free-wheel (which I hope is the case). It will be up to our guys to mitigate the risks and defend as a team.

 

[cryptor]

Yes, I think we are all aware that every player is accountable for their opponent to varying degrees. But if you're playing in the backline your primary role is to defend, which isn't the case as a wingman.

Opposition coaches will target Amon, especially if he's got a licence to free-wheel (which I hope is the case). It will be up to our guys to mitigate the risks and defend as a team.

I’m not sure what you mean by primary role here. Backline players are only playing defensive roles when we don’t have the ball ourselves.

As soon as we’ve (hopefully) prevented a goal in D50 our last line of defense turns into the first line of attack. And that’s where Amon’s true value is.

Is he going to be the weak link back there when defending? Perhaps. But I think he’s probably a lot better defensively than any of us give him credit for. And certainly no worse than other outside types who’ve played this role for their own clubs.

 

[tommyk72]

From memory Amon is one of the rare players to have 10, or close to 10, tackles in a game. Not bad for a guy not defensively minded…

 

[toomanysquibs]

Is he going to be the weak link back there when defending? Perhaps. But I think he’s probably a lot better defensively than any of us give him credit for. And certainly no worse than other outside types who’ve played this role for their own clubs.

This is a great point. He absolutely showed that he can pull of big defensive plays down back, and then be a weapon on the way back out in the back end of last year.

And speaking to the point that defense quickly becomes attack, he's exactly the kind of player who can find separation from his opponent the moment we get the ball, and not miss a beat. He can become a reliable outlet when we break through the middle like he was as a winger, and then gets to use his biggest weapon on the outside anyway (kicking).

When our back 6 is on and supported by the team defensively, it's going to be a hell of a show with Sic, Scrimshaw and Amon kicking the ball, Weddle or Seamus taking off, then CJ either starting or pushing back there to launch as well.

 

[MrPremiership]

Has one of the highest ceilings of our younger players

Can genuinely be AA. Just needs to get the body right

 

[Roddy]

Has one of the highest ceilings of our younger players

Can genuinely be AA. Just needs to get the body right

If he's going to play across half back, he needs to tighten up his defensive work, if he's going to play wing, he needs to learn link-up/running patterns.

 

[Sturty]

 

[Argy]

Qatar is a weird place. Built from oil money on a desert peninsular. Totally artificial yet weirdly exotic. I can only guess that the array of sport's science talent assembled their is because the emir of Qatar has a quirky love of sport.

When I was there over a decade ago they were preparing for the World cup. The emir's second wife loved horses so they were also building an arena the size of Marvel Stadium with hundreds of stables for equestrian events. Totally air conditioned and a TV in every horse stall (for the horses, not the stable hands)!!

 

[Bugs1977]

Qatar is a weird place. Built from oil money on a desert peninsular. Totally artificial yet weirdly exotic. I can only guess that the array of sport's science talent assembled their is because the emir of Qatar has a quirky love of sport.

When I was there over a decade ago they were preparing for the World cup. The emir's second wife loved horses so they were also building an arena the size of Marvel Stadium with hundreds of stables for equestrian events. Totally air conditioned and a TV in every horse stall (for the horses, not the stable hands)!!

Yep there's rich and then there's oil rich

 

[KermitJagger]

Yep there's rich and then there's oil rich

Oil rich is so much more frivolous than normal rich, because you don't need to be innovative to keep the money coming in you just need oil. It's as close as any industry gets to the frivolity of government spending.

 

[burner1]

Will CJ have learned enough about playing wing to play round 1? Wing requires a lot of discipline re structures and quick thinking to get into right positions - not areas of historical strengths of CJ. He also hasn’t played a heap of footy the last two seasons (only 22 games).

He might do some flashy things going forward but risk a good/smart opposition wing would carve him up the other way. At same time wing is a hard role at BH - often gets bypassed on smaller grounds.

 

[KermitJagger]

Will CJ have learned enough about playing wing to play round 1? Wing requires a lot of discipline re structures and quick thinking to get into right positions - not areas of historical strengths of CJ. He also hasn’t played a heap of footy the last two seasons (only 22 games).

He might do some flashy things going forward but risk a good/smart opposition wing would carve him up the other way. At same time wing is a hard role at BH - often gets bypassed on smaller grounds.

Can't say the wing is at all more defensively accountable than the roles he's already played. The best quality a winger can have is the ability to run, run and run. There aren't too many people in the league who will be able to get enough space against him to really make him pay and unlike being in defence the mistakes aren't going to be immediately as damaging.