Dr Tigris
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Player Watch #5 Jack Ross- Re-Signed until 2026
- Thread starter Michaels
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Jeez this must have been a shithouse game. Sonsie & Ross having 28 Score Involvements between them. Reminds me of McGrath & Gillespie put on 114 together
yeah, because Essendon were utter trash at this point. Was the final game of the season, the wheels had fallen completely off (losing to PA by 15 goals the week before) & was ultimately Rutten's last game as coach & the final game of 2022.
The reason Sonsie & Ross looked like stars that night was because the team was still loaded with elite talent and we were playing against a totally broken team that was clearly about to sack their coach/not renew his contract. The performance needs to be taken with a grain of salt & history showed, that is 100% accurate. Sonsie the following year only had 1/2 that amount of SI's for the entire season. We might as well look back at Dean Polo & Marty McGraths first games and wonder "what happened?"
And the following week when he had 23 disposals and was the leading goal/scoring assist player in the game against Brisbane in the final. Or last season when he had 26 disposals off the wing against Port, 24 against Saints before he got injured.yeah, because Essendon were utter trash at this point. Was the final game of the season, the wheels had fallen completely off (losing to PA by 15 goals the week before) & was ultimately Rutten's last game as coach & the final game of 2022.
The reason Sonsie & Ross looked like stars that night was because the team was still loaded with elite talent and we were playing against a totally broken team that was clearly about to sack their coach/not renew his contract. The performance needs to be taken with a grain of salt & history showed, that is 100% accurate. Sonsie the following year only had 1/2 that amount of SI's for the entire season. We might as well look back at Dean Polo & Marty McGraths first games and wonder "what happened?"
The following year 2023, playing wing Ross played 18 games with 7 of those over 20 possessions. Good numbers for a winger and he uses the ball far better than MacIntosh (fwllow wingman) has ever done, who has had over 20 possessions 18 times in his 10 years at the club.
Personally i dont think there is a role for him as a contested mid. Smillie, Lalor have to be played and developed at the level Taranto, Hopper Prestia are simply in front of him and better players and i think McAuliffe has better attributes for the role and needs to be played as well. If injuries occur then yes he can fill in.
I agree his best has been pretty darn good but he does not play at his best often enough and the gap between good and bad remains to big.
As a wing well there is a good case that he is currently in the best two wingers at the club. I'm not sure that is saying a hell of a lot though. McIntosh Pickett and HRS have hardly set the world on fire in recent years but the latter is improving.
For me i think there are others who have better traits for the role but don't yet have the runs on the board.
My preference for the wing spots are Banks, Campbell, HRS and even Smith if we do not play him across hb.
For me he is borderline best 22 but gets a game because of the lack of proven outside mids and the lack of experience with so many on the list with fewer than 50 games.
Personally i think his ability to play inside okay and outside okay along with his age experince gets him a go on the bench or as sub.
He was been put everywhere but in his natural position. No problem with that in the early days with Martin, Cotchin, Prestia, Edwards in front of him, but now there is an opportunity to see how he performs.
I think he has the ability to go past Hopper on exposed form. If Hopper suddenly reverses his form and plays great then good on him, but Ross has earned the right to duke it our for a spot in the middle, before Lalor and Smillie who will get their turn at some stage. Who knows what will happen to Prestia injury wise. I think Ross and McAuliffe have first dibs. Ross plays well at half forward as well, so he and Taranto could rotate through there. I think Ross has real quality and we need to see if it he has a level or two to go to determine his ranking.
I don't think our midfield is in dire straits if it stays injury free. Taranto and Prestia are very good players. Hopper should be better. Ross and McAuliffe are strong and not slow, so there is no reason why we will get beat up around the ball. The spread is another matter, but how many first year players have come in and have that repeated sprint ability in their first season, to be those players that we need on the spread, not many.
Absolutely should be playing in the mids.
Sub in the Opening round last year was a joke and we were far better off when he came on the ground.
Has shown great composure with ball in hand unlike TT/ Hopper, can kick a goal and even skill-wise, the smaller sample size we got last year - he looked vastly improved.
Debut game against Port was solid and really should have played the remainder of 2019 and the GF (unlucky with injury and selection).
Probably the player I’m most excited to see this year who should be ready and raring to go.
Sub in the Opening round last year was a joke and we were far better off when he came on the ground.
Has shown great composure with ball in hand unlike TT/ Hopper, can kick a goal and even skill-wise, the smaller sample size we got last year - he looked vastly improved.
Debut game against Port was solid and really should have played the remainder of 2019 and the GF (unlucky with injury and selection).
Probably the player I’m most excited to see this year who should be ready and raring to go.
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When Ross was given a go in the midfield we actually looked a better side. He had surprisingly good chemistry with Tarranto and even Prestia when put in there. Was also able to get the ball out and had that psudo-Sam Mitchell movement in a phone box. If given a proper season to go in there, I think he can show some good moves. He showed it in 19 when he played and was almost made a premiership player if not for the hype around Pickett.
Ross when fit as done everything asked of him and made the most of his opportunities.I imagine this will continue into 2025.
Ross is the last of Richmond problems the next 2 years
Kid wants it and works hard for it and the club has done him no Favours moving him around all over the place
Should be either given consistent time as a mid or given the wing role to make his own
Kid wants it and works hard for it and the club has done him no Favours moving him around all over the place
Should be either given consistent time as a mid or given the wing role to make his own
I dont agree that he has just been put everywhere. He has played wing because quite clearly there has been others and continue to be others who are in front of him in the pecking order for a contested role.
Lets be real here apart from the odd game here or there he has got nowhere near Hoppers level.
Call it what you want but simply put he has not been good enough to warrant an inside role and in the scheme of things this continues to be the case. Thats not to say he has not played SOME decent footy he has.
There is nothing special about Ross no outstanding attribute to set him apart and im hoping Lalor Smillie and Hotton are much more than just okay.
We are playing Smillie and Lalor picks 1 and 7 and we would be mad not to. Please give me one attribute that stands out that Ross has that would keep Smillie and Lalor out of the team. Then there is the case to play Hotton when he is fit a totally different type of mid.
If the expectation is low finishes for the next few years then playing these kids is a no brainer. We NEED to get games into them as quickly as we can.
Imo Getting these three has had the desired effect it has us asking questions about okay players like Ross.
Hopper Prestia and Taranto are better contested players so we disagree on that.
McAuliffe has a lot to prove but based on attributes for the role he has assets Ross can only dream of. Fitting McAuliffe into the team in the role is hard enough yet alone Ross. Ross unlike McAuliffe has some runs on the board so there is a case for playing him in front of McAuliffe. My trouble with that is i think Kane projects forward a bit more than just okay.
The other problem with so many contested players is pace and Ross does not really help us in this.
He is not slow but he is not quick, like just about everything about him his pace is okay.
I suppose it all comes down to two things.
where you rate players in the pecking order for the role and the attributes players have for the role.
Team balance is another thing to be considered. Picking 7 inside mids in the one team is more than likely not likely.
For me every game im picking Lalor, Smillie and McAuliffe as our young contested players and im backing them up with the better mature mids we have in Taranto, Hopper and Prestia. Im also playing the likes of Hotton in the team when he is eventually over his knee and fit enough. The only outlier to that is if the kids do struggle and need time in the vfl.
Then Ross will come into his own.
Next year it will probably get even tougher for average players like Ross to get games if he does not massively up the ante when we bring in, in all likelyhood two more mids with early picks.
At the end of next year we may even be starting to look at mature options as well.
This post is not a put down on Ross. Its just an opinion that says for where we are at, we continue to have better inside options even if some of those options are being judged on potential rather than performance due to age.
While i think Ross is a decent player im looking for much more.
Muddiemoose
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Same page as you mate
Ross gets some ball but it’s always on the outside he’s a little like a poor mans Josh Dunkley who’s possie numbers alone inflates peoples impression of him
He’s vanilla as they come and that’s not necessarily a bad thing either but as to him become a full time mid I just don’t see it plus he hasn’t really got any X factor or even any real upside as a player as he matures
The player we have now is essentially all he will ever be
Going forward I would say his best position based on what he produces and skill set is as a high half forward/ link player
He’s got a very nice long kick that net him goals from outside 50 and had no trouble getting his hands on the outside ball so it just makes sense to play him in that role
Turka
Club Legend
Really good player…I reckon we’ll see the best of him in ‘25…
The problem is Lalor will not be fit enough to spend much time in the middle, short stints yes. I would line Lalor up in the pocket and give him the Dusty role because he is a strong mark. Smillie will also take time to build the required fitness, so stints between AFL and VFL should be expected unless he does a Dusty and guns it from day 1. Our midfield if it stays fit will not be our achilles heel because it is seasoned and just lacks a bit of zip. Down the track yes Hotton will help, but until then we need both Ross and McAuliffe for a bit of ourside spread. Smillie will get games in that position as well. I would love to see Campbell going through there as well because I think he is gong to be a gun and is exactly what we need in there, fit, fast and classy.
Hopper and Taranto are better contested players, but Ross is far better on the outside because he uses it well. The other two don't, quite the opposite. Prestia has been a gun in all aspects, let's hope he finds that again. To say Hopper has been better than Ross is in my opinion not correct, he has been pretty average and I'm being kind. Of course injuries have been a fair excuse, but Ross was looking good in the middle before he was injured.
McAuliffe as you say we need to look at so he gets a gig.
The main point of difference with Ross is a this stage I think he is going to be a very good midfielder. He has been played everywhere. He was tried at half back after his first season, then half forward for a bit and then wing. He has played very few games in the middle, and those last year where he did were coming off a 16 week injury break. Very hard to judge on that form.
As I said, our midfield is not weak, so no need to rush players in. If half season players have not played to expectations, then by all means get games into player, but I am a bit more optimistic than that.
I find it hard to judge Ross because he has not played that midfield role enough to judge him fairly, but I agree with the half forward comment. None of our other mids besides Taranto can play that role, so it makes sense to have Ross and Taranto swap. Eventually Smillie, Hotton, Lalor could all play that role, but I don't think any will be as good as Ross come round 1, so let's play our strongest side and see what happens.
I do not necessarily see us with a monopoly on the spoon with a fully fit side. We have essentially lost only Bolton and Rioli from our best 22 (Martin really stuggled last season), so having Lynch back, a side not decimated by injury and the younger players having a year under their belts, who knows what will happen.
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