Player Watch Ash Johnson

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Johno9911 said:
I'd personally be letting Kreuger get another good month of footy out of his body in the VFL before looking at him at AFL level. Love the bloke and the way he competes, but he needs to get through a good solid block of games, even for his own sake to have faith that his body can hold up over a period of time.

IMO McStay coming back in will be massive for AJ and our other forwards. Yesterday our forwards were over worked by May, Lever and Tomlinson etc, McStay in that side makes one of them accountable and halves contests, which allows checkers and AJ to work over the second and third defenders. McStay also creates a consistent target and presence i50, which opens up space and leading channels for someone like an AJ who is a lead and mark forward type.
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I agree with you, but unfortunately for AJ, I think it will open those opportunities for Cox. I don't think we'll go in with two blokes playing a non combatative aerial forward role. And we need a second ruck.
 
unplugged said:
Looked like he was running with cement in his boots a couple of times yesterday. See how he comes out of the bye. But his spot is definitely under threat from both McStay and Kreuger.
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Or a haematoma in his thigh, perhaps?
 

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Wow, someone finally said the obvious. Thanks RS. Johnson copped a massive corky against West Coast the week before. Not surprised he struggled with his mobility yesterday. And he also copped an injury late in the Geelong final last year that impacted the rest of his final series.
AJ is definitely best 22 if we go deep in September. Massive talent and X factor.
I’m a huge fan.
Any key forward would have struggled yesterday with the way we kicked the ball inside f50.
 
I'm a big fan of Ash but wow yesterday was terrible.

I was really happy with how his intensity and forward pressure had been improving this season but that was all nonexistent yesterday.

Agree with the other posters who mentioned the pattern of him dropping a few easy marks early and then losing all confidence ... Whenever you hear players describe what they like about playing for McRae it's his positive reinforcement and philosophy about embracing and moving on from mistakes so hoepfully this can get through to Ash and he can learn to overcome a bad start.

He looked like he physically hadn't recovered from that corkie so hoping that was a big part of yesterday's performance and he stays in the side.

Looking forward to him, Mihocek and McStay all in the same team to see if it works.
 
I remember Jeremy Howe had a really bad corky a couple years ago and missed Six(?) or more weeks. Good time for the bye to rest a few sore bodies. Jamie Elliot has looked sore for several weeks.
 
unplugged said:
That's what I was going to suggest but I legit couldn't tell from that WCE incident where he actually copped a knock!
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Fly said there were a few from the WCE game who were brave to get up for this week, and I’d assume Ash was one of them. McCreery and WHE probably others.
 
The Royal Sampler said:
Or a haematoma in his thigh, perhaps?
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If you pull on the jumper and get on the ground, you are 'right to go'. Notwithstanding that, if he did have an issue from the corky that might explain the lack of pace, but it doesn't explain the (perceived) lack of effort. Effort is possibly more important than form. You should never leave anything in the tank in terms of effort, in my opinion.
 
Abdul_The_Bull said:
If you pull on the jumper and get on the ground, you are 'right to go'. Notwithstanding that, if he did have an issue from the corky that might explain the lack of pace, but it doesn't explain the (perceived) lack of effort. Effort is possibly more important than form. You should never leave anything in the tank in terms of effort, in my opinion.
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He had a howler, no question. But if someone’s noting that he ran like he had cement in his shoes, well, the injury seems relevant.
 
The Royal Sampler said:
He had a howler, no question. But if someone’s noting that he ran like he had cement in his shoes, well, the injury seems relevant.
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Maybe. And, if true, maybe that's on the selection committee. Also, if he was compromised then I'd expect a different gameplan with regards to AJ being a deep, stay at home forward and having all others lead out of the way to create space. That wasn't apparent and so I can only conclude that the usual structures were the order of the day.
All I'm saying is, you get no excuses if you're named, you pull on the jumper, and run out on to the ground.
 

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The Royal Sampler said:
He had a howler, no question. But if someone’s noting that he ran like he had cement in his shoes, well, the injury seems relevant.
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Exactly. And it's not like he normally looks slow necessarily.

I'd be willing to back him in to hold his spot. But at the same time, if he goes out I doubt it's solely based on yesterday. Someone is gonna have to make way for Kreuger and or McStay.
 
PIEWITHSAUCE said:
As much as I love what Aj brings , I agree. Even if he was specifically told not to exert himself outside of leading etc... to manage some sort of condition I still can't imagine too many AFL footballers with a competitive instict jogging along watching a guy a couple of metres away sprint away with the footy. If he can sort out that side of his game , the sky's the limit.
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Agree 100% there was also the one where somebody ran past him and he lazily threw an arm out and that was it.
Not good enough.
 
Not a liability but obviously vulnerable when Kreuger and/or McStay are deemed ready.
 

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Player Watch Ash Johnson

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