Player Watch Jeremy Finlayson

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His first 6 games were poor to say the least, & I know that many of us were questioning Port getting him. But as soon we heard his back story, and the challenges him & his partner have faced ... just huge, so fully understandable. As Kel's situation has improved, you can see the shackles being released from him. We know that GWS were supportive of him going, but gutted to lose him ... Hopefully he maximises his potential here.
 
Full credit to Jeremy, hasn’t been a superstar but to do what he has done this year with everything going on in his personal life is outstanding.

I wasn’t real excited when we recruited him but absolutely has won me over.

I know if I were in the same situation I wouldn’t be able to continue and compete the way he has. Well done Jeremy,

Surely favourite for the Fos Williams medal/coaches award
 

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JimmyBC said:
I would rather see him playing as a permanent forward
Click to expand...
Monkey's paw curls

Out: Georgiades
In: Severely underdone Scott Lycett
 
Better value than Ladhams.

Not as good a ruck, but his follow up winning clearances and his agility around the ground is better. Like Ladhams did, he gives us an extra midfielder. His field kicking is better than Ladhams. Still too shakey set shot shooting on goal.

The key is not to do what we did with Jacko in 2016-17 and grind him week after week against the monsters.
 
RussellEbertHandball said:
Better value than Ladhams.

Not as good a ruck, but his follow up winning clearances and his agility around the ground is better. Like Ladhams did, he gives us an extra midfielder. His field kicking is better than Ladhams. Still too shakey set shot shooting on goal.

The key is not to do what we did with Jacko in 2016-17 and grind him week after week against the monsters.
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Plus he scores much higher than Ladhams on the "Good Bloke" barometer.
 

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I notice when he’s rucking and the ball hits the ground, he’s fighting like another mid and can burst away.

But when he’s forward in a contested marking situation and the ball hits the ground, he looks too sluggish to go for a second effort.
 
He's certainly had a good season but it is blatantly apparent that against decent rucks, the combo of Finlayson and Dixon simply doesn't cut it. I am interested to see how the team lines up against Melbourne because if they decide to bring back Lycett into the ruck, they'll either play 4 talls in the forward line or they may end up dropping one of Georgiades or Finlayson to maintain their current balance.
 
I was as hard on him early as any, but he has been really really good the past 6+ weeks. When he was been touted as a fwd ruck, it was a bit of a joke as he had never played in the ruck before, so I guess it is unsurprising he barely got a hitout in his first few games. He has improved markedly in nearly every facet of the game and has a elite leadup kick. Well done to him.
 
PrisonBars4life said:
I was as hard on him early as any, but he has been really really good the past 6+ weeks. When he was been touted as a fwd ruck, it was a bit of a joke as he had never played in the ruck before, so I guess it is unsurprising he barely got a hitout in his first few games. He has improved markedly in nearly every facet of the game and has a elite leadup kick. Well done to him.
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He did participate in 356 ruck contests from 2019 to 2021 GWS (by comparison Dixon 458). This season Finlayson has had 338 already . Possible reasons for his early patchy form have been documented earlier, but I solidly agree with everything else.

His work around the ground generally has been really very good, his field kicking solid. He averages just over a goal a game, 14 disposals , 0.6 assists and over 2 clearances. Not bad for a future third-round pick.

I do wish he would get involved in more contested marking contests though as he has the build for it and seems to have a good eye. Fortunately Marshall has come on in leaps and bounds in that area.
 
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davo999 said:
Another good ish game , I’m starting to think he’s almost a fair swap for Ladhams which is roughly what we did
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Except that one moment he fluffed a mark when he was concerned about what was coming at him. The commentators mentioned it as well. I think BT put it politely say something like take the mark first then brace yourself, not the other way around.
 
www.afl.com.au

Power move: Port tall's remarkable rise to AFL's No.1 ruck

The decision to swing Jeremy Finlayson into the ruck has proved an unlikely winner for the Power
www.afl.com.au www.afl.com.au

Some choice excerpts:
"Champion Data notes that, despite frequently losing the hitout count, the Power's effective clearance percentage has surged from No.6 in the League through the season's first 12 matches (79 per cent) to No.1 since Finlayson moved into the ruck (79.8 per cent)."

An improvement of 0.8%! No wonder we've surged into finals contention!

"Since its bye, and coinciding with a period where Port Adelaide won five of six games, Finlayson has remarkably been the No.1 ranked ruckman in the competition according to Champion Data's AFL Player Ratings."

Hmmm, 5 of 6 since the bye you say? Not 3 from 8? Oh, of course, they got confused when we went 5 from 6, before the bye, playing Sam Hayes as ruckman.

It's almost as if the true reflection of having a proper structure is in the performance of the team, and not the performance of one player that, ultimately, doesn't contribute to us winning games...
 
No one can question Jez's courage or commitment to the team. He's banging up against guys up to 10cm taller and 15kg heavier than him every week and finding ways to be as effective as he can against them.

He shouldn't be rucking, it will break him but his hunting of the ball and one grab ground ball skills have caught my eye this year.

He would be a terrific tall on-baller.
 
Sleezy said:
www.afl.com.au

Power move: Port tall's remarkable rise to AFL's No.1 ruck

The decision to swing Jeremy Finlayson into the ruck has proved an unlikely winner for the Power
www.afl.com.au www.afl.com.au

Some choice excerpts:
......
Click to expand...
"Champion Data notes that, despite frequently losing the hitout count, the Power's effective clearance percentage has surged from No.6 in the League through the season's first 12 matches (79 per cent) to No.1 since Finlayson moved into the ruck (79.8 per cent).

The club's first possession win-rate has also risen from No.11 in the competition at round 12 (44.9 per cent) to No.2 since Finlayson moved into the ruck (47.6 per cent), while its clearance differential has gone from No.8 (+1.2 per game) to No.3 in the League (+4.2 per game) after the former Giant shifted positions.

To top it off, Port Adelaide has gone from being a middle of the road team at scoring from stoppage (its -1.4 points per game differential ranked No.11 at round 12) to being among the best in this particular statistic (its +6.1 differential after Finlayson moved into the ruck is now ranked No.5 in the AFL)."

This is such a skewering of the truth, its not funny! So as a "middle of the road team" we win 5 of 6 games with Hayes in the Ruck, then Finlayson is made first ruck, we improve dramatically .... and we lose 5 of the next 7.

Now that is what I call polishing a turd!

So what went wrong? Where did we fall down if this was such a successful move?

We all know the answer - That is everyone except our coaches! - The entire team dynamic was then off kilter. What seemed an improvement, actually disrupted the team more than assist.
 
Finlayson going into the ruck and playing as an extra mid whilst giving a chopout to our main ruckman for spurts in a quarter can be a really dangerous weapon for us moving forward. Good to know we have the option there when we are in need of a clearance.
 
Ford Fairlane said:
No one can question Jez's courage or commitment to the team. He's banging up against guys up to 10cm taller and 15kg heavier than him every week and finding ways to be as effective as he can against them.

He shouldn't be rucking, it will break him but his hunting of the ball and one grab ground ball skills have caught my eye this year.

He would be a terrific tall on-baller.
Click to expand...

Yeah he's been a highlight of the season for me. Controlled aggression. We've been missing that for a long time.
 
Our long history of shoving square pegs into round holes will have him adapting to a 1:1-KPD/part time ruck role from day 1 of preseason and any difficulty adjusting next season will be put down to "because the move was forced by injury and form" rather than by, ah, the 2022 trade period and, um, not acting on an obvious list management situation. Good luck to him I say. A 1-1 KPD role may just be less body destroying for him than rucking around the ground.

Thoughts for those who have watched him more closely? Most thought he wasn't physical enough to ruck and even questioned that aspect of his whole game but he's at least been as competent at it as you could expect I think? Smart enough, tall enough and just strong enough to compete and importantly quick enough?
 

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Player Watch Jeremy Finlayson

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