FTP
Debutant
- Mar 24, 2021
- 113
- 986
- AFL Club
- Melbourne
Hey Freo fans,
Fair to see Treacy is having quite the impact in his first year at the top level! At FTP - we did a piece on Josh and the unique qualities about him.
If you want to read the full article - https://footytalkingpoints.com.au/2021/07/23/ftp-18/
Please subscribe to our blog if you like this kind of analysis - we do it weekly!
Josh Treacy (#35) is not your prototypical key forward
Treacy displays rare attributes for someone of his stature. Sure, he does all the things you want from a young key forward. He leads hard up at the football and has great hands that allow him to mark the ball out in front at pace – away from would be spoiling defenders. If he knows he’s out of position, he’s willing to defend and fight to bring the ball to ground – a great habit to instill in a young key forward. And at 18, he already has a mature body (194 cm, 94 kg) to compete against the best key defenders in the AFL without getting out bodied.
But the thing that really draws us to Treacy is the other stuff. Stuff he really shouldn’t be doing at his size or age. He is incredibly clean below his knees – something you rarely see from a player at 194 cm.
He’s great at picking up these kinds of half volleys and has really quick hands. He isn’t afraid to rove packs either. How smart and clean is he here?
Another unique quality about Treacy is his forward pressure. When the ball hits the ground, he isn’t a liability (unlike many other of his other key position counterparts). He hunts the opposition and tackles with intent. He ranks 20[SUB]th[/SUB] in the AFL for Inside 50 tackles per game – the only other key sniffing the top 20 is Hawkins. His pressure reminds me of a lesser version of a young Jack Darling – where it seems like they chase and tackle to prove the point that they actually can. We can’t understate how valuable this makes Treacy. This is because as a key forward that genuinely provides forward pressure, Treacy gives Fremantle the added leverage of playing that extra tall (Lobb + Taberner when healthy) without losing much once the ball hits the ground. How many key forwards put this much effort in once its out of their vicinity?
It’s easy to see how Treacy has kept his spot in this Fremantle side with both Lobb and Darcy. He’s multi dimensional both in the air and in the ground. When Darcy went down on the weekend, we saw how well Treacy applied himself in that ruck role after a quiet start. Now with Darcy set to miss time, it’ll be interesting to see whether Fremantle elect for Lobb, Treacy or even Meek to play ruck.
The other unique thing about Treacy? His tank. He had ran the most kilometres on the ground against Geelong going into the last quarter at 11.9km. This provides great upside for him not only as a deep forward presence but as a player that can roam higher up the ground with his tank.
All of this is great – but there’s something worth flagging. A common circumstance that can occur with young players is that they provide this kind of pressure and effort because they’re constantly fighting for their spot. The risk with Treacy is that this kind of work rate and the defensive side of his game drops off once he establishes him within the Fremantle team. Admittedly, he already does the other key forward stuff well enough that he may already be a best 22 player right now. But the best players never lose this kind of discipline regardless of whether they actually need to do it or not. Steph Curry remains the best player in the NBA at moving without the ball even though it isn’t required given his on ball and shoot off the dribble talents. Now I’m not comparing Treacy to Curry in terms of stature in their sports and it’s probably the first and last time that you’ll ever hear those names written in the same sentence! Yet, the point still stands. It’s important to his impact on a game, his versatility and Fremantle’s rise up the ladder that he continues to do this kind of stuff.
Upon first looking at Treacy, the last thing that screams out to you about him is his versatility. But he has it in every sense of the word. The potential is endless.
Fair to see Treacy is having quite the impact in his first year at the top level! At FTP - we did a piece on Josh and the unique qualities about him.
If you want to read the full article - https://footytalkingpoints.com.au/2021/07/23/ftp-18/
Please subscribe to our blog if you like this kind of analysis - we do it weekly!
Josh Treacy (#35) is not your prototypical key forward
Treacy displays rare attributes for someone of his stature. Sure, he does all the things you want from a young key forward. He leads hard up at the football and has great hands that allow him to mark the ball out in front at pace – away from would be spoiling defenders. If he knows he’s out of position, he’s willing to defend and fight to bring the ball to ground – a great habit to instill in a young key forward. And at 18, he already has a mature body (194 cm, 94 kg) to compete against the best key defenders in the AFL without getting out bodied.
But the thing that really draws us to Treacy is the other stuff. Stuff he really shouldn’t be doing at his size or age. He is incredibly clean below his knees – something you rarely see from a player at 194 cm.
He’s great at picking up these kinds of half volleys and has really quick hands. He isn’t afraid to rove packs either. How smart and clean is he here?
Another unique quality about Treacy is his forward pressure. When the ball hits the ground, he isn’t a liability (unlike many other of his other key position counterparts). He hunts the opposition and tackles with intent. He ranks 20[SUB]th[/SUB] in the AFL for Inside 50 tackles per game – the only other key sniffing the top 20 is Hawkins. His pressure reminds me of a lesser version of a young Jack Darling – where it seems like they chase and tackle to prove the point that they actually can. We can’t understate how valuable this makes Treacy. This is because as a key forward that genuinely provides forward pressure, Treacy gives Fremantle the added leverage of playing that extra tall (Lobb + Taberner when healthy) without losing much once the ball hits the ground. How many key forwards put this much effort in once its out of their vicinity?
It’s easy to see how Treacy has kept his spot in this Fremantle side with both Lobb and Darcy. He’s multi dimensional both in the air and in the ground. When Darcy went down on the weekend, we saw how well Treacy applied himself in that ruck role after a quiet start. Now with Darcy set to miss time, it’ll be interesting to see whether Fremantle elect for Lobb, Treacy or even Meek to play ruck.
The other unique thing about Treacy? His tank. He had ran the most kilometres on the ground against Geelong going into the last quarter at 11.9km. This provides great upside for him not only as a deep forward presence but as a player that can roam higher up the ground with his tank.
All of this is great – but there’s something worth flagging. A common circumstance that can occur with young players is that they provide this kind of pressure and effort because they’re constantly fighting for their spot. The risk with Treacy is that this kind of work rate and the defensive side of his game drops off once he establishes him within the Fremantle team. Admittedly, he already does the other key forward stuff well enough that he may already be a best 22 player right now. But the best players never lose this kind of discipline regardless of whether they actually need to do it or not. Steph Curry remains the best player in the NBA at moving without the ball even though it isn’t required given his on ball and shoot off the dribble talents. Now I’m not comparing Treacy to Curry in terms of stature in their sports and it’s probably the first and last time that you’ll ever hear those names written in the same sentence! Yet, the point still stands. It’s important to his impact on a game, his versatility and Fremantle’s rise up the ladder that he continues to do this kind of stuff.
Upon first looking at Treacy, the last thing that screams out to you about him is his versatility. But he has it in every sense of the word. The potential is endless.
