The value of Jordan Russell

[paulyb_gopies]

http://www.upstart.net.au/2013/05/01/upside-round-five-collingwood/ - was having a read of this piece, and it mentioned some positives about Jordan Russell. He had a horrible game against Essendon, there's no sugarcoating that, but like it or not, I reckon we need him in the side presently.

Much of Harry performances on the wing can be attributed to Russell taking the half-back role, and now with tooves down and maxy still out, russell becomes even more important. I love Ben Johnson and still believe he's in our best side, but he isn't tall enough to take players like Darling and Crameri that Tooves can and until we get maxy back, Russell potentially can take those types.

We badly miss Beamer at the moment, and Krakouer simply has to come in for Sinclair. But I wouldn't be dropping Rusty just yet.

 

[Rusty22]

Really needs to pull his finger out, we know he can play(2nd bnf at carlton).
Id give him another few weeks if not then piss him off, its unfair on johno, a man who bleeds black n white, he tries he's hardest week in week out, premiership player, Collingwood for life.
Johno is better than him, russel needs to pull his finger out.
p.s Don't call him Rusty, that's Steeles Nickname.

 

[Quicky]

http://www.upstart.net.au/2013/05/01/upside-round-five-collingwood/ - was having a read of this piece, and it mentioned some positives about Jordan Russell. He had a horrible game against Essendon, there's no sugarcoating that, but like it or not, I reckon we need him in the side presently.

Much of Harry performances on the wing can be attributed to Russell taking the half-back role, and now with tooves down and maxy still out, russell becomes even more important. I love Ben Johnson and still believe he's in our best side, but he isn't tall enough to take players like Darling and Crameri that Tooves can and until we get maxy back, Russell potentially can take those types.

We badly miss Beamer at the moment, and Krakouer simply has to come in for Sinclair. But I wouldn't be dropping Rusty just yet.

He's been alright without being great bar the Essendon game. I would never contemplate him as a match up for the Crameri or Darling types though. He would get mauled. Maxwell, Goldsack and Macaffer I would have ahead of him on a third tall type. I'd give Russell the second or third small forward and try and free him up to utilise his penetrating kick off the back half. It's more in keeping with his defensive ability and plays to his strengths.

 

[paulyb_gopies]

As I explained, I reckon Johnno is a different player, but certainly someone I want in our best side. Amongst my friends, Sidebottom is 'Sidey' 'Sidebum' or 'Sideass' and Russell is 'rusty', just a force of habit mate.

 

[aflife]

He might come good. With Tooves out he should stay in. Was pathetic against Essendon though.

 

[slashin_velvet]

He's a confidence player, and you snapped him up for nix. If you've got a better option, then play him in the twos. Otherwise put him in your squad....and back him in to play well.

 

[Captivating]

He can start playing like a footballer that's played 120 games of AFL football.

 

[3066]

He's a confidence player, and you snapped him up for nix. If you've got a better option, then play him in the twos. Otherwise put him in your squad....and back him in to play well.

He probably needs to see his hi-light reel as a reminder of what he used to be able to do when he was flying.

 

[jimmy35]

I think he can be a good player for us as well but for ****s sake don't play him on Darling or Crameri, he'll get slaughtered.

 

[blaze036]

He is a depth player.. has had a poor 2013 but we have no one to replace him with at the moment.

 

[rand corp]

Depth only for mine. I'd like him to have a solid month of VFL to see if he can dominate and get some confidence back. Sick of seeing him get his pants dropped in one-on-ones at crucial, high pressure moments in games.

 

[Collingwoodity]

My views on Russell are known in the other thread. All I say is that equal and fair time should be afforded to all of our players.

His mistakes are in the back half which usually directly translate to goals, conversely sinclair has been no better as a forward since his introduction into our team and his mistakes are not as noticeable given that he is in the forward half.

 

[3066]

Much prefer Russell than Buckley (ex-Melb) who we had on the books for years.

 

[Old Spice]

I hate this term confidence player and if he is that, he's of no value to us at all.

You can't build a team around flakey personalities who get spooked or only play well when things go right for them. You need hard men who wont drop their head when they're beaten, but determine to make amends. He showed that in the 2nd half against Carlton, so here's hoping.

The Toovey injury will give him a solid run at it.

 

[mattys123]

I'm actually a little surprised from what I've seen of Jordan so far this year, and if you take out the second half other of the Bombers game (where his opponent beat him and he made a few errors) he's been one of our most reliable defenders so far this year.

And that's what surprises me, a lot of Carlton fans used to whinge about him not being hard enough or having a strong defensive side to his game yet from what he's shown in his 5 games for us his best position in our team is as a medium defender who provides a little bit of run and ball movement.

His best game was probably against the Hawks when he kept Puopolo, a dangerous player, to just 10 possessions and 1 shot at goal, and that was in a team that was beaten badly.

In an ideal world he's probably not in our best 22 but with Toovey out for the year and Maxwell also out for a few weeks, Russell plays until we either find a better replacement (Oxley, Williams?) or he plays a few stinkers in a row.

 

[vjknight]

His best game was probably against the Hawks when he kept Puopolo, a dangerous player, to just 10 possessions and 1 shot at goal, and that was in a team that was beaten badly.

that however is a typical puapoopoo performance

 

[millsy29gopies]

Much prefer Russell than Buckley (ex-Melb) who we had on the books for years.

Agreed.

Russell obviously has the ability, he just needs more confidence. We should persist with him considering Toovs absence as there are no better options.

 

[Axl the great]

Never payed much attention to him at Carlton, but did he always play like he has concrete is his boots? Has the turning circle of a mack truck!
Would probably benifit from being the loose man in defense or maybe we would be better off putting Harry back and moving Russell to a wing?

 

[Cory]

I'm actually a little surprised from what I've seen of Jordan so far this year, and if you take out the second half other of the Bombers game (where his opponent beat him and he made a few errors) he's been one of our most reliable defenders so far this year.

And that's what surprises me, a lot of Carlton fans used to whinge about him not being hard enough or having a strong defensive side to his game yet from what he's shown in his 5 games for us his best position in our team is as a medium defender who provides a little bit of run and ball movement.

His best game was probably against the Hawks when he kept Puopolo, a dangerous player, to just 10 possessions and 1 shot at goal, and that was in a team that was beaten badly.

In an ideal world he's probably not in our best 22 but with Toovey out for the year and Maxwell also out for a few weeks, Russell plays until we either find a better replacement (Oxley, Williams?) or he plays a few stinkers in a row.

This.

 

[Travis bloke]

To me it seems russell has all the atributes but seems lost or doesnt understand our game plan and is always unsure of what to do.

 

[forwardflanker]

I'm actually a little surprised from what I've seen of Jordan so far this year, and if you take out the second half other of the Bombers game (where his opponent beat him and he made a few errors) he's been one of our most reliable defenders so far this year.

And that's what surprises me, a lot of Carlton fans used to whinge about him not being hard enough or having a strong defensive side to his game yet from what he's shown in his 5 games for us his best position in our team is as a medium defender who provides a little bit of run and ball movement.

His best game was probably against the Hawks when he kept Puopolo, a dangerous player, to just 10 possessions and 1 shot at goal, and that was in a team that was beaten badly.

In an ideal world he's probably not in our best 22 but with Toovey out for the year and Maxwell also out for a few weeks, Russell plays until we either find a better replacement (Oxley, Williams?) or he plays a few stinkers in a row.

I'm not questioning his hardness at the ball but in the first 5 games he has proven that he is an ordinary defender imo, even worse than O'Brien was. One of the reasons we moved O'Brien up field this year is because in 2012 he was to much of a liability down back, yet in 2013 we have replaced him with someone who is arguably worse defensively and doesn't provide as much rebound.

It's a pity really because it negates all the decent work Russell has done as a running defender. But atm the 2-3 shocking defensive mistakes he makes a game is not worth it. It really is difficult to understand, he is a good runner and big body, he just seems to get himself into some horrible situations that is really starting to cost us.

 

[mattys123]

I'm not questioning his hardness at the ball but in the first 5 games he has proven that he is an ordinary defender imo, even worse than O'Brien was. One of the reasons we moved O'Brien up field this year is because in 2012 he was to much of a liability down back, yet in 2013 we have replaced him with someone who is arguably worse defensively and doesn't provide as much rebound.

It's a pity really because it negates all the decent work Russell has done as a running defender. But atm the 2-3 shocking defensive mistakes he makes a game is not worth it. It really is difficult to understand, he is a good runner and big body, he just seems to get himself into some horrible situations that is really starting to cost us.

You see, this is where we miss Nick Maxwell, and are going to miss Tooves also, they were two of the reliable ones down back, the leaders who would protect players like O'Brien, Shaw, Johnson and now Russell when they did make a mistake. I mention Shaw and Johnson because they too are prone to a few errors a game coming out of the backline (usually kicking errors) but when we've had our strong back six together, led by Maxy we've been able to withstand any mistakes the other defenders made.

I'd like to see how Russell plays when he has Maxy around him but like most I fear that by the time Maxwell returns from injury JR may not be in the side any more due to those errors.

 

[forwardflanker]

You see, this is where we miss Nick Maxwell, and are going to miss Tooves also, they were two of the reliable ones down back, the leaders who would protect players like O'Brien, Shaw, Johnson and now Russell when they did make a mistake. I mention Shaw and Johnson because they too are prone to a few errors a game coming out of the backline (usually kicking errors) but when we've had our strong back six together, led by Maxy we've been able to withstand any mistakes the other defenders made.

I'd like to see how Russell plays when he has Maxy around him but like most I fear that by the time Maxwell returns from injury JR may not be in the side any more due to those errors.

+1

I can forgive the occasional kicking errors, its the fact that he is getting completely owned 1v1 regularly that is the huge issue. The problems exacerbated by the fact that with such a hard forward press our defenders do have to play 1v1 a lot. ATM the ball is getting out of that press way to easily against the good sides and when it does we are a very easy side to score against.

I haven't written Russell off completely but if he get games it will be as literally the 20/21st guy picked because we just cannot trust him in a critical position. atm though I think both Goldsack or Benny Johnson are better options as defenders.

 

[DaVe86]

I've actually been a little dissapointed with Russell.

All my Carlton mates told me that he would make huge mistakes and we will be using him as a scapegoat within a month.

I said in response that at his best, Russell was one of their more reliable defenders and he got over his poor decision making from his earlier years. I said that Russell's form is purely because Carlton lost faith in him and didn't give him a decent go.


However, what I'm seeing in Russell is a guy totally devoid of confidence. He looks nervous when the ball comes his way and he is one on one with an opponent. He has good skills, but doesn't demand the ball enough.

He has a habbit of getting lost in transition, or going up as a third man and not killing the contest, and his opponent stays down and gets the crumb.


All in all, I would say Russell has been solid 90% of the time. The problem is that his mistakes are devestating and directly cost goals. This then shatters his confidence and he can go through periods where everything he touches becomes a turnover.

On the other hand, I think he has been solid for us generall. I can see the potential there. With confidence, he will not only play a good defensive role, but becoming an attacking weapon. I think he is also more courageous when he has a bit of confidence. I haven't seen him shirk contests, but at the moment he has had a few weak efforts.

I'm willing to stick with him, but I don't think he is top 22. The club just needs to give him a lot of love and try to build back his confidence. He hasn't played much footy in the last few years, so it will take him a while to re-adjust to the pace.

 

[Darty]

Jordan Russell needs to pull his act together.
I recommend that bucks gives him a run up forward?
Kind of like what he is going to do with macaffer.

Macaffer has very big shoes to fill.

~ El Darto