Traded #17: Jake Melksham - Traded to Melbourne for pick 25

[Whispering_Jack]

Starting to look better, but for * sake attack the ******* ball. There was a few contests where it looked like he was hoping the ball would end up in his hands instead of going hard at the footy.

 

[matty lloyd the champ]

Wasn't flashy but won most of his contests and did a fair few one percenters. Solid game.

 

[Kakkle]

12 disposals in the VFL on the weekend.


What a star.

 

[daffo]

That's four times as good as Howlett. I would like Howlett and Melksham to both play against the Swans.

 

[BrunoV]

12 disposals in the VFL on the weekend.


What a star.

It looked worse than it reads. Struggled to win the ball in close and then did not do any of the running required to find it on the outside. This is the risk involved in dropping some players. There is no way he can get picked on form but he's probably going to give more than 2 player currently in the seniors and it may be by necessity that he gets a recall.

 

[Howard Moon]

He's too good for the twos, he may have flaws but we are a better side with him in it. Even tho we lost he was a reassuring presence in the front half when the bsll seemed to be pinging straight bsck out most of the times it went in.

 

[eth-dog]

Copping flak for his first half (rightly so) but he stood up in the 2nd half. Also, ban him from kicking for goal unless he's under pressure.

 

[Ben the Gooner]

I just don't understand.

 

[NAB777]

Interesting to hear that Bomber has 5 players that he is nailing this year. Ryder is one who responded, Jake is one where it hasnt worked.

 

[Ben the Gooner]

Interesting to hear that Bomber has 5 players that he is nailing this year. Ryder is one who responded, Jake is one where it hasnt worked.

Where'd you hear that?

 

[Zach Package]

I give him a bit of credit fordiversifying his game a bit though. Has shown he can be effective as a shut down defender, and I actually rate him as a forward as well, knows where the goals are.

Still definitely needs to pull the finger out though. Missing set shots like that kills us

 

[Lord Nicholson]

Brain transplant or GTFO.

 

[NAB777]

Where'd you hear that?

Matty Lloyd mentioned it a couple of weeks back.

Not everyone responds to the stick - Jake might need a bit of carrot.

 

[rines]

Matty Lloyd mentioned it a couple of weeks back.

Not everyone responds to the stick - Jake might need a bit of carrot.

Yeah.. I got flamed for mentioning that he has been using the 'stick' with Carlisle too.. and that didn't work at all..

Modern kids don't really respond to the 'stick'... I would imagine some of the younger AFL blokes would fit in this category too.. they come from the praise overload/self esteem generation..

Having said that.. Melksham has been gifted that many games it is now beyond laughing. Very bad first half, slightly redeemed himself in the third and the 4th quarter he was one of the best 5 players for us.

My two biggest complaints:
Disposal efficiency - not just skill wise (which isn't great) but also DECISION MAKING too.. chooses the 'wrong' option far too often
Going to ground at EVERY contest.. marking/loose ball.. whatever.. he ends up sprawled on the groun 95% of the time.. which holds up the ball and slows our movement far too often.

 

[Doss]

I thought his dropping was harsh in the first place- he had a very solid game against Collingwood.

Can't have helped his confidence.

 

[Pweter]

When I watch the 4th quarter efforts of Melksham, that is when the frustration really comes to the fore. He has what it takes, just that we don't see it often enough. Funnily enough, when we see his best he is playing on instinct.

Is it that Melksham has the talent but like Jetta, he is getting left behind by the 100% mental application required to play the game in the current era? You can no longer get by on talent and instinct alone?

 

[BrunoV]

I liked the look of Melksham forward.

If he gets the ball 70 from goal something happens. He is quite good overhead too.

Maybe we just leave him in the forward half for the rest of the season.

I wonder whether is all comes back to endurance. I think that maybe he just doesn't have the tank to hunt the footy as a midfielder.

 

[Ben the Gooner]

I wonder whether is all comes back to endurance. I think that maybe he just doesn't have the tank to hunt the footy as a midfielder.

Which is perhaps more concerning as a 5th year injury-free player.

 

[Kong]

I'd like the club to fully transform him into a counter-attacking tagger, like Kane Cornes or Cameron Ling.

He's got the ability to run with players and keep them reasonably quiet, and he has the tools to hurt sides in patches.

Let him really hook into the opposition's best player every week, and make it his priority to keep them quiet, but hurt them where possible.

We'll be keeping his 10-15 damaging possessions whilst forcing him to be around the ball for the whole game.

It'd also allow us to bring in an additional midfielder like Kavanagh.

 

[Doss]

I've not minded him at all as a tagger, either.

Did a good job on Swan a few weeks ago, who was admittedly out of sorts but still.

 

[matty lloyd the champ]

I'd like the club to fully transform him into a counter-attacking tagger, like Kane Cornes or Cameron Ling.

He's got the ability to run with players and keep them reasonably quiet, and he has the tools to hurt sides in patches.

Let him really hook into the opposition's best player every week, and make it his priority to keep them quiet, but hurt them where possible.

We'll be keeping his 10-15 damaging possessions whilst forcing him to be around the ball for the whole game.

It'd also allow us to bring in an additional midfielder like Kavanagh.

Can we afford to play both Hocking and Melksham in defensive roles?

Hocking by his own merits isn't quite good enough to be an offensive midfielder in my mind. Doesn't find enough of the pill away from stoppages.

 

[Kong]

Can we afford to play both Hocking and Melksham in defensive roles?

Hocking by his own merits isn't quite good enough to be an offensive midfielder in my mind. Doesn't find enough of the pill away from stoppages.

A lot of sides play two defensive midfielders, so that they can run with Dangerfield/Thompson, Judd/Murphy, Pendlebury/Swan etc.

Long term I'd be phasing Hocking out, but the beauty of him as a player (and something that most others should be looking to replicate) is his blocking work at stoppages. He's the 1%er king.

 

[Zach Package]

defensive forward IMO.

We've tried to get Kommzy to do it, but he just doesn't hurt sides at all either on the scoreboard or with the ball, and Merrett has done it in bits (but is more value getting up and back off a wing imo).

Melksham is actually very competent overhead and would be one of our better 1v1 footballers.

He looks so much better when he's given a job to focus on, and i think that job should be taking the opposition's 'quarterback' types, because they'll actually have to respect him, unlike Kommer or Merrett

 

[Doss]

A lot of sides play two defensive midfielders, so that they can run with Dangerfield/Thompson, Judd/Murphy, Pendlebury/Swan etc.

Long term I'd be phasing Hocking out, but the beauty of him as a player (and something that most others should be looking to replicate) is his blocking work at stoppages. He's the 1%er king.

Very dangerous around the fifty too, is Hocking. He's one guy I'm very happy to get the ball on the run about fifty out.

 

[eth-dog]

I think he'd be a very good forward tagger. If he'd played on Malceski 2 weeks ago...