AFL Player #23: Harrison Jones - God-tier Hands

[Lore]

Contract Status: Out of contract 2024
My Boy Draft 2024: Pick 22, Duckworth

 

[Ambrosia]

Needs to be in the VFL and building confidence. Waste of time in the AFL at the moment.

Am also worried long term that he’s useless in the contest unless he’s coming third man in

 

[doug85]

Aside from the issues everyone else has noted, I don’t think he has an AFL body.

Just looks physically weak and got alligator rolled in some tackles. Not good enough for someone drafted 5 years ago.

 

[Blind Turn]

I thought he had a fantastic array of skills for a tall early on. But the one thing I didn’t factor in to his negatives (other than the obvious body development needed) was his lack of presence in the air. It is a weakness in our team as a whole but Harry is the biggest offender considering his height, athleticism, and the fact that he marks the ball with excellent reach. You just want him to impose himself on the contest and hold the ball in his opponent’s face afterwards to say, ‘I own you mofo!’ If he can’t find that in himself he might be better off at Sydney where they might find it for him

 

[Lore]

I thought he had a fantastic array of skills for a tall early on. But the one thing I didn’t factor in to his negatives (other than the obvious body development needed) was his lack of presence in the air. It is a weakness in our team as a whole but Harry is the biggest offender considering his height, athleticism, and the fact that he marks the ball with excellent reach. You just want him to impose himself on the contest and hold the ball in his opponent’s face afterwards to say, ‘I own you mofo!’ If he can’t find that in himself he might be better off at Sydney where they might find it for him

It's really strange. Used to lead and jump at everything, the whole lot, and kick it straight once he had it too.

A highlights reel is a tiny fraction of everything he did that year, let alone since, but you can see he had the tricks.



Guessing foot problems might've messed up his endurance running, his leap and perhaps his kicking if he was not able to practice to maintain it, but it doesn't explain noodle arms or lack of marking, unless he was banned from doing upper body work until his spine and feet could handle the extra load? Still should have a ball in his hand 24/7 though.

 

[katana]

It's really strange. Used to lead and jump at everything, the whole lot, and kick it straight once he had it too.

A highlights reel is a tiny fraction of everything he did that year, let alone since, but you can see he had the tricks.



Guessing foot problems might've messed up his endurance running, his leap and perhaps his kicking if he was not able to practice to maintain it, but it doesn't explain noodle arms or lack of marking, unless he was banned from doing upper body work until his spine and feet could handle the extra load? Still should have a ball in his hand 24/7 though.

his endurance running i think is fine. he's just 0 confidence. i still think he might work it out. would give him a couple weeks, wait til caddy sets the vfl alight, see what happens.

 

[jdBombers3598]

Dropped after 1 subpar game, good to see we're not persisting this time. Give him a spell in the 2's to build up some confidence

 

[windyhill]

He can’t be surprised. Lucky he’s missing the swan game.

 

[Zach Package]

Reckon this is a really, really bad call to drop him, purely because he does wonders for the spacing.

It would be a bloody miracle if a forward line of Draper, Wright, Langford, Stringer, Menzie and Caldwell is any good, like a genuine miracle.

I have concerns around the fact that I don’t really see avenues for Jones to find easy ball on the lead and build his confidence to stop him from constantly pushing s**t up a hill but I regard him as almost undroppable because of the amount of legwork he does in opening up holes for others, I don’t think anyone on the list can do that work.

 

[Blind Turn]

Reckon this is a really, really bad call to drop him, purely because he does wonders for the spacing.

It would be a bloody miracle if a forward line of Draper, Wright, Langford, Stringer, Menzie and Caldwell is any good, like a genuine miracle.

I have concerns around the fact that I don’t really see avenues for Jones to find easy ball on the lead and build his confidence to stop him from constantly pushing s**t up a hill but I regard him as almost undroppable because of the amount of legwork he does in opening up holes for others, I don’t think anyone on the list can do that work.

I think that the SCG is not a bad venue to leave him out for. Draper stays deep for the most part and Wright can lead up to make space and will still be in range from the centre square region. Langford plays a lead up role as well within the forward 50. Our issue isn’t the tall options it’s the small players having an impact up forward. The talls need to have a presence and Draper will offer a lot more of that.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

Dropped after 1 subpar game, good to see we're not persisting this time. Give him a spell in the 2's to build up some confidence

1 subpar game? don't know about that.

Jones hasn't done anything for a long time - had a good first year, but nothing of note since, yeah hes had some injuries, but he just not give enough.

You simply cannot make the argument Jones has not been given his chance prior to being omitted.

I am sick and tired of this club feeding games to those not deserving of it, we have done it for ages and it builds s**t culture. Either perform or gtfo of the team and sort it in the 2's.

 

[Zach Package]

I think that the SCG is not a bad venue to leave him out for. Draper stays deep for the most part and Wright can lead up to make space and will still be in range from the centre square region. Langford plays a lead up role as well within the forward 50. Our issue isn’t the tall options it’s the small players having an impact up forward. The talls need to have a presence and Draper will offer a lot more of that.

I would still be staggered if this mix is anywhere near as good as last week’s mix which included Jones. Suspect we will get a lot of multiple players fighting for the same ball.

I can understand them wanting to get Draper into the side but I think we are in for a world of hurt.

 

[Call Me Cake]

Just needs to knuckle down and do something in the 2's. It's really that simple.

 

[JT_the_Man]

Dropping him was the easiest decision we’ve had to make in a long time tbh.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

Needs to be in the VFL and building confidence. Waste of time in the AFL at the moment.

Am also worried long term that he’s useless in the contest unless he’s coming third man in

I'll say it until people's ears bleed. This isn't just about getting confidence in the 2's, he is just way too skinny to compete in the role we put him in. He is 5kgs heavier than Merrett ffs - who is 7 inches smaller!

Jones has no way near enough muscle on his body to contest in pack marks. He is moved far too easily off the ball.

yes his endurance running is a great skill, but if he can't take a contested mark, he is useless to us. He gets himself into position often enough, but he is just bullied off the ball.

6'5 and 88 kg's is just not what we need. Mark Bilcavs is 6'6 and 100kg for comparison. And he'll run anyone off their legs.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

Just needs to knuckle down and do something in the 2's. It's really that simple.

this is far from just a confidence issue.

 

[Call Me Cake]

this is far from just a confidence issue.

No, but he needs to learn the basics and how to dominate in a league that allows him more leeway in doing it than trying to do it where players already know what they're doing and doing it well.

 

[cAsEy_18]

I would still be staggered if this mix is anywhere near as good as last week’s mix which included Jones. Suspect we will get a lot of multiple players fighting for the same ball.

I can understand them wanting to get Draper into the side but I think we are in for a world of hurt.

Yeah 100% agree. I've been preaching this point for a little while.

We need to change our mindset from "Player X is better than Player Y overall, so let's bring in Player X for Player Y." Draper is a better player than Jones, sure. But we need to be thinking a lot more about the 'mix' overall, and what Jones is actually meant to be good at is something we desperately need.

It's the old saying of the game is played on the field, not on paper.

And sure, it's absolutely a fair case that Jones isn't providing us enough offensively to be worth selecting (eg: Dropping marks he should hold etc...) But be it backline, midfield, forward line, we really need to be better at thinking of the 'mix' of players we're putting together, not just putting the best players we think out there.

I suspect it probably won't matter this week, Sydney should be too good for us either way.

 

[cAsEy_18]

I'll say it until people's ears bleed. This isn't just about getting confidence in the 2's, he is just way too skinny to compete in the role we put him in. He is 5kgs heavier than Merrett ffs - who is 7 inches smaller!

Jones has no way near enough muscle on his body to contest in pack marks. He is moved far too easily off the ball.

yes his endurance running is a great skill, but if he can't take a contested mark, he is useless to us. He gets himself into position often enough, but he is just bullied off the ball.

6'5 and 88 kg's is just not what we need. Mark Bilcavs is 6'6 and 100kg for comparison. And he'll run anyone off their legs.

Blicavs is also the most one-of-a-kind athlete the AFL has possibly seen in 20 years.

 

[joey_jo_jo]

I thought he had a fantastic array of skills for a tall early on. But the one thing I didn’t factor in to his negatives (other than the obvious body development needed) was his lack of presence in the air. It is a weakness in our team as a whole but Harry is the biggest offender considering his height, athleticism, and the fact that he marks the ball with excellent reach. You just want him to impose himself on the contest and hold the ball in his opponent’s face afterwards to say, ‘I own you mofo!’ If he can’t find that in himself he might be better off at Sydney where they might find it for him

compare him to mitch owens who is a third year player. that guy throws his body at every contest kamikaze style. Need Harry to take a leaf out of his book when in an aerial contest.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

Blicavs is also the most one-of-a-kind athlete the AFL has possibly seen in 20 years.

split the difference then but a 12kg difference between the two is absurd. Even if jones put on another 6kg it would make a world of difference for him.

a 6'5 weighing 88kg's playing the role we ask jones too is just not going to make it sorry. he could have all the confidence in the world, but if he's going to get pushed off the ball as easy as he does than its all for nothing.

 

[jdBombers3598]

1 subpar game? don't know about that.

Jones hasn't done anything for a long time - had a good first year, but nothing of note since, yeah hes had some injuries, but he just not give enough.

You simply cannot make the argument Jones has not been given his chance prior to being omitted.

I am sick and tired of this club feeding games to those not deserving of it, we have done it for ages and it builds s**t culture. Either perform or gtfo of the team and sort it in the 2's.

I meant this year

 

[Duckworth]

This is not just about putting on some weight. He was getting more of the ball in his early years. I would have given him another week, although Sydney is a small ground, and maybe they don't have the space for the extra tall forward.

Hopefully he works hard in the 2s and works his way back in.

 

[dank420_]

Jack Reiwoldt is the guy he should be trying to emulate. Jack wasn't the biggest forward going around by any measure.

But what a massive set of balls.

Harry needs bigger balls.

 

[Blind Turn]

Yeah 100% agree. I've been preaching this point for a little while.

We need to change our mindset from "Player X is better than Player Y overall, so let's bring in Player X for Player Y." Draper is a better player than Jones, sure. But we need to be thinking a lot more about the 'mix' overall, and what Jones is actually meant to be good at is something we desperately need.

It's the old saying of the game is played on the field, not on paper.

And sure, it's absolutely a fair case that Jones isn't providing us enough offensively to be worth selecting (eg: Dropping marks he should hold etc...) But be it backline, midfield, forward line, we really need to be better at thinking of the 'mix' of players we're putting together, not just putting the best players we think out there.

I suspect it probably won't matter this week, Sydney should be too good for us either way.

SCG is an outlier for what you’re preaching. Even if Jones was in form and smashed it last week I reckon he’d still have been unsuited to lining up at the scg with Wright, Langford and Stringer. You’re better off having a big presence sitting deep and I’d prefer Draper there and Wright pushing up to make space. The ball bypasses CHF a lot up there and I could see him getting a bit lost in the transition.

 

[Blind Turn]

I would still be staggered if this mix is anywhere near as good as last week’s mix which included Jones. Suspect we will get a lot of multiple players fighting for the same ball.

I can understand them wanting to get Draper into the side but I think we are in for a world of hurt.

I agree with you. We’re in for a world of hurt. Good thing Jones isn’t going to suffer further erosion of confidence then