Still think Maj will get the nod in Rd 1 barring a catastrophe this week – particularly with Wood still out and Preuss a way off running out a game. If they’re intending on playing the first 6-8 games with an eye on a finals spot they will want to be banking on Daw coming good. Just my opinion.
Yeah, was thinking the same.
I watched him a bit against GWS and noticed that while he remains hit and miss around the ball, he is now fit enough to play a full game, and understands our structures and systems and understands where he needs to be on the ground. Even if that means guarding grass so that the opposition can't make an easy transition to the weak side.
Plus even if he does misjudge the flight of the ball, he makes defenders accountable - as a defender you can't just assume the ball will go over Maj's head too often and sag off him, cos with his prodigious leap he might just pluck it out of the air. You have to body check him, which means the defender's not going to be able to take easy marks on him. And Maj is so strong that unless he is completely out of position (whether self inflicted or a shit kick) he's generally going to give a good marking contest and bring the ball to ground. We'd all love 4 or 5 contested marks and a couple of goals, but if he's at least achieving this and giving LT, Hrovat, Turner etc a chance at ground level then he's adding something.
Preuss, whom I've loved through pre-season, clearly isn't fit enough yet to handle what will happen when the heat goes up a notch in round one. He'll blow up and be a liability rather than an asset. And yeah, I'd love to have Wood in and play a Wood/Waite/Brown forward line with Goldy rucking solo. That would be great, but alas.
So I'd be thinking that at the very least, even if he doesn't get many possessions or kick many goals, at least Maj would give a good contest, give Goldy a decent chop out in the ruck and stick to systems and structures, which is probably enough to make him of value. If he goes on and does something, even better.