Player Watch #17: James Stewart - Groin injury, not running yet. couple of weeks once he starts running - 23/4

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Structurally I think he makes a huge difference to our side, enabling Hooker to play up the ground or Daniher to chop out in the ruck without compromising our attack will be great to have moving forward
 

Bunk Moreland

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Three tall structure looks good but don't understand how we still find ourselves kicking long to green or tipper one out so often.
Neither Daniher nor Stewart spend a lot of time inside F50... when we go that quick kick forward they're often not there.

Which is good, it's to their strength, JD especially.
 

srobbo

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Really liked his energy & thought he picked up the early tempo well. Is a beautiful kick of the ball too. Obviously tired, but that's expected. Gives us a new look up forward & allows Hooksy to loop down back if needed.
 

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Killer_Mike

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Something that I love about having both Joe and James in the team is the ability to spread the defence and open up the forward 50.

In the NBA 3 pointers are king due to how it can spread the defence and allows easy buckets at the paint. It means that point guards always have to be harassing the guy taking the shot from three which allows space behind for another player to run into.

With both Joe and Stewart above average from around the 50-60 meter mark a defender is always going to have to be on their hammer allowing space behind for hooker or the smalls to operate in.

It is going to give us plenty of opportunities for one on ones and all of Hooker, Walla and Fantasia are excellent in those types of contests!
 

Andronicus

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Nope.

Our forward line is now ******* lethal.

Hooker plays deep forward and they need a monster KP to counter him.

Daniher and Stewart both roam up and down the ground doing whatever the **** they want because teams can't match them due to having to deal with Hooker in the goal square.

Put Fantasia and Walla in the mix and it is a nightmare for defenders.

Imagine if we get someone better than Green to fill that sixth spot.

Seriouslly, if we can hit the draft hard for some midfielders we are a contender with that forwardline.
Agree with most of what you said, but harsh on green.

He has shown signs of being a great pick up, and is doing what is required. Keep in mind he is new to the team and will take a bit of time to adjust to the way his talls are playing, I don't think he is an issue going forward.
 
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Not sure if its been mentioned but i love what it does for the team structure having him in the side. When Daniher goes into the rucks it still means we have two keys forward targets
 

Killer_Mike

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I personally believe that he's still got lots of room for improvement.

He's very mobile for a big guy and that's his main trick at this point, but I have seen him also show some ability as a deep forward. Couple more years of building up his strength and we are going to have a very flexible forward that will be very difficult to match up on!
 

citizen-erased

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I personally believe that he's still got lots of room for improvement.

He's very mobile for a big guy and that's his main trick at this point, but I have seen him also show some ability as a deep forward. Couple more years of building up his strength and we are going to have a very flexible forward that will be very difficult to match up on!
3 straight too.
Hands are strong, kicks straight and is good below his knees.
 

Killer_Mike

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3 straight too.
Hands are strong, kicks straight and is good below his knees.
Yep.

I've watched him quite a bit at VFL level and I had no doubts about his ability to step up because of his style football he plays and his kicking is first class.

It's only early but I think he's a very good prospect.
 

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Great for our set up.
We can't always be the one trick pony for goals out the back.
We need to mix it up & have players leading at the guy with the ball.
That is why this bloke is so important to us - early on he was both on the lead as well as delivering to the bloke on the lead.
Great start!
 

BrunoV

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This! He could be a seriously tricky matchup as the 3rd tall. I don't think he has the strength to compete with a legit KPD as a second tall, but he could seriously cause headaches as the 3rd tall.

I'd say it's his ability to "clunk" a contested mark that is the issue rather than strength. He holds his position well in a wrestle and would be much stronger than Daniher, for example, and probably not that far behind Hooker who is an animal (JS is meant to be a bit of a freak in the gym).

No doubting that his strength is his movement and in that regard he is certainly a third tall at this stage.

There were a few negatives on Sat night which stemmed from a failure to launch at the ball in the air but that's fine. He's played two AFL games since August 2015.

I don't think he quite played as well as has been suggested in the last few pages here but he more than played his role, took his chances and provided a leading/marking target to free up the other key forwards.

As the forward group settles, and the mids start tolook for him, I expect Stewart to find a lot more of the ball and to regularly get high possession counts hitting up at the ball at half forward/centre wing which creates that void for players to work up or back into.

With the right match up he will mall a third tall defender in 50 and I'd have no hesitation isolating him deep forward if the opportunity arises.

His style of play will be important against West Coast who eat long balls into their defensive zone for breakfast.

We have to separate Barass and McGovern who can' run by hitting leading targets. I'd make a point of having shots outside 50 to try to drag their zone up the ground.
 
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Great for our set up.
We can't always be the one trick pony for goals out the back.
We need to mix it up & have players leading at the guy with the ball.
That is why this bloke is so important to us - early on he was both on the lead as well as delivering to the bloke on the lead.
Great start!
Would nice if a few of our mids like Parish,Merret,Heppel can hit the scoreboard more.
 
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