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

Isaac Cumming No 1

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well i personally can't cause I made a post at the end of 2017 saying he needed to be a better set shot because his whole career has shown him to be an average converter to that point. it's not like his woes last season was abnormal for him. 2017 was the abnormal performance.

Year Team GL BH
2013 Greater Western Sydney 0 0
2014 Greater Western Sydney 3 4
2015 Greater Western Sydney 15 4
2016 Greater Western Sydney 0 1
2017 Essendon 22 16
2018 Essendon 15 13

2017 is indeed the one year that he was notably better than 50/50, but not impressively, and given his prior history it was pretty hopeful to think he had improved. of course he bounced right back last season. he may have seasons that are noticeably better than 50/50, and seasons where he is too far below 50/50, but on the whole, I see no reason not to think of him as a 50/50 chance, and this hasn't just happened.

I should probably try to find his NEAFL stats to see if they line up
Good luck with his NEAFL stats. Not all NEAFL games are even streamed. There's a stats guru Swans Supporter grimlock who posts them on our board usually for each game.

From what I saw in 2016 particulary from memory his ratio would be considerably better at that level. It was the pressure of AFL that seemed to get to him. To be fair though NEAFL is more like park footy compared to the VFL and he was a lot better in 2017 when I saw him at Spotless.
 

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BrunoV

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The perception here of Stewart's kicking comes from his first game mostly.

He slotted 3 but he was average the rest of the time. The stutter step is only ever going to end in shit and his kicking at goal then collapsed almost entirely.

I'm almost certain it's why he was dropped.
 

boncer34

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The perception here of Stewart's kicking comes from his first game mostly.

He slotted 3 but he was average the rest of the time. The stutter step is only ever going to end in shit and his kicking at goal then collapsed almost entirely.

I'm almost certain it's why he was dropped.
Tell Josh Kennedy the stutter step is only ever going to end in shit.

You can have the opinion it's not a great technique but let's not pretend it never works.
 

Liberator

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Has age on his side; perfect size and mobility for the modern demands of a forward, just needs to be a little more aggressive in his play and kick straighter.
Pretty much this for mine. Particularly the latter bit (kick straighter), because he has done so in the past, I expect that he will sort this out in the end. The aggression bit, being able to be #1 or #2 Monkey - I’m not sure about. He has always been more of a tall flanker, despite looking the part of a mobile KPF. Saying that, I think his contested marking has improved somewhat, and he is more developed and coming into his prime physically now so I reckon that JStew will come through at some point next year. We’ll probably need him too - can’t see McKernan, Brown, Daniher getting through unscathed through a whole season.
 

owen87

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Pretty much this for mine. Particularly the latter bit (kick straighter), because he has done so in the past, I expect that he will sort this out in the end. The aggression bit, being able to be #1 or #2 Monkey - I’m not sure about. He has always been more of a tall flanker, despite looking the part of a mobile KPF. Saying that, I think his contested marking has improved somewhat, and he is more developed and coming into his prime physically now so I reckon that JStew will come through at some point next year. We’ll probably need him too - can’t see McKernan, Brown, Daniher getting through unscathed through a whole season.
I'm not sure he's ever going to be the #1 player in a forward-line, but McKernan offers much more of a presence than Stewart despite being pretty much the same height. If he can work on that he'll be a pretty good player. A fully fit Daniher makes everyone's life a lot easier in the forwardline too, given he'll draw 2 - 3 defenders.
 

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brutus76

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J-Stew i thought was great as a #2 ruck but with Zac Clarke he needs to be a confident mobile forward.

The skip doesn't matter. Plenty of bad looking un-coordinated actions are effective - it's all how you drop it on the boot not the run up.
 

84859300

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Really hope the ruck coach had something to say about this , stupid free kick for holding coming up ........
I get frustrated with the amount of time Smack gets penalised for holding in a ruck contest. Granted, some are on the money, but other times it seems that umpires are aware of the holds and just pick it out of nowhere. He is not on his Pat Malone here...
 

eth-dog

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I get frustrated with the amount of time Smack gets penalised for holding in a ruck contest. Granted, some are on the money, but other times it seems that umpires are aware of the holds and just pick it out of nowhere. He is not on his Pat Malone here...
He makes it obvious.
 

Ambrosia

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I get frustrated with the amount of time Smack gets penalised for holding in a ruck contest. Granted, some are on the money, but other times it seems that umpires are aware of the holds and just pick it out of nowhere. He is not on his Pat Malone here...
I noticed in the opposition's forward 50 when he takes the ruck he no longer even uses his arms for fear of giving away a free kick.
 
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Many of us have a knock on James Stewart about his marking.

Very pleasantly surprised by a couple of massive grabs in the vision from the 21 Jan session.
I know two grabs does not a winter make but there was a level of confidence here that I have not seen from him before.

Imagine Stewart with clean hands and straight goal kicking. Yes Please.
 

owen87

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Many of us have a knock on James Stewart about his marking.

Very pleasantly surprised by a couple of massive grabs in the vision from the 21 Jan session.
I know two grabs does not a winter make but there was a level of confidence here that I have not seen from him before.

Imagine Stewart with clean hands and straight goal kicking. Yes Please.
Similar to last preseason; he looks amazing on the training track in preseason, but has to produce it in actual games.

Has all the physical tools to be a quality AFL level forward, just whether he's got the nous and work-rate to make it.
 
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