Player Watch #2 Jacob Hopper

[tropicaltiger]

hopper has got runs on the board so should not and will not be dropped, pretty sure Adem has turned him from a ball chaser into a run with scragger on the oppos million $ mids, Jagger and Walsh were ripping us to pieces early in the Carlton game and he went on to them and curbed their influence same with the GC guns trac, anderson and miller whom i'd be surprised if dimma gives any coaches votes to. taranto, ross/prestia and hopper broke even in that area IMO with Tim being a standout Ross/dion pretty good and if you forgive hopper for 3 hacks to the opposition thought he kept mainly anderson in check. our tallest forwards got monstered once tom went down and their big deep forwards kick 11.... so theirs the games main lopsided difference right there.

 

[bc27]

Absolutely should be dropped.

Watched him closely and his work rate was absolutely terrible. He was last to get to most stoppages and last to leave them.

He has zero pace and his possessions are low impact. The game has gone past him rapidly.

No more hopper.

 

[bc27]

hopper has got runs on the board so should not and will not be dropped, pretty sure Adem has turned him from a ball chaser into a run with scragger on the oppos million $ mids, Jagger and Walsh were ripping us to pieces early in the Carlton game and he went on to them and curbed their influence same with the GC guns trac, anderson and miller whom i'd be surprised if dimma gives any coaches votes to. taranto, ross/prestia and hopper broke even in that area IMO with Tim being a standout Ross/dion pretty good and if you forgive hopper for 3 hacks to the opposition thought he kept mainly anderson in check. our tallest forwards got monstered once tom went down and their big deep forwards kick 11.... so theirs the games main lopsided difference right there.

Mate, if Hopper was playing a run with role then it was one of the worst efforts at running with anyone I’ve ever seen. He has been awful in both practise matches and both our first two games.

He has to go back to the vfl and stay there.

 

[SleepingGiant]

Balta will come good. Hopper needs to be dropped.

 

[tropicaltiger]

Mate, if Hopper was playing a run with role then it was one of the worst efforts at running with anyone I’ve ever seen. He has been awful in both practise matches and both our first two games.

He has to go back to the vfl and stay there.

still got it 26 times so as you say "no work rate no pace,no accountability, last to get to and last to stoppages" to ay.... yep disposal was sloppy but statistically had 16ish effective disposals our 3rd highest tho stats alone are not bulletproof....ball must of fallen in his lap i suppose. needs to lift but who else can do better bullocking/donkey work next week. green made 3 howlers, and 4 or 5 got single digit touches, they ran thru hugo and brown like they were 12 year olds.... so yeah its all hoppers fault. if no gc mids get coached votes i say we matched em. i stand to be corrected.

 

[bc27]

still got it 26 times so as you say "no work rate no pace,no accountability, last to get to and last to stoppages" to ay.... yep disposal was sloppy but statistically had 16ish effective disposals our 3rd highest tho stats alone are not bulletproof....ball must of fallen in his lap i suppose. needs to lift but who else can do better bullocking/donkey work next week. green made 3 howlers, and 4 or 5 got single digit touches, they ran thru hugo and brown like they were 12 year olds.... so yeah its all hoppers fault. if no gc mids get coached votes i say we matched em. i stand to be corrected.

He’s had 15 turnovers in two games.

40 centre bounce attendances and has won 3 clearances.

 

[Vassp]

still got it 26 times so as you say "no work rate no pace,no accountability, last to get to and last to stoppages" to ay.... yep disposal was sloppy but statistically had 16ish effective disposals our 3rd highest tho stats alone are not bulletproof....ball must of fallen in his lap i suppose. needs to lift but who else can do better bullocking/donkey work next week. green made 3 howlers, and 4 or 5 got single digit touches, they ran thru hugo and brown like they were 12 year olds.... so yeah its all hoppers fault. if no gc mids get coached votes i say we matched em. i stand to be corrected.

I'll correct you. he is a zero effect to a negative effect player, in other words, he does not impact the games he plays in like he should. And mostly does the opposite.

Ill break it down.......
1) Speed, below ave for the modern game. If youre slow you better have a big bow in your game, he does not.
2) Vision, way below ave.
3) execution below ave.
4) game impact way below ave.
5) he tries, ill give him that, but thats not enough, the game has gone past him. Same with TT (for the midfield roll).

Id love for him to be a good midfielder, but take the glasses off and see him for what he is, and he is a below ave footballer.

If you would like to comment on point id like to hear it.

 

[Dreamend]

Very poor start to the season for Hopper. I don't see him being dropped just yet, especially with his experience.

I think the part that's glaring is his low clearance and tackle differential to how often he's in there.

 

[tropicaltiger]

I'll correct you. he is a zero effect to a negative effect player, in other words, he does not impact the games he plays in like he should. And mostly does the opposite.

Ill break it down.......
1) Speed, below ave for the modern game. If youre slow you better have a big bow in your game, he does not.
2) Vision, way below ave.
3) execution below ave.
4) game impact way below ave.
5) he tries, ill give him that, but thats not enough, the game has gone past him. Same with TT (for the midfield roll).

Id love for him to be a good midfielder, but take the glasses off and see him for what he is, and he is a below ave footballer.

If you would like to comment on point id like to hear it.

Ross is just a younger version of hopper and already in our main mid startup and i'd rate TT easily our best mid so far, Ross Dion and Hopper i agree arn't going to worry pacy top sides in the guts, but other options are either injured, needed elsewhere or need another preseason to be equipped enough. Hopper was durable and 3rd in 25 JDM. his first 2 games i agree arn't up to scratch and his disposal needs to improve but see no other option as what Yze is doing at the moment and having Hopper used mainly to try and blunt a top notch opposition players influence like he did with Trac until injured and then Anderson..... Gril, Campbell, HRS, Sonsie, Green, MRJ, Lalor & Tresize would have all been in trouble if tried in Hoppers role although the bolded ones must soon be rotated thru there more in the near future with other obvious ones like Cumming, Alger, Hotton, Mansell, Clark as well and a few others settling in.

bonus points for Hooper because none of his opponents got in the Garry Lyon voting

gun mids from other clubs surely must be on our radar for 27/28

Summary
give the workhorse until mid season to improve his viability in the team before dropping/replacing him or trying to move him on in 2027.

 

[Charlie Pannam]

Absolutely should be dropped.

Watched him closely and his work rate was absolutely terrible. He was last to get to most stoppages and last to leave them.

He has zero pace and his possessions are low impact. The game has gone past him rapidly.

No more hopper.

I think Yze is probably concerned with getting blown out of the water early, he doesn’t want to give opposition midfields total dominance. So he picks 3 veterans in the hope that we can do ok in clearances.

The big issue with playing all of Hopper, Prestia, Taranto and Ross is that our midfield is bland, slow and poor by foot.

Only 3 of those 4 maximum should play, and get Campbell, McAullife ( who is not a wingman) into the middle.

 

[DickieKnee]

gun mids from other clubs surely must be on our radar for 27/28

Think we went hard for Riley Reid last year but weren't prepared to give up the draft picks needed.

 

[peternorth]

Will play against freo

 

["The Roar Is Back"]

He’s biggest issues are around defensive pressure , particularly around an impressionable young group. .
Unfortunately bad lazy habits are easily followed .

 

[fargothegreat]

Will play against freo

I don't think there's any doubt. I just don't see our midfield moving forward until we become more dynamic in there.

Need to trade him at the end of the season imo. If they want another experienced mid to protect the kids, bring in someone who is elite defensively.

 

[Rocco sifreddi]

Watched him live against the blues , campaigner made
Cripps look like Hussain Bolt,
Vfl is where his pace and no skill belongs permanently.

 

[JAKLAUGHING]

Too slow to get a proper injury...

 

[beema limapep]

My god....if he retains his spot this place will go nuts

 

[Madtiger2006]

Dimma should take him and give us their first rounder lol

 

[Sol23]

Disgrace. Supposedly as fit as ever but couldn’t run out of sight on a dark night.
Lazy campaigner who doesn’t deserve his spot in the side. Get rid of him now.

 

[PetterdHoisted]

Someone posted a pic in preseason, his appearance had changed a bit from last year.

Trimmed down yes, but also gaunt.

I didn't recognise him (still not sure this is him). Unwell maybe?

 

[Nostradumbass]

My god....if he retains his spot this place will go nuts

Get ready

 

[Grrr]

Perth area​

Cloudy. Very high chance of rain. The chance of a thunderstorm in the morning. Heavy falls possible. Damaging wind gusts exceeding 90 km/h possible in the northeast, depending on movement and development of Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle.
30-60mm predicted.

Good chance he stays in just to lay on the ball. Looking at 0.9 to 0.10 game, we lose by an honourable point.

 

[Sol23]

Someone posted a pic in preseason, his appearance had changed a bit from last year.

Trimmed down yes, but also gaunt.

I didn't recognise him (still not sure this is him). Unwell maybe?

View attachment 2561987

Doesn’t look like that now- looks heavy if anything

 

[Achilles Heel]

There's a natural replacement in McAuliffe. Hopper simply can't be rewarded with another game after being amongst our worst players two weeks straight.

Name one big contract recruit that’s been dropped , it won’t happen

 

[Timothy Luncheon]

Doesn’t look like that now- looks heavy if anything

I'm surprised no one has mentioned it but yeah I thought it looked like he had put on a bit of weight in pre-season, but I could be wrong