Player Watch #34: Jackson Archer

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Sphynx said:
Not really.

There’s around 160 kids invited to national and state combines, then you have those around the state leagues and the rest left over. About 900 nominate for the draft each year.

Jackson is going much better than I anticipated, but he probably wasn’t in the best 10 kids in his average Northern Knights side and wasn’t close to a representative side training squad and they run off pretty big supplementary lists.

Cooper was in the best few for his Knights side and made the Vic Metro squad.

Bailey Scott was an U/18 AA, captain of his state side and went at a similar pick range to Jackson.
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160 kids, how many of which got drafted? and many of them but didnt, but Jackson did. '200 Kids deserved to get drafted ahead of him' is a statement so far detached from reality that i would genuinely believe you're on the best trip of your life right now.

you are legitimately kidding yourself if you think we drafted him over roughly 100/150 kids who, in your words, were all better than him simply because of the romantic attachment. like it's just such a ludicrous, absurd statement.

and this is before getting to the point that he actually played AFL football last year and to an okay standard for a first year player. it's just such a batshit crazy notion that there were 200 kids better than him
 
Sphynx said:
Not really.

There’s around 160 kids invited to national and state combines, then you have those around the state leagues and the rest left over. About 900 nominate for the draft each year.

Jackson is going much better than I anticipated, but he probably wasn’t in the best 10 kids in his average Northern Knights side and wasn’t close to a representative side training squad and they run off pretty big supplementary lists.

Cooper was in the best few for his Knights side and made the Vic Metro squad.

Bailey Scott was an U/18 AA, captain of his state side and went at a similar pick range to Jackson.
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I reckon that was partly cos no one wanted to bother bidding against him.
 

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AnEmptyChair said:
160 kids, how many of which got drafted? and many of them but didnt, but Jackson did. '200 Kids deserved to get drafted ahead of him' is a statement so far detached from reality that i would genuinely believe you're on the best trip of your life right now.

you are legitimately kidding yourself if you think we drafted him over roughly 100/150 kids who, in your words, were all better than him simply because of the romantic attachment. like it's just such a ludicrous, absurd statement.

and this is before getting to the point that he actually played AFL football last year and to an okay standard for a first year player. it's just such a batshit crazy notion that there were 200 kids better than him
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You aren’t detaching this year and and his junior career.

I’ve already admitted he’s done great and thats down to what looks like an absolutely terrific work ethic.


But you are “legitimately kidding” yourself if you think he would have been drafted last year by anyone (including the rookie draft) if he wasn’t Glenn Archers son.

A back pocket, averaging 9 disposals a game with poor footskills, that managed a few games in the best players for the Knights, that never got close to a rep side selection. You have NAB league team of the year players and in some instances u/18 All Australians go undrafted some years.

Cooper Vickery being a good example this year. Back Pocket in the NAB League team of the year, VIC Country rep, one of Gippslands best players, averaging 17 touches a game for both Gippsland and Vic Country in that role. Invited to the national combine and tested athletically well.

He’s likely to be touch and go to go in the main draft this year.

Now, Jackson got his foot in the door, at this point in time he’s kept himself here through sheer hard work and grit which is arguably more important than anything else.

The fact he played AFL football considering where he was as a NAB league player is quite increadible, or maybe an indication of where we are at as a club at the moment.

You seem to think I’m knocking him, but I’m not.

But don’t rewrite history saying he got here on the merit of his onfield performances. In your words, that’s ludicrous and absurd…

He may not have earned his spot on an AFL main list at junior level, but he’s earned to stay on one with his conduct and standards on the track so far.

You can’t say that about most draftee’s and it’s one of the better compliments I can give.
 
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Sphynx said:
You aren’t detaching this year and and his junior career.

I’ve already admitted he’s done great and thats down to what looks like an absolutely terrific work ethic.


But you are “legitimately kidding” yourself if you think he would have been drafted last year by anyone (including the rookie draft) if he wasn’t Glenn Archers son.

A back pocket, averaging 9 disposals a game with poor footskills, that managed a few games in the best players for the Knights, that never got close to a rep side selection. You have NAB league team of the year players and in some instances u/18 All Australians go undrafted some years.

Cooper Vickery being a good example this year. Back Pocket in the NAB League team of the year, VIC Country rep, one of Gippslands best players, averaging 17 touches a game for both Gippsland and Vic Country in that role. Invited to the national combine and tested athletically well.

He’s likely to be touch and go to go in the main draft this year.

Now, Jackson got his foot in the door, at this point in time he’s kept himself here through sheer hard work and grit which is arguably more important than anything else.

The fact he played AFL football considering where he was as a NAB league player is quite increadible, or maybe an indication of where we are at as a club at the moment.

You seem to think I’m knocking him, but I’m not.

But don’t rewrite history saying he got here on the merit of his onfield performances. In your words, that’s ludicrous and absurd…

He may not have earned his spot on an AFL main list at junior level, but he’s earned to stay on one with his conduct and standards on the track so far.

You can’t say that about most draftee’s and it’s one of the better compliments I can give.
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I wonder if it points to overlooking certain attributes that can determine success at AFL level. Every year there are mature age players who were overlooked in their draft year, but go on to have very good AFL careers. Why? Being able to ascertain those attributes could help greatly in 'speculative' later main or rookie drafts.

Do we not place enough importance on what players like Jackson bring to the table in their draft years? What upside they have.

Interesting topic. Adds more dimensions to player selection.

Question for you - who in this draft class has grit and is prepared to work harder than anyone else that you think won't get drafted. Physically under-developed for their age, clean enough skills, etc etc. Maybe we should be looking more closely at them? I guess this style of selection was the original point of the rookie draft... upside.
 
joegreen said:
I wonder if it points to overlooking certain attributes that can determine success at AFL level. Every year there are mature age players who were overlooked in their draft year, but go on to have very good AFL careers. Why? Being able to ascertain those attributes could help greatly in 'speculative' later main or rookie drafts.

Do we not place enough importance on what players like Jackson bring to the table in their draft years? What upside they have.

Interesting topic. Adds more dimensions to player selection.

Question for you - who in this draft class has grit and is prepared to work harder than anyone else that you think won't get drafted. Physically under-developed for their age, clean enough skills, etc etc. Maybe we should be looking more closely at them? I guess this style of selection was the original point of the rookie draft... upside.
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Sorry for jumping in, but yeah I think its just extremely difficult to know how young men will develop when football becomes a profession and the requirements on their focus, effort, time, lifestyle, etc etc go to levels they have very likely never experienced in their life.

Grit is the word - the more you can handle and the more you can apply yourself to these huge demands then the more success you will have. However how do you even measure grit? I guess in some ways that's why the high performers already in the draft are at least a indicator of a base level, but you cannot tell for sure what happens when it goes from levels of requirements achievable in a year around purely football, to levels of requirements around their entire life that in some cases will take 3 or 4 years.

I think clearly you take the what looks to be proven, potentially take some risks if you back your internal development, but when they are so young any kid could as readily ignite a passion to drive them forward as they could just as well have that passion doused from failure - and I'll also specifically call out the lifestyle part here too, the thing that works against the high performers in a way, because sometimes that popularity is part of what drives them and its somethings that can absolutely crush their career.

There is only one thing standing in Jackson Archers way to being an elite footballer - passion, desire and the grit to keep pushing.
 
Liam Boy said:
imo "Glenn Archer's son" is a pretty compelling reason to draft a guy even if he hasn't shown that much. genetics isn't everything but you know there's a lot of upside when a guy's 50% shinboner of the century.
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and pretty damn easy to do due diligence on the kid. The club "knows him" his traits, personality, and potential. That in itself reduced the uncertainty to near zero. The kid will make it and for mine, loved his debut, surprised me, and loved the way he cracked in left no doubts as to his pedigree and how he goes about it.
 
Sphynx said:
You aren’t detaching this year and and his junior career.

I’ve already admitted he’s done great and thats down to what looks like an absolutely terrific work ethic.


But you are “legitimately kidding” yourself if you think he would have been drafted last year by anyone (including the rookie draft) if he wasn’t Glenn Archers son.

A back pocket, averaging 9 disposals a game with poor footskills, that managed a few games in the best players for the Knights, that never got close to a rep side selection. You have NAB league team of the year players and in some instances u/18 All Australians go undrafted some years.

Cooper Vickery being a good example this year. Back Pocket in the NAB League team of the year, VIC Country rep, one of Gippslands best players, averaging 17 touches a game for both Gippsland and Vic Country in that role. Invited to the national combine and tested athletically well.

He’s likely to be touch and go to go in the main draft this year.

Now, Jackson got his foot in the door, at this point in time he’s kept himself here through sheer hard work and grit which is arguably more important than anything else.

The fact he played AFL football considering where he was as a NAB league player is quite increadible, or maybe an indication of where we are at as a club at the moment.

You seem to think I’m knocking him, but I’m not.

But don’t rewrite history saying he got here on the merit of his onfield performances. In your words, that’s ludicrous and absurd…

He may not have earned his spot on an AFL main list at junior level, but he’s earned to stay on one with his conduct and standards on the track so far.

You can’t say that about most draftee’s and it’s one of the better compliments I can give.
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I think your assessment is fair on balance, the only dissenting observation I would make is that Jackson really put his best foot forward in the VFL praccy he played against Sandringham early in 2021. North were absolutely belted, but I remember Jackson was one of the few who could hold his head up, which was a fair effort for 17 year old, and I think that match probably held him in good stead come draft time, in the sense that it made his selection credible rather than charitable. He did a lot more to justify his selection than Joel Crocker, who - no doubt a lovely kid - was never an VFL player much less AFL
 
Sphynx said:
You aren’t detaching this year and and his junior career.

I’ve already admitted he’s done great and thats down to what looks like an absolutely terrific work ethic.


But you are “legitimately kidding” yourself if you think he would have been drafted last year by anyone (including the rookie draft) if he wasn’t Glenn Archers son.

A back pocket, averaging 9 disposals a game with poor footskills, that managed a few games in the best players for the Knights, that never got close to a rep side selection. You have NAB league team of the year players and in some instances u/18 All Australians go undrafted some years.

Cooper Vickery being a good example this year. Back Pocket in the NAB League team of the year, VIC Country rep, one of Gippslands best players, averaging 17 touches a game for both Gippsland and Vic Country in that role. Invited to the national combine and tested athletically well.

He’s likely to be touch and go to go in the main draft this year.

Now, Jackson got his foot in the door, at this point in time he’s kept himself here through sheer hard work and grit which is arguably more important than anything else.

The fact he played AFL football considering where he was as a NAB league player is quite increadible, or maybe an indication of where we are at as a club at the moment.

You seem to think I’m knocking him, but I’m not.

But don’t rewrite history saying he got here on the merit of his onfield performances. In your words, that’s ludicrous and absurd…

He may not have earned his spot on an AFL main list at junior level, but he’s earned to stay on one with his conduct and standards on the track so far.

You can’t say that about most draftee’s and it’s one of the better compliments I can give.
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A mate of mine is a recruiter from an interstate AFL club. He told me at the time, Jackson is lucky to go North as a F/S as he would otherwise go undrafted.
Arch was not versatile or elite enough in any area to be drafted, however, he thought - if given the opportunity - he could make it a genuine backmen at North. He simply didn't have enough traits that recruiters deem as pre-requisites. Makes you wonder how many role player types slip through the cracks.
Would love to hear the thoughts of Soup, Roo_Fanatic and others on this topic.
 

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Masked Avenger said:
I have a sneaking feeling he'll rate somehow under this coaching regime.

He's got a touch of kamikaze about him and all gun defensive units have at least one of those.

They're disrupters.
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Even though we were on the end of it a few times (2015!) I almost admired the Hawks ‘unsociable’ footy under Clarko.

There is no place in the game for thuggery, however … whilst the Hawks were a highly skilled and talented team, when challenged, they always found a way to get back on top. This was executed by using ‘disrupters’ - as you mention MA.

I think we have a few ‘disrupters’, including Jackson Archer, just waiting to be let off the chain. I just hope Clarko still values the intimidation factor and let these players ‘blossom’.

A few ‘disrupters’ will also allow the less inclined (Sleevo etc) to play their own natural games.
 
SnowyontheTram said:
Even though we were on the end of it a few times (2015!) I almost admired the Hawks ‘unsociable’ footy under Clarko.

There is no place in the game for thuggery, however … whilst the Hawks were a highly skilled and talented team, when challenged, they always found a way to get back on top. This was executed by using ‘disrupters’ - as you mention MA.

I think we have a few ‘disrupters’, including Jackson Archer, just waiting to be let off the chain. I just hope Clarko still values the intimidation factor and let these players ‘blossom’.

A few ‘disrupters’ will also allow the less inclined (Sleevo etc) to play their own natural games.
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If Clarko's gone soft then we're all Doomed.

Doomed I tell ya!!!
 
He did well with the limited opportunities he had and that's a real positive. However, I suspect he'll spend most of 2023 plying his trade in the VFL. Having said that, a mouthwatering contest might be Jacko against that bloke who plays for Port.
 
Shack18 said:
I’d say Corr is a lock, freed up to play to his strength - bonus of getting Logue
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Corr is criminally underrated around here. David dench would have struggled the last couple years with the sheer volume of footy coming in. Corr is very solid, and with logue coming on board we will see his versatility more, intercepting and taking out smaller forwards. He's a good footballer
 
the flying ham said:
Corr is criminally underrated around here. David dench would have struggled the last couple years with the sheer volume of footy coming in. Corr is very solid, and with logue coming on board we will see his versatility more, intercepting and taking out smaller forwards. He's a good footballer
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-Above average one-on-one defender
-Excellent intercept mark
-Very good rebound with precision kicking given the freedom to play 3rd
 
the flying ham said:
Corr is criminally underrated around here. David dench would have struggled the last couple years with the sheer volume of footy coming in. Corr is very solid, and with logue coming on board we will see his versatility more, intercepting and taking out smaller forwards. He's a good footballer
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The Archer development has got me excited: we might actually have a brigade capable of shutting down the medium/small forwards for the first time in ten years.
 
the flying ham said:
Corr is criminally underrated around here. David dench would have struggled the last couple years with the sheer volume of footy coming in. Corr is very solid, and with logue coming on board we will see his versatility more, intercepting and taking out smaller forwards. He's a good footballer
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He was very good in those first few games in 2020.
 
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