Player Watch #5: Ben Jacobs - says he'll be back after suffering a "perfect storm" of neck & head injuries

The Big H

Club Legend
Joined
Aug 31, 2004
Posts
2,946
Likes
1,106
Location
Launnie
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
Kangaroos
Zed has as much chance as winning the brownlow as Carey did, both fantastic players but never umpires favourites,

Wellsy wont win one because we have a pretty even list at the high end where the votes will be to widely distributed, and thats not necessarily a bad thing.
Wells will never win a Brownlow because he doesn't get the pill enough.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Egga

Premiership Player
Joined
Nov 10, 2009
Posts
3,020
Likes
6,961
AFL Club
North Melbourne
He isn't a KPD, and never will be, he has the height but not the right build, he will always be a flanker or 'loose man in defence' like Hansen.
You're right. He could never be a decent key defender with a build somewhere in the middle of Dustin Fletcher, Ben Reid, Harry Taylor, Luke Mcpharlin and Jake Carlisle.
 
Joined
Apr 2, 2012
Posts
8,136
Likes
5,420
AFL Club
North Melbourne
In fact I will go as far to say he wont be at North in 2015 unless injuries force him into the side.
I think this will be proven wrong.

Whilst I am not sure how good he will be (haven't seen enough) if players like Anthony and Greenwood can stay on our list so long then Cam Delaney will for sure whether at 1s or 2s level.

We have a multitude of mids and flankers, we really need Cam to come good and stay injury free. Then he is first option to take Grima's spot who whilst very solid defensively, seems in decline rebound wise and maybe only has a couple more seasons left after all his injuries.
 

Roobound

Club Legend
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Posts
2,178
Likes
3,015
Location
melbourne
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Im going to go a different way to most.

I think l prefer Atley on the back line running in straight lines, that is his go. To me he needs the play in front of him, he really does get a foggy brain when in traffic & submits in tackles l think he can still be damaging from where he plays & also by rotating with Scotty McMahon when being dragged back to the goal square. Scotty Mc is still our best/preferred deep small defender for mine.

Its impossible for me to settle on a line up for next year because to me we have so many young players l would like to see exposed but that time has past now its time for best players only.

Players l would like to see go up a level

Majak - Who knows what that knee injury will do to his career he cant afford to stagnate as a project player by not being able to build a big enough tank in the off season. The more he does not play the more the vultures will circle him. Has the most X Factor of any player on the list for mine simply with the athleticism. My mind wanders back to the TAC Cup the mark running back with the flight v Melb the two marks v Geelong at Skilled. If he lifts his game awareness & tank another 10% we could have another Corey McKernan type player in another 2 years (the good Corey). If he improves to become a regular we are on the march because not many could defend him while still having 2 of Petrie Black & Tarrant to contend with in the forward line.

Hansen - If Hansen plays another season like he did, even though the last game of the year he stunk it up with about 6 dropped marks against Colllingwood. It will be difficult for opposition teams to kick unreachable scores because of his ability to cut off attacks. He is vital to next year being successful.

The Triple towers - Black 2-2.5 goals a game avg would be a good return along with his tackling. I am really hoping he can expand on his forward role & become even more dominant. Tazza needs a good year he is capable but If he has a ordinary start he could find himself in the 2nds, will obviously be given first crack & if he succeeds we will go a long way. Drew l have no idea what happened to his leaping ability but it was only on show twice a month last year after having 6 noms for mark of the year in 2012. He needs that string to his bow to ensure he is the one who gets the best defender. The three tall's for mine need to avg 8-9 goals between them against teams outside the eight & 7 goals against the best teams inside the eight.

Taylor Hine/Greenwood - l have watched the last few games of the year a few times now & it should not be forgotten how important tough hard tackling defensive type players are late in the year l would like to see one of these two tagging next year.

Players on the rise l would like to see play......
Luke Mc - I have watched him play about 18 games & he has star qualities but can drop off in intensity with his running at times, he could just be pacing himself but was not always the quickest to the next contest this is the only knock l have on him. Has enough good qualities to be a star but fitness needs to be built to become a regular AFL player obviously & l could see him getting the sub vest a bit this year because of this.

Taylor Garner - I like a bit of C*** in players he laid some good tackles against Collingwood & showed he is capable & not overwhelmed on a reasonably big occasion in his first game in front of a huge crowd at the G he did well. I will watch with interest.

Mason Wood - Injury curtailed his chances last year he needs a good solid batch of games in the 2nds but he has enough upside & is ideally suited to AFL the way it is played now.

Cam Delaney - I still want Narni playing most of next year & l hope he gets to 100 games but Cam is the future he will end up developing as a tall with lots of steady assistance around him in the back line a luxury most playing there currently did not have.

Moving forward........
This is the best North list l have ever seen the players in the 2nds are mostly really talented developing players. Almost anybody playing 2nds over the age of 23 will not be there in 2015 so its now or never for some.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Smoocher

Club Legend
Joined
Feb 9, 2013
Posts
2,720
Likes
3,117
Location
Sporting capital of the world
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
Magpies
I'm picking these two players as our biggest improvers in 2014.

I really liked what I saw of Delaney in the latter part of this season, he looked assured and moves really well. I hope his injury doesn't hamper his preseason because I reckon he will nail down CHB.

Ben Jacobs has been played wrong all his career until Scott tried him as an inside mid in the last few rounds and while he had a couple of quiet games at the end he did show glimpses. I think he was stuffed towards the end but another solid pre season to build that tank a bit more and he might get more air time on the ball .

I'm backing them in.

Who are you backing in next year?
Agree, with Delaney. In the few games I have seen him play he has a certain something which tells me he will be our number 1 back man within 2 years. I actually thing he should now be in the team ahead of Grima. Grima has stagnated and has no attacking flat to his game.

Jacobs I'm not to sure as I think he lacks a yard of pace.

Would love to see Atley take the next step and move into the midfield on a permanent basis and use his pace and good ball use to break games open.
 

Pres

Club Legend
Joined
Mar 8, 2002
Posts
2,762
Likes
975
Location
Melbourne
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
LA Angels
Adams and Daw to me both have huge upside.

Jacobs is one guy I really want to succeed if for no other reason that his attitude seems faultless and he really has a hunger to do whatever it takes to get better.
 

Tas

Premium Gold
Joined
Dec 23, 2002
Posts
52,056
Likes
33,010
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
There can be only one...
I think Jacobs, Adams and Wright have a big scope for improvement because 2013 wasn't a great year in terms of on-field output.
 

marklovesbeer

Premiership Player
Joined
Apr 8, 2010
Posts
3,817
Likes
9,236
Location
Melbourne via Adelaide
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
SAFC•Heat•Yankees•Cowboys•Chelsea
Holy shit I keep forgetting we have Dal Santo

lmao
You writing this actually made me laugh out loud man.
I keep forgetting too.
Is going to be weird seeing him out there. Weird slash awesome. Slash probably still pretty funny. Good luck to whomever is the midfield coach of our opposing team.
I hope we THRASH Essendon in round 1.
 

sickmick92

Team Captain
Joined
Apr 29, 2013
Posts
537
Likes
454
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
Tottenham Hotspur
In fact I will go as far to say he wont be at North in 2015 unless injuries force him into the side.
Respectfully disagree.. I personally believe (like others) that Delaney will 100% be at North Melbourne in 2015. Jury's out on whether Chapman will stay on at your club for that long though yeah?
 

Black2Blue

Premiership Player
Joined
Aug 15, 2013
Posts
3,711
Likes
8,953
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Although I was disappointed Luke Delaney decided to jump ship, I think being out of big brother's shadow will work in Cam's favor. All of his AFL games have been impressive, with the only obvious obstacle being his inexperience and physical immaturity. But he has also always been junior to Keys, the Spare Keys nickname reinforcing that. The interesting thing will be whether he can push into the 1sts on form to claim a spot or will just have to wait for injury or suspension to Scotty T, Lachie, or Grima.
 
Top Bottom