Player Watch #8: Jake Lever – Signed until 2028

stEdy

Premiership Player
Nov 2, 2007
4,436
13,291
Melbourne
AFL Club
Melbourne
I love his little twinkle toes, can find space where there is none in precarious situations down back when the heat is on.

That contest in the goal square that he danced around a couple and kicked it to tomlinson that ended with a goal to Weid (?) was class.
 
The good part about being a former mod is fixing this kind of thing that is left over from your mod days...
 
I love his little twinkle toes, can find space where there is none in precarious situations down back when the heat is on.

That contest in the goal square that he danced around a couple and kicked it to tomlinson that ended with a goal to Weid (?) was class.
He's become a pretty decent 1v1 defender too, in his sixth year but has still only played 90 games. One more preseason to get a bit stronger after finally getting some continuity will do him good. Want to see him push back up into that AA bracket next year.
 

Jamurp

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 26, 2011
8,001
11,161
AFL Club
Melbourne
Compliments May really well as they’re very different defenders with different strengths. Feels good to have a solid backline for a change (for the most anyways).
 

Xhoquelin

Club Legend
Dec 4, 2016
1,099
1,120
AFL Club
Melbourne
Other Teams
Arsenal, Charlotte Hornets
How would we all rate his season?

Honestly I'm a little bit disappointed. He is a good player, like his composure with ball in hand, but 1 on 1 he got outworked a lot(thought early 2018 he had done a lot better in this regard, but maybe that's just bad memory of mine).

And intercept wise; well he didn't give us too many overhead marks it seemed, preferred to spoil, but 6.24 intercepts a game is in the top 15.

Saw in lots of the votes for later rounds he got good support there which surprised me, generally don't think I've thought Lever has had standout games this year.

Defensive structure this year, at least amongst the back 6, was clearly better this year though, and that's good. We just need to start executing that forward press properly; not one side would've made their defenders defend OUTNUMBERS in the defensive 50 as frequently as we did.

We did play, as most teams did, a lot of games in dewy conditions and sometimes in those games the smart choice is just to spoil. Haynes tried to hang on to a few against us and he cost GWS goals, and that's probably the defender with the stickiest hands in the comp. But I do think Lever is a fair way off Haynes/McGovern/Rampe/Ryan marking wise, if he could hang onto some overhead grabs as May was I think that's more than worth the salary he commands. But just spoiling won't cut it for me given his weaknesses 1 on 1 IMO.
 

Pedantic

Club Legend
Jun 7, 2016
1,436
2,249
AFL Club
Melbourne
Got better as the season went on. Seemed to regain his confidence especially in regard to intercepting. ACL is a 2 year recovery so I think it's a good result overall. Not a superstar (and will probably never be one) and we're probably paying overs for him but you generally have to do that to get a guy from another club. Tall defenders the least of our worries for the next few years you would think.
 

Topkent

Confirmed ITK Drafting King
Aug 29, 2010
61,046
84,953
Canada
AFL Club
Melbourne
Other Teams
Winnipeg Jets
How would we all rate his season?

Honestly I'm a little bit disappointed. He is a good player, like his composure with ball in hand, but 1 on 1 he got outworked a lot(thought early 2018 he had done a lot better in this regard, but maybe that's just bad memory of mine).

And intercept wise; well he didn't give us too many overhead marks it seemed, preferred to spoil, but 6.24 intercepts a game is in the top 15.

Saw in lots of the votes for later rounds he got good support there which surprised me, generally don't think I've thought Lever has had standout games this year.

Defensive structure this year, at least amongst the back 6, was clearly better this year though, and that's good. We just need to start executing that forward press properly; not one side would've made their defenders defend OUTNUMBERS in the defensive 50 as frequently as we did.

We did play, as most teams did, a lot of games in dewy conditions and sometimes in those games the smart choice is just to spoil. Haynes tried to hang on to a few against us and he cost GWS goals, and that's probably the defender with the stickiest hands in the comp. But I do think Lever is a fair way off Haynes/McGovern/Rampe/Ryan marking wise, if he could hang onto some overhead grabs as May was I think that's more than worth the salary he commands. But just spoiling won't cut it for me given his weaknesses 1 on 1 IMO.

I think overall an average season but there were a couple things that really impressed me.
First he didn't drop his head when he was dropping marks, kept going for them which shows alot of bravery.
2nd he played his best footy in last quarters. Saved us against StKilda and GWS and was big against Essendon. Real leadership
 
I think overall an average season but there were a couple things that really impressed me.
First he didn't drop his head when he was dropping marks, kept going for them which shows alot of bravery.
2nd he played his best footy in last quarters. Saved us against StKilda and GWS and was big against Essendon. Real leadership

His composure at times is a massive concern though.

You can almost guarantee him costing us at least a goal a game through absolute horrendous decision making or a glaring skill error.

Needs to correct this urgently

6/10 for his season


Sent from my SM-G981B using Tapatalk
 

CTHORANGE

Premiership Player
May 7, 2012
3,143
3,004
AFL Club
Melbourne
It was good to see that he was getting better as the season went on, hopefully this continues into next season, with a consistent upward trajectory until he becomes the best player of all time.
 

CWaffles

Norm Smith Medallist
Jul 10, 2012
5,807
6,376
Melbourne
AFL Club
Melbourne
Other Teams
Ferrari, Chicago Bulls, NY Giants
I genuinely didn't realise he was only 24, wasn't his best season but now that he has had a few years back at it after the ACL i have certainly seen signs that he can get back to form.

Next year he really needs to step up and get back to playing that intercept style more consistently.
 
Not even top 10 in our b&f!! How much did we give up for this guy??
Pick 10 2017 - Lachie O’Brien
Pick 19 2018 - Liam Stocker
Pick 67 2018 - Robbie Young

We got:
Lever
Pick 35 2017 - Harrison Petty
Pick 47 2018 which was upgrade to get Tom Sparrow

I think we did alright
 
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