Jackson's Status

[beaver fever]

Expect Thomson to be given a crack at the tagger role.

 

[sante]

Wow, if that's all they had to do, and it had nothing to do with skills or having a footy brain so you can punish the opponent you're tagging, I would've been down at Punt Road years ago.

Jackson has good skills. Its his awareness which causes him problems. This in turn affects his decision making and skills at times. He has only played 47 games. Jacko will improve his awareness etc, with gametime and consistent appearances at AFL which he will get in 2009.

 

[Wally Matera]

Jackson has good skills. Its his awareness which causes him problems. This in turn affects his decision making and skills at times. He has only played 47 games. Jacko will improve his awareness etc, with gametime and consistent appearances at AFL which he will get in 2009.

Do you get some disability pension for being that dumb?

Skills?!? You bore me.

 

[sante]

At least I can type out a proper sentence

 

[SDM08]

He'll play while there isn't a better person of his size available. What are we going to do, let Kingy tag. I can just see Kingy being flattened by Ling. Actually, a bit like a speed hump as Ling runs straight through him. Lingy might end up with a few bites on the ankle tho!!!

 

[a_fighting_fury]

Do get some disability pension for being that dumb?

Skills?!? You bore me.

Hmm, a very astute observation!

 

[deliberate!!]

Jackson has good skills. Its his awareness which causes him problems. This in turn affects his decision making and skills at times. He has only played 47 games. Jacko will improve his awareness etc, with gametime and consistent appearances at AFL which he will get in 2009.

The sad thing is that awareness and the ability to decision make and deliver skills LIVE in the same locality...your brain!

IMO...you cannot improve your awareness...it's with you from the start.
It's as ingrained as your DNA.

 

[CoggaRules]

The sad thing is that awareness and the ability to decision make and deliver skills LIVE in the same locality...your brain!

IMO...you cannot improve your awareness...it's with you from the start.
It's as ingrained as your DNA.

with all due respect thats crap. Whitey is a prime example of how you can improve both with experience. He had zero awareness and mediocre skills, prior to last year.

 

[richoatthedisco]

Spot on Cogga. Almost any function of the brain can be improved with training. Jacko is a latecomer to football so doesn't have the natural 'brain' that others do. I reckon the more he plays the better he gets, hence his strong finish to last season and his ordinary beginning to this.

 

[deliberate!!]

with all due respect thats crap. Whitey is a prime example of how you can improve both with experience. He had zero awareness and mediocre skills, prior to last year.

Now you are talking crap...
How could Whitey have "zero awareness" and be that fast and not constantly run into every player on the field "prior to last year".

He's always had awareness...

You mean Footballing Skills in this instance.

Whitey was never a Klutz.
Jackson will always be.

 

[CoggaRules]

Now you are talking crap...
How could Whitey have "zero awareness" and be that fast and not constantly run into every player on the field "prior to last year".

He's always had awareness...

You mean Footballing Skills in this instance.

Whitey was never a Klutz.
Jackson will always be.

Jacko aint no silky skilled player, yes, but he "has a brain", thats for sure. You dont do what this kid did at junior level and not have what it takes to make it. i.e. "ability to learn", requires brain. abilty to make it requires hunger to make it. He was a leader in pretty much anything he did at junior level. He aint gunna do something and not want to succeed.
Not to mention when that frame of his gets to mature level, he will be crunching players and they will think they were hit by a train. The kid is big and has pace. When big and pace hit you, you are toast.

 

[deliberate!!]

Spot on Cogga. Almost any function of the brain can be improved with training. Jacko is a latecomer to football so doesn't have the natural 'brain' that others do. I reckon the more he plays the better he gets, hence his strong finish to last season and his ordinary beginning to this.

Re: Functions of the brain being trained.
Not all functions can be trained.
So how do you explain Polak's great footballing skill at taking a mark and passing a ball (skill and ability that he's been trained for) and running into a tram (24/7 everyday awareness that he has have trained himself for since birth, a lot longer than he has been playing football)?

He wouldn't have seen the tram if it had of been racing across the 'G' in a night match.
That's Polak make-up. Just try and untrain it.

And likewise back to the field.....where's Justin Koschitzke awareness??????
He has none.
He has all the skill given to him by training.
But couldn't see a building falling on him from the corner of his eye!! Ever.
And you don't think St.Kilda haven't tried to fix Koschitzke awareness? Of course they have. Has it improved...no. Koschitzke through his lack of awareness it a threat to EVERY player on the field. He is an unguided missile on the field.

You cannot train awareness. The Abletts & Cousins & Foleys, & Cotchins etc, etc have had great awareness since they were kids AND they just happened to bring that to their footballing careers. No amount of training could imbue that.
You cannot train awareness.
You can train for Footballing skills and fitness.
Not awareness.

Jackson has no awareness in the traffic that constitutes a footballing field.
And that makes him a sub-par AFL player.
That actually makes him a Coburg player.
End of story.

 

[richoatthedisco]

You cannot train awareness. The Abletts & Cousins & Foleys, & Cotchins etc, etc have had great awareness since they were kids AND they just happened to bring that to their footballing careers. No amount of training could imbue that.

You can train awareness. That's what Ablett et al have been doing since they were kids. Kids learn exponentially better than adults - it's when the brain is at its most plastic. Perhaps little guys need awareness more because they get smashed otherwise. They're also more nimble and able to put that awareness into action faster than big blokes. Big kids run through whatever is in their way and feel nothing = no need/incentive to learn awareness.
I'm not going to speculate on how/why Polak got him by a tram. And what exactly has St Kilda done to train Kosi's awareness? Have they had him doing 1-2 hours a day of peripheral vision training? Because that's what it would take. I didn't say it would be easy or that you could turn Kosi into Ablett, but awareness can be improved.

 

[SDM08]

Let me put a different slant on it. And Kossie is a good example. Kossie has so much focus on getting the pill, that everything else doesn't matter. If he gave up a bit of focus for a bit more of awareness, then everyone and everything would be a whole lot more safe.

I reckon everyone has a limit of what their brain can handle, and then its up to them to proportion what they have to each of the tasks it needs to do. Some players have the ability to focus at exactly the right times, and still retain an awareness in the rest. Some are all focus, and no awareness.

So in the short, i think Jackos problem is that he's not been able to give enough time to awareness, without affecting his ability on focussing what he is happening up field, and what he is doing with the ball. If he builds more confidence in his disposal, and has better feel for what the players around and ahead of him are doing, then naturally he will improve his awareness.

All IMHO, of course.

Or he could be just a dud player.

 

[CoggaRules]

Let me put a different slant on it. And Kossie is a good example. Kossie has so much focus on getting the pill, that everything else doesn't matter. If he gave up a bit of focus for a bit more of awareness, then everyone and everything would be a whole lot more safe.

I reckon everyone has a limit of what their brain can handle, and then its up to them to proportion what they have to each of the tasks it needs to do. Some players have the ability to focus at exactly the right times, and still retain an awareness in the rest. Some are all focus, and no awareness.

So in the short, i think Jackos problem is that he's not been able to give enough time to awareness, without affecting his ability on focussing what he is happening up field, and what he is doing with the ball. If he builds more confidence in his disposal, and has better feel for what the players around and ahead of him are doing, then naturally he will improve his awareness.

All IMHO, of course.

Or he could be just a dud player.

In a nutshell dude its all about learning the system that the coach wants you to learn. Every player on the senior and rookie lists, give or take a few, who the system is being built around, are learning. Once they have learnt it, then we become a potent force, for a whole season, instead of half a season.
e.g. Head over the ball, about to get possession, no need to think which way to go, know the way and know that team mate is there waiting to whisk it away or to give it off to another teammate, who "knows" where the system has taught him he should be.
When they have all got a handle on it, then we have the weapon that we havent had, depth. Then TW can bring in player X from the 2s, for player Y and he slots into the system without having to re-educate him on what happens in the 1s.
We can only become a force if we have our matchwinners doing the party tricks, and a bunch of robots executing the plan, without having to think about what it is, to get the ball to them.
Its the same in all team ball sports, be it soccer, basketball or rugby etc.
When we get it right, then and only then can TW do what he does best, conjure up a "game plan" to beat the next coach's game plan, knowing full well that everyone knows his system and he only has to move the pieces around.

 

[Roachy8]

I think the classic example of an athletic player who may not have "natural awareness" is our own beloved Richo.

His positives are that he is a freak (hate the word but anyway) athlete, elite mark and a tremendous competitor... never gives up trying to get to a contest.
His negatives are that his skills can be pretty hit & miss and he does make poor decisions from time to time.

It is not as critical for him because of the position he plays; there are not many 6 foot 5, sticky handed super athletes in the AFL.

IMO Jacko can still carve a career for himself by focusing on what he can do well and continuing to improve on those things that he is not a natural in.

Will he make it... I dunno because the beauty for Richmond now is that we have a lot more options than we used to.

I do agree with Cogga though that this dude is no dumb-ass and as such is probably better placed to overcome his natural deficiencies than others.

 

[emperor]

Cogga and Roachy make some good points. I am not totally "sold" on Jacko but definately reckon we have a spot on the list for him, if not in the 22.

Not every player in a side has to have the silky skills or smarts of a Brown or Cotchin, but every team needs players to get in and do the dirty work. As Cogga suggests, if he can follow the game plan and 'knows' what to do he will find a spot. His main problem as I saw it last year was running into trouble, trying to do too much before offloading the pill. That problem is not that tough to rectify imo, especially for a bloke as switched on as Jacko . He's quick, he's strong, has good hands, is a thumping kick and his short skills aren't too bad either - just gotta work on those handballs in traffic.

By no means is there a guarantee he will be successful, but there is more than enough to work with I reckon

 

[CoggaRules]

Cogga and Roachy make some good points. I am not totally "sold" on Jacko but definately reckon we have a spot on the list for him, if not in the 22.

Not every player in a side has to have the silky skills or smarts of a Brown or Cotchin, but every team needs players to get in and do the dirty work. As Cogga suggests, if he can follow the game plan and 'knows' what to do he will find a spot. His main problem as I saw it last year was running into trouble, trying to do too much before offloading the pill. That problem is not that tough to rectify imo, especially for a bloke as switched on as Jacko . He's quick, he's strong, has good hands, is a thumping kick and his short skills aren't too bad either - just gotta work on those handballs in traffic.

By no means is there a guarantee he will be successful, but there is more than enough to work with I reckon

when they all know where they need to be, he wont have to do to much or think to much, before offloading the pill dude. If you want to see how things work, when everyone knows where they need to be, take a look at the cats and how they have their in and under players going in, and dishing it off, not to a player they see, more often than not, but to an area where they know that a player will be waiting, not an actual player that they see. Its a drill that took them the best part of 8 years to perfect.
Dont forget, prime movers get tagged, prime mover can run to a spot, take his tagger with him and a couple more who are watchng him closely, makes space for other team mate to move into, where player with pill dishes it to. Of course this means execution has to be spot on, because player who has moved into space has left his man. But when they have learnt it back to front, they tend to get it right much more than they get it wrong and ball keeps on going towards our forward line.
All players work with the mindset that the plan will be followed with success. FL plyaers take off to where they need to be, before ball lands in disposer's hands. This gives FL players that metre of space that makes them a target. Defenders are left in the lurch because they cant read the game, before its readable.