Jake Waterman Amnesty

Jake Waterman...

  • I still think he is only WAFL quality

    Votes: 1 1.0%
  • I am a big enough man / woman to admit I was wrong, well done Jake

    Votes: 23 24.0%
  • I always thought (well at least hoped) he had it in him

    Votes: 72 75.0%

  • Total voters
    96

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I always called him the “nearly” man.Nearly win a game of his own bat but wouldn’t kick straight.
OA will be interesting in return. He won’t be anywhere near Jake in fitness levels. Let’s hope he plays for the team and accepts being Jakes wingman until he gets his fitness up.
I hope also that the team doesn’t go back to being OA focussed. Js form also will take the pressure off OA.Who does your best defender go to??
 
I was mocking other posters when i called him Junktime jake when i was at the Richmond game, and ill drop the spite of having my gear stolen.
Since i can't make the games as much, as i just cash in on parents membership, this is the new nickname / mantle / torch for HoneyBadger35 to carry on with.
 
Who were the posters that didn't rate him? I'd like some names.

I'll be upfront, I didn't know how he would return from illness and wondered if it might be the beginning of the end....
Now its not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps, the end of the beginning.

Unlike others who can only see one side and have polished his privates for years on end for no return I’ll admit his form has been a pleasant surprise….

His best year since 2018 when unfortunately for him he got injured at the wrong time and is probably an unnamed hard luck story from the gf as if he continued his form he should have played… instead of who I have no name I could bring up.


Why or how he has developed a vice like grip I can’t explain but long may it continue. Hopefully he can start dobbing some of the easy goal he misses by stabbing at the ball but that’s just being critical…

Hopefully old junk time never returns but he is a rare beast who has survived only because of our ultra conservative list management hanging onto an underperforming forward for 7-8 years McInnes style and actually now is showing above average form.

6 weeks of form doesn’t cancel out years of rubbish but he is going the right way about it. Bravo….
 

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Stealing other guns nicknames is downplaying Snakes impact.

Should be championing J-Train or Snake

The kids can call him MudJu

Homer Simpson Reaction GIF by Jason Clarke
 
I was another who thought of him as a nearly man.

KPF...
Not good enough to play as #1 or #2 tall forward. Behind JK and JD and then OA in that role. I saw him fighting with BWilliams, Maric and a couple of others for the 3rd tall spot.

Wingman...
I thought this might be his best fallback plan. Running capacity his strength and being the defensive wingman who competes in the air for the long kick down the line looked tailor made for him. If we were rebounding then he could also run as the link man. But his field kicking was a bit up and under, hit and miss, turnover risky for mind.
But again, depending on the type of wing we wanted, he would be up against a few other choices.

Disease...
When he became ill I was concerned whether he'd come back at all, and saw small chance of coming back with the same running power and other strengths he had.
I was wrong.
Not only is his running at least as big a strength, he has improved his marking dramatically. His hands are so strong. And he is less out-bodied as well.

Where now?
Counter-intuitively, for a guy with his aerobic capacity, he now seems most suited as a close to goal marking forward. The best news with his ability to run is that he can work up the ground as a defensive forward and quickly move to the full forward area if we are rebounding from defence. This makes him hard to match up as the opponent needs to have a big tank but also be big bodied and capable of competing in a pack situation.

When Allen returns do we play Jake as the closest to goal forward with OA and JD up the ground? Noting that Jake wouldn't just hang around the goal square. Alternative, do we play OA a a traditional FF and Jake as a run all day CHF and JD as the 3rd tall? Remembering also that BBW has improved his around the ground and forward work rate.
 
Who were the posters that didn't rate him? I'd like some names.

There is one more special someone I hope will make an appearance to click that button and have his guilt assuaged ...

Waterman is consistent - never misses a set shot opportunity to turn his back on opportunities, burn team mates and give defenders time to set up. Then he misses. Play him and we are tanking.

Petch, Cole and Waterman we are absolute fringe players, on ability, and have clearly been from day on. They have never been part of our future. The are undevelopable as quality AFL players
 
Check my posting history. Always rated Jake. Even thought at one stage he could be a future captain. That opportunity seems to have passed and he's seemed to become a bit more of a larrikin as he's grown up.

But it shows how highly I rated him. The two things he has always had at an elite level is footy IQ and work rate.
 
IMG_7989.jpeg

Courtesy of the incomparable Wheelo.

Junktime kicks way more goals in the first half and is an unbelievable 7.1 in the fourth.

Well above expected accuracy in every distance except 30-40m.

That cluster left of the goal square is becoming his signature goal.
 

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View attachment 1995346

Courtesy of the incomparable Wheelo.

Junktime kicks way more goals in the first half and is an unbelievable 7.1 in the fourth.

Well above expected accuracy in every distance except 30-40m.

That cluster left of the goal square is becoming his signature goal.

I like when stats confirm my suspicions

Said to my daughter at the game yesterday when Waterman was lining up for a goal that he struggles with that in between distance

I think he gets too close to the man on the mark unnecessarily and ends up looping his kicks too high
 
Don’t get me wrong I love Jk and he did it quite a bit but I love key forwards that are physical and taking big grabs and also out wrestling their opponents. Hence why I loved watching peak Jack Darling.

Like I said previously in other threads, Jake’s smarts are really showing now. He has dominated a few big guys in contested situations but there’s been games against bigger opponents where he isn’t going to wrestle em as much but uses his gut running and leading to space to get him self shots at goal. I was a tad dissapointed he never got May sent to him.

It’s really pleasing see Jack Hit form too. He had a monster outing and while he didn’t kick a big bag he definitely won that battle with may. If he can keep that form up, then the oppo will start to struggle to contain him, Jake and Allen in a few weeks time
 
Unlike others who can only see one side and have polished his privates for years on end for no return I’ll admit his form has been a pleasant surprise….

His best year since 2018 when unfortunately for him he got injured at the wrong time and is probably an unnamed hard luck story from the gf as if he continued his form he should have played… instead of who I have no name I could bring up.


Why or how he has developed a vice like grip I can’t explain but long may it continue. Hopefully he can start dobbing some of the easy goal he misses by stabbing at the ball but that’s just being critical…

Hopefully old junk time never returns but he is a rare beast who has survived only because of our ultra conservative list management hanging onto an underperforming forward for 7-8 years McInnes style and actually now is showing above average form.

6 weeks of form doesn’t cancel out years of rubbish but he is going the right way about it. Bravo….

Comparing him to McInnes is flat out ridiculous
 
Having watched him kick 5 in the WAFL in the early years I always saw him as a proper forward (not at this high a level mind you). His strengths were that he understood the game, worked hard on the lead but also chased people down. He always got the game, knew where to be and when.

I never liked him in the roles we put him in as a roaming winger or very high forward because his field kicking is proppy and sometimes a bit awkward, lacking that ability for a damaging kick across the body with good vision.

He's a forward through and through, did what he had to do to get games and the coaches obviously saw a role for him before squeezing him in.

Always liked his footy brain, his sticky hands haven't come as a surprise to me at all, nor his leading and workrate but the strength to hold his ground has surprised me massively.
 
I like when stats confirm my suspicions

Said to my daughter at the game yesterday when Waterman was lining up for a goal that he struggles with that in between distance

I think he gets too close to the man on the mark unnecessarily and ends up looping his kicks too high

Yep I was yelling for him to take a longer run up . Should generally just shoot every shot between 25-30m out from 40. From 40-50 he is nearly best in the AFL
 
Seriously happy for him. It has been an incredible turnaround, he just appears to now believe in his ability. The preseason was the first sign of something special, to do what he did on the back of the serious illness just months before was so impressive.

His marking is 👌 Misses a couple of shots here and there, but given the dedication I’ve got no doubt he will put in as much practice as is allowed by the fitness staff.

7.1 in the fourth, that’s impressive. Testament to his fitness and the work he has put in.

Keep going Jake ☺️
 
On the coast to coast podcast, Allen said he and Waterman would likely alternate between deep forward and further up the ground

That said I suspect, initially at least, Allen will spend more time closer to goal as he builds his match fitness
 
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