We'll see how he goes when he has to stand up to being the first tagged rather than the armchair ride he's afforded at present behind Ablett, Bartel and Corey. Until then maybe we should reserve judgment.
Have you actually seen the kid play? Did you see him beat Medhurst in the air, one the ground, chase the ball into a pack against two Collingwood players and still win out? How about when he did it again against Brisbane, tapping the ball out of the contest, running it down in a meeting engagment against and opponent older and bigger and winning anyway? How about
this, merely one of numerous examples of him beating the opponent in close and sweeping a handball into space?
The 'he doesn't cop the No 1 tag every week' meme is simply a way for opposition fans to avoid admitting that he is distressingly good for a first year player coming back from a serious knee injury. Ablett and Bartel don't give him a free ride, he creates his own opportunities: he has the equal 10th highest tackle count in the AFL, and it was not infrequent for him to have the most hardball gets on the ground.
PS: Corey doesn't get tagged...he plays one on one with his opponent, usually second best midfielder, and he usually beats them
