Player Watch Welcome to Hawthorn - Emerson Jeka - delisted 2023

[Roger Rogerson]

There's no conceivable change that would make us even consider throwing our best defender and only genuine backline leader into the forward line.

I'm glad it's the last you'll be posting on it because it's the stupidest recurring opinion on this board and we'll all be left with more braincells not needing to read it every week.

Maybe you need to generate some new brain cells if you can't see that our current logjam of talent is it is in defence and we are yet to find a reliable supporting tall to partner Mitch Lewis. We need to find places for our talent and we need to move players around to do so.

So based on these two points its not inconceivable that Sic might be pushed forward at some stage in the next few years - not next week - as we push for finals especially if we determine to settle on Jeka Blanck and Denver in the back half (or others) and we are performing OK as a defense.

The side will evolve to something quite different in the next 2 to 3 seasons with personnel and positions. We've seen it time after time. We need to have flexibility and be unpredictable if we are to challenge.

Sic started his career as a fwd and showed match winning ability at times up fwd at AFL level. He's one of few in the side with the capability to be a very dangerous swing man. Gunners has been used the opposite way by Clarko in the past. Scrim now making appearances up forward. Morris has come in which has pushed Dimma higher. Mitchell pushed out of CBs.

It's already happening in front of your eyes and you dismiss it as a possibility...I assume you observed our evolution leading up to 2008 and then thru the 3 peat?

 

[KermitJagger]

Maybe you need to generate some new brain cells if you can't see that our current logjam of talent is it is in defence and we are yet to find a reliable supporting tall to partner Mitch Lewis. We need to find places for our talent and we need to move players around to do so.

So based on these two points its not inconceivable that Sic might be pushed forward at some stage in the next few years - not next week - as we push for finals especially if we determine to settle on Jeka Blanck and Denver in the back half (or others) and we are performing OK as a defense.

The side will evolve to something quite different in the next 2 to 3 seasons with personnel and positions. We've seen it time after time. We need to have flexibility and be unpredictable if we are to challenge.

Sic started his career as a fwd and showed match winning ability at times up fwd at AFL level. He's one of few in the side with the capability to be a very dangerous swing man. Gunners has been used the opposite way by Clarko in the past. Scrim now making appearances up forward. Morris has come in which has pushed Dimma higher. Mitchell pushed out of CBs.

It's already happening in front of your eyes and you dismiss it as a possibility...I assume you observed our evolution leading up to 2008 and then thru the 3 peat?

No part of any evolution of the club was taking our best defender and moving them to the forward line to replace them with worse players, which is why the coaches have moved other players like Day and Frost up forward and not Sicily.

Sicily is not just our best defender, he's the highest rated defender in the competition. Stop it.

 

[chopflop]

He's our best player, the best player in the league in that role and one of the best few defenders full stop. You don't move your best player from his best position to try and fit in players like Jeka.

Especially when he's never shown anything close to his current output whilst playing as a forward.

He's the calibre of player that you build the side around. It's up to others to find their roles. It's not up to him to move in order to accommodate others.

There are two good reasons. Develop players like jeka and dgb and..............

 

[Brant]

No part of any evolution of the club was taking our best defender and moving them to the forward line to replace them with worse players, which is why the coaches have moved other players like Day and Frost up forward and not Sicily.

Sicily is not just our best defender, he's the highest rated defender in the competition. Stop it.

1st week of finals in 2015, vs Eagles, in Perth. Frawley started forward. He was bad & we got torched...

In game, especially if suffering an injury & needing to hold structure, we could probs send Sicily forward to some effect, assuming we didn't desperately need him in defence. I threw stuff at the TV when Clarko tried it in consecutive games against the scum & someone else, a couple of years back...

But enough about Sicily - he probs has like 4x of his own threads by now...


I'm really excited to have Jeka in the side, from a development point of view. I'm not worried about his turnovers from the weekend (because we won!) - I think they're a result of not quite having the speed of the game worked out. He's far more likely to overcome this through exposure than in the VFL & watching tapes on a Monday.

IMO, his performance against Suns earnt him another game this week. So whilst he's earning his games (again, my opinion), we should keep playing him.

 

[Roger Rogerson]

No part of any evolution of the club was taking our best defender and moving them to the forward line to replace them with worse players, which is why the coaches have moved other players like Day and Frost up forward and not Sicily.

Sicily is not just our best defender, he's the highest rated defender in the competition. Stop it.

There are two good reasons. Develop players like jeka and dgb and..............

It's the first. Blanck looks a lock at FB. If Jeka emerges as a 2nd tall defender it is clear he will also be a distributor. And if DGB has completed his apprentice as a 2nd tall so has learned to defend one on one and can switch into his natural 3rd tall role, we will be a far better side and by then with a far better midfield. And being able to plonk a genuine A grader in Sicily in our F50 who has kicked goals will make us a far more dangerous side in an area we are lacking.

Who knows we may draft Cadman and he is the answer up fwd but right now we need to be thinking about how our side looks in 2 or 3 seasons with what we have got. We know what we have in Sic it's the others we need to find out about to improve our side.

 

[KermitJagger]

It's the first. Blanck looks a lock at FB. If Jeka emerges as a 2nd tall defender it is clear he will also be a distributor. And if DGB has completed his apprentice as a 2nd tall so has learned to defend one on one and can switch into his natural 3rd tall role, we will be a far better side and by then with a far better midfield. And being able to plonk a genuine A grader in Sicily in our F50 who has kicked goals will make us a far more dangerous side in an area we are lacking.

Who knows we may draft Cadman and he is the answer up fwd but right now we need to be thinking about how our side looks in 2 or 3 seasons with what we have got. We know what we have in Sic it's the others we need to find out about to improve our side.

Yes our defense will be well served by two guys in their early 20s who have played less than 50 games between them. Who needs leadership?

Ffs you have no idea how important Sicily is to us defensively even with the other players we have in that area of the ground if you're posting this tripe.

 

[cs61]

Pretty good problem to have. Jeka, Morris, Frost, Grainger-Barras, Blanck, Sicily, Hardwick, Day, Scrimshaw, CJ, Bramble, ....... quite the depth back there. Think we'll have to try Bramble up on the wing, and I also agree given we are a short on a key forward we'll try (at least) one of our defenders up forward. I actually think Frost might be (continued to be) trialled as a forward with the advent of Blanck. Not convinced it will work, but saw enough that it might be worth a go, and that way aren't reshaping our defence. Frost might be used to plug holes up forward or back a bit to keep our key position depth strong but not a sort of must now either. Not a world beater, just a bit of a lunatic making a contest and also is very, very quick. Think he'd give the opposition something to think about, and he's tough and ruthless, which I wouldn't mind having someone with a bit more agro up forward as well.

I like the idea of keeping really good users of the ball behind the ball, Sicily, Day, and now perhaps Jeka will be given a chance. I think this is a real weapon with the way we want to play. Sicily isn't just an elite intercept but an elite user of the ball which makes him absolutely A grade down there, so it'd be pretty hard to move him.

It's pretty cool that Jeka has gone from 'probably delisted' to some saying 'hey maybe we should move our best defender out of there so we can squeeze him in' in just a few weeks, even if I don't think we should consider moving Sicily.

 

[Roger Rogerson]

Yes our defense will be well served by two guys in their early 20s who have played less than 50 games between them. Who needs leadership?

Ffs you have no idea how important Sicily is to us defensively even with the other players we have in that area of the ground if you're posting this tripe.

It's not about now...not sure how you have missed that bit of tripe. We will finish bottom 6 with Sic as the highest rated defender in the comp. It says that we have a lot of issues and our current list is stacked with defenders so we need to test this group.

Imagine we can unearth another Sic in defence out of this group or discover a dynamic between emerging young players which means we can have the luxury of considering an option of using him elsewhere? How is it so hard to contemplate and why is there a need to be condescending about it ( which isn't limited to this thread either).

We cannot be one dimensional in our approach and our thinking if we are to become a strong side again. Sam is showing he is willing to push players into different roles.

It's about what may be and how Jeka is potentially a key piece in it.

 

[chopflop]

FFS... We have two dead rubbers to go. Our ladder position isn't changing. What is the harm in throwing the magnets around?! Sicily we be lined up at CHB in round 1 2023 but there is no harm done by asking him to go snag a couple of sausage rolls and giving younger blokes a chance to play a few games down back. We played Day as a 2nd banana tall forward this year! Never played the position in his life! It's really not a stretch to throw a Sicily or even a Hardwick for for a game or two.

 

[Howe Amazing]

Among all this debate I just hope we sign Jeka soon to 2 year deal before another club gets in

 

[H00t]

It's not about now...not sure how you have missed that bit of tripe. We will finish bottom 6 with Sic as the highest rated defender in the comp. It says that we have a lot of issues and our current list is stacked with defenders so we need to test this group.

Imagine we can unearth another Sic in defence out of this group or discover a dynamic between emerging young players which means we can have the luxury of considering an option of using him elsewhere? How is it so hard to contemplate and why is there a need to be condescending about it ( which isn't limited to this thread either).

We cannot be one dimensional in our approach and our thinking if we are to become a strong side again. Sam is showing he is willing to push players into different roles.

It's about what may be and how Jeka is potentially a key piece in it.

Without Sicily we probably only win half the games we have. He’s been immense for us in the back half. And pretty much transformed it the moment he came back in.

We can only hope Jeka is able to copy some of what Sicily is able to do. With his kicking and reading of the ball in flight.

 

[The Chad and I]

Don’t agree with this at all. DGB has clearly polarised many supporters so for a variety of reasons. I think going at pick 6 has has quite a few supports wanting him to be showing more - in only his second season. I am personally very comfortable on how he is tracking - love his attack on the ball and attacking mindset

Jekas main detractors basically all point out the same thing - lack of intensity and consistency in contested ball situations, which is funnily enough one of the main reasons he was overlooked in his draft year

DGB gets "good bloke" points.
Jeka doesn't.
Who knows how these things work, but it's puzzling to observe.

Jeka has been much better.

 

[KermitJagger]

DGB gets "good bloke" points.
Jeka doesn't.
Who knows how these things work, but it's puzzling to observe.

Jeka has been much better.

DGB hasn't lost a defensive 1:1 from the 16 he's had in his last 6 games. DGB is not playing glamorous football, by coaches instruction no less, but he's doing what he needs to be doing.

Of the 3 Jeka was involved in against Gold Coast, he lost 2.

Would argue Jeka is getting a lot more slack. I've seen DGB written off by plenty, and there's a group here who think Jeka is good enough to replace Sicily.

 

[Dewyyyyy]

Rough battled early as a fwd. We played him back for a few weeks late in his first year I think. He finally looked like he belonged, went fwd the next year and great things happened.

Think it’s better for us if Jeka can do the same but if not we potentially have a very good defender on our hands.

Think he will. His leading patterns are elite.

 

[The Chad and I]

DGB hasn't lost a defensive 1:1 from the 16 he's had in his last 6 games. DGB is not playing glamorous football, by coaches instruction no less, but he's doing what he needs to be doing.

Of the 3 Jeka was involved in against Gold Coast, he lost 2.

Would argue Jeka is getting a lot more slack. I've seen DGB written off by plenty, and there's a group here who think Jeka is good enough to replace Sicily.

you're gilding the lilly my man.
Jeka is not ready to "replace" Sicily.

 

[James Buchanan]

I find a lot of these positional switches go one of two ways:

• The player thrives and finds their new niche as an AFL footballer.
• The player thrives, develops the confidence and capacity as an AFL footballer and can then translate that back to their original position.

For me, if Jeka shows great promise as a key back, it might give him the confidence and capacity to be become a better AFL key forward down the track. So many players are drafted as key forwards, learn the game down back, and then take off as a key forward later on.

Either way, if he can show himself that he belongs it's a good problem to have. Who knows, DGB could thrive as a KPF if spots are tight back there. Scrimshaw could travel into the mids with Day and suddenly our riches in defense could easily spill out further afield.

Scrimmers has stated a desire to play mid before now. He's certainly got the talent to drift forward and score goals.

 

[KermitJagger]

Scrimmers has stated a desire to play mid before now. He's certainly got the talent to drift forward and score goals.

I still think Scrimshaw as a rotational mid has more promise than the coaches seem to give it credit for. He's good at getting his arms free.

 

[James Buchanan]

I still think Scrimshaw as a rotational mid has more promise than the coaches seem to give it credit for. He's good at getting his arms free.

That's a really good point. Also, he provides a fantastic kick into the forward 50.

 

[Adrian Dodoro]

DGB gets "good bloke" points.
Jeka doesn't.
Who knows how these things work, but it's puzzling to observe.

Jeka has been much better.

I like Jeka a lot and this he has been great.

But he has not been much better than DGB. If you have any mates who have played defense who watch hawks games, ask them what they reckon about Denver out of context. Jeka and Blanck have ~10 kilos, a few centimetres and a year on Denver, each - if DGB was an early bloomer and was drafted a bit more filled out, with identical skill/IQ he'd be locked in the team. Sam De Koning was drafted in 2019, no games in 2020, one game in 2021 where he played Ruck/Forward and then his 2022 goes without saying - DGB is ahead of schedule by all metrics.

I was never a good defender but DGB has heaps of subtle defensive efforts in most games I've watched. Jeka is still learning the position so we can't expect him to be the same, and given his 'forward brain' his efforts are usually more noticable and attacking. But I seriously rate Denver's ability to help out other defenders in the air, he switches opponenets without leaving anyone loose, he puts himself in possible oppossion leading corridors and he is multi dimensional - he doesn't prefer to/mostly play in front like Sicily or play from behind like Harris Andrews (or Blanck). He is also a total s**t stirrer and bar Sicily, no Hawthorn player has shown his level of enthusiasm for getting in someone's head since Lake.

Love Emerson, love his improvement, but absolutely not copping this DGB stuff. And needed something to distract me from work.

 

[Noel Gallagher]

I like Jeka a lot and this he has been great.

But he has not been much better than DGB. If you have any mates who have played defense who watch hawks games, ask them what they reckon about Denver out of context. Jeka and Blanck have ~10 kilos, a few centimetres and a year on Denver, each - if DGB was an early bloomer and was drafted a bit more filled out, with identical skill/IQ he'd be locked in the team. Sam De Koning was drafted in 2019, no games in 2020, one game in 2021 where he played Ruck/Forward and then his 2022 goes without saying - DGB is ahead of schedule by all metrics.

I was never a good defender but DGB has heaps of subtle defensive efforts in most games I've watched. Jeka is still learning the position so we can't expect him to be the same, and given his 'forward brain' his efforts are usually more noticable and attacking. But I seriously rate Denver's ability to help out other defenders in the air, he switches opponenets without leaving anyone loose, he puts himself in possible oppossion leading corridors and he is multi dimensional - he doesn't prefer to/mostly play in front like Sicily or play from behind like Harris Andrews (or Blanck). He is also a total s**t stirrer and bar Sicily, no Hawthorn player has shown his level of enthusiasm for getting in someone's head since Lake.

Love Emerson, love his improvement, but absolutely not copping this DGB stuff. And needed something to distract me from work.

One of the most accurate posts I have read on here for a while

 

[Suntory Boss Coffee]

Is Jeka still on the rookie list?

Will need to be elevated as has been 3 years

 

[OnTheRocks]

Clean up in aisle 45

 

[streetspirit]

Is Jeka still on the rookie list?

Will need to be elevated as has been 3 years

Yes. Reeves was the only rookie elevated last year.

 

[The Chad and I]

DGB hasn't lost a defensive 1:1 from the 16 he's had in his last 6 games. DGB is not playing glamorous football, by coaches instruction no less, but he's doing what he needs to be doing.

Of the 3 Jeka was involved in against Gold Coast, he lost 2.

Would argue Jeka is getting a lot more slack. I've seen DGB written off by plenty, and there's a group here who think Jeka is good enough to replace Sicily.

single KPI data points don't tell you much, even about that KPI in isolation.
I like DGB. He's a keeper.

 

[The Chad and I]

I like Jeka a lot and this he has been great.

But he has not been much better than DGB. If you have any mates who have played defense who watch hawks games, ask them what they reckon about Denver out of context. Jeka and Blanck have ~10 kilos, a few centimetres and a year on Denver, each - if DGB was an early bloomer and was drafted a bit more filled out, with identical skill/IQ he'd be locked in the team. Sam De Koning was drafted in 2019, no games in 2020, one game in 2021 where he played Ruck/Forward and then his 2022 goes without saying - DGB is ahead of schedule by all metrics.

I was never a good defender but DGB has heaps of subtle defensive efforts in most games I've watched. Jeka is still learning the position so we can't expect him to be the same, and given his 'forward brain' his efforts are usually more noticable and attacking. But I seriously rate Denver's ability to help out other defenders in the air, he switches opponenets without leaving anyone loose, he puts himself in possible oppossion leading corridors and he is multi dimensional - he doesn't prefer to/mostly play in front like Sicily or play from behind like Harris Andrews (or Blanck). He is also a total s**t stirrer and bar Sicily, no Hawthorn player has shown his level of enthusiasm for getting in someone's head since Lake.

Love Emerson, love his improvement, but absolutely not copping this DGB stuff. And needed something to distract me from work.

I like DGB a lot!