Lin Jong - a Western Bulldog who belongs

Lin Jong a Western Bulldog who belongs

Date
May 1, 2015 - 8:33PM
Rohan Connolly

There are moments in young players' AFL careers that announce "this kid belongs". Lin Jong's might have come not with something he did, but what someone else didn't.

In round two, the Western Bulldogs were getting on top of Richmond late in the last quarter, one more goal certain to close the deal, when Jong, running with the flight of the ball, took a terrific strong mark over the Tigers' Dylan Grimes 25 metres out.

Well, not officially. Umpire Shane McInerney, unsighted, called for a ball-up, much to the disgust of the Bulldog faithful. And to the displeasure of Jong, who in his 12th game, proceeded to tell the AFL's most experienced umpire, with more than 400 games to his name, exactly what he thought.

"He ran up to me and said: 'Calm down, calm down.' I think I was a bit angry about it," Jong chuckles.

His passion wouldn't have been lost on his peers. Nor, of course, the quality of the work that preceded it. And both are proving instrumental in the Western Bulldogs' very impressive start to the new season.



http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-new...01-1mx6zv.html

To build a premiership side, clubs need rookie list players to step up and improve exponentially. Jong is the prototype example of this.

He's a gem. I love the kid! He's hopefully the first of a few to be churned out by our VFL/Rookie programme. I get the feeling he's still climbing a steep improvement curve. If he stays onboard, he could eventually be elite. He's just so hard at it, such a hard worker, quick, brave, disciplined, driven & good overhead. He's an absolute ripper.

Watching his improvement throughout the 2014 VFL season was an absolute pleasure. Watching him come out of the pre-season having stepped up yet again was an absolute pleasure.

Blokes like Jong really make putting time, money and faith into the club worthwhile. It's what it's all about. Just a pleasure to see a guy go after it so hard and be rewarded.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mantis

Lin Jong a Western Bulldog who belongs

Date
May 1, 2015 - 8:33PM
Rohan Connolly

There are moments in young players' AFL careers that announce "this kid belongs". Lin Jong's might have come not with something he did, but what someone else didn't.

In round two, the Western Bulldogs were getting on top of Richmond late in the last quarter, one more goal certain to close the deal, when Jong, running with the flight of the ball, took a terrific strong mark over the Tigers' Dylan Grimes 25 metres out.

Well, not officially. Umpire Shane McInerney, unsighted, called for a ball-up, much to the disgust of the Bulldog faithful. And to the displeasure of Jong, who in his 12th game, proceeded to tell the AFL's most experienced umpire, with more than 400 games to his name, exactly what he thought.

"He ran up to me and said: 'Calm down, calm down.' I think I was a bit angry about it," Jong chuckles.

His passion wouldn't have been lost on his peers. Nor, of course, the quality of the work that preceded it. And both are proving instrumental in the Western Bulldogs' very impressive start to the new season.



http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-new...01-1mx6zv.html

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His dad looks younger than Lin does.

While the racial thing earlier in the year may have been unpleasant, it highlights to this young man how important he is as an ambassador for the club. The way he carries himself and plays is inspirational.

Kicking has improved immensely. For a while there we had a raft of tough in and under midfielders with suspect ball drop.
Luke is lucky he's coming in at a time when many of these issues have been ironed out. Clay Smith, Lin Jong, and even Easton Wood, who is a lot better than he used to be. You sort of know what you are getting now.

A great article. Lin is quiet around the club...he has expressed more about himself in this piece than I have seen before. It seems he is maturing and becoming more at ease with himself...that can only be good for his continued development.

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Originally Posted by Twodogs

His dad looks younger than Lin does.

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Maybe rookie list him?

Nice piece from Rohan ( think he may have finally moved on from the Crameri defection)
Big improver but I don't find it that surprising given his journey and determination .

Great to see him playing so well, he has matured and is getting stronger!!

It's an easy article to write as it's a great story, but the praise is well deserved

From John Ralph of the Herald Sun April 27th after the Adelaide game "....Lin Jong is a jet....". The recorded stats included 10 contested possessions, 11 uncontested possessions. This young man is rapidly improving and some have judged him prematurely imho.

What has happened to Lin? His first few weeks were electric, providing us a quick break from clearances with his mixture of power and speed.

Then came his injury, and he has been a shadow of that player ever since. What can the coaching staff and Lin do to help him recapture that early season form? It could add a lot to our finals aspirations.

I really like Jong, but I fail to see how he can keep his position in the team at the moment.

He is averaging only 14 disposals a week although he lays los of tackles, but his decision making is poor. Needs to find form at VFL level.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bornadog

I really like Jong, but I fail to see how he can keep his position in the team at the moment.

He is averaging only 14 disposals a week although he lays los of tackles, but his decision making is poor. Needs to find form at VFL level.

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Agree. The footy is going to be pretty hot again next week, and then in the finals. We can't afford to have a mid that regularly fumbles, who also isn't able to impact the game with enough disposals or impact. It's been another year of improvement for Jongy- a lot of positives- but if I was picking the side, I'd say his senior season has finished.