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Re: Round #2 Match Committee
Jones must spend the season in the seniors.
He has only played six games, he just turned twenty, and his first year at the club was spent playing school footy. His development for the long term must be a priority and he'll only learn about AFL football by playing in the seniors.
Quality key position forwards don't grow on trees. That's why we've only been able to develop one of them in the past twenty one years (and he debuted in 1990).
The dominant key forwards in the game today have significant experience:
Brown - 201 games
Riewoldt - 198 games
Hall - 275 games
Pavlich - 237 games
Franklin - 121 games
Roughead - 126 games
Cloke - 125 games
With the exception of Brown (who besides being a freak started with the best midfield in the AFL on his side and with other big bodies around him), the players listed above weren't match winners at the beginning of their careers. All of them played games much worse than Jones did against Essendon; but all were backed in by their clubs and given the time needed to develop because football clubs understand that key position forwards are the rarest and most valuable commodity in football.
Even the young forwards in the league who hope to become the next generation of stars have at least five times the experience that Jones has.
Jack Riewoldt was seen as Johnny Come Lately last year, but is in fact playing his 70th game this week. His performances in his first thirty games were hardly awe inspiring, but Richmond continued to play him.
Tippett's played 65 games, Dawes has played 31, Hurley has played 30, Henderson has played 35, Hansen has played 51 and Gumbleton has played 22 (and he needs a lot more time which Essendon will give him). Patty Ryder is developing nicely; he's played 94 games so far.
Once again, Jones has played in the seniors just six times.
He has potential and the club genuinely believes that he can make it, so we have to give him every opportunity to develop. Jones' selection shouldn't be a week by week proposition; it should be a certainty unless he is injured or not obeying instruction or team rules.
If we don't back Jones in (and Grant - who looks much better after his 22 games in the seniors so far) this year then we'll be missing our only opportunity of building a post-Hall forward line that will be ready when Barry retires.
They simply have to play. If that costs us sometimes, then we simply have to wear it.
Exactly the same argument can be made about playing Roughead this year. Not only is he a promising ruckman but he also shows good natural instincts when playing in the forward line (something Will Minson has never really shown in his one hundred plus games of footy so far).
Playing him at every opportunity this year has two benefits: 1. His superior forward play to Minson would allow us to play both ruckman on the ground at the same time, which is crucial when rotating midfielders through the three man bench; 2. He needs regular senior football to develop so he can become our number one ruckman when Hudson retires.
IN: Roughead
KEEP: Jones
Jones must spend the season in the seniors.
He has only played six games, he just turned twenty, and his first year at the club was spent playing school footy. His development for the long term must be a priority and he'll only learn about AFL football by playing in the seniors.
Quality key position forwards don't grow on trees. That's why we've only been able to develop one of them in the past twenty one years (and he debuted in 1990).
The dominant key forwards in the game today have significant experience:
Brown - 201 games
Riewoldt - 198 games
Hall - 275 games
Pavlich - 237 games
Franklin - 121 games
Roughead - 126 games
Cloke - 125 games
With the exception of Brown (who besides being a freak started with the best midfield in the AFL on his side and with other big bodies around him), the players listed above weren't match winners at the beginning of their careers. All of them played games much worse than Jones did against Essendon; but all were backed in by their clubs and given the time needed to develop because football clubs understand that key position forwards are the rarest and most valuable commodity in football.
Even the young forwards in the league who hope to become the next generation of stars have at least five times the experience that Jones has.
Jack Riewoldt was seen as Johnny Come Lately last year, but is in fact playing his 70th game this week. His performances in his first thirty games were hardly awe inspiring, but Richmond continued to play him.
Tippett's played 65 games, Dawes has played 31, Hurley has played 30, Henderson has played 35, Hansen has played 51 and Gumbleton has played 22 (and he needs a lot more time which Essendon will give him). Patty Ryder is developing nicely; he's played 94 games so far.
Once again, Jones has played in the seniors just six times.
He has potential and the club genuinely believes that he can make it, so we have to give him every opportunity to develop. Jones' selection shouldn't be a week by week proposition; it should be a certainty unless he is injured or not obeying instruction or team rules.
If we don't back Jones in (and Grant - who looks much better after his 22 games in the seniors so far) this year then we'll be missing our only opportunity of building a post-Hall forward line that will be ready when Barry retires.
They simply have to play. If that costs us sometimes, then we simply have to wear it.
Exactly the same argument can be made about playing Roughead this year. Not only is he a promising ruckman but he also shows good natural instincts when playing in the forward line (something Will Minson has never really shown in his one hundred plus games of footy so far).
Playing him at every opportunity this year has two benefits: 1. His superior forward play to Minson would allow us to play both ruckman on the ground at the same time, which is crucial when rotating midfielders through the three man bench; 2. He needs regular senior football to develop so he can become our number one ruckman when Hudson retires.
IN: Roughead
KEEP: Jones
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