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Thought i'd start a discussion on our kp forward and his improvement in recent weeks.
Jones is still pretty young and still quite raw as a player, his skills are sometimes average, especially his kicking ability and while he had shown glimpses of his potential and a willingness to work hard, he wasn't setting the world on fire.
The last few weeks we have had some wins but i think we've also seen a big step forward in Liam Jones's progress. Earlier in the year he still didn't have clue when it came to pack marking. He had the leap but he wasn't positioning himself correctly, extending the arms out and he was wasn't positioning himself in the air where he would be balanced correctly. By that i mean that he was leaping and his upper body was still going forward with his momentum and the body contact in the pack. Opposition players were spoiling him easily because he doesn't extend his arms to mark the ball or he would go for the chest mark as a safety due to his lack of confidence in his hands.
The last few weeks, and especially the game against Carlton we saw a very different Liam Jones. I don't think he dropped a single pack mark that he had a good go at.
What i noticed was that he wasn't charging at the contest at full speed and therefore losing his balance in the air. Liam also positioned his run often from the side in order to get the best position, something he hadn't really done before. As a result he was very upright in the air and he was very strong with his hands.
Perhaps Chris Grant's assistance is paying off with some of our key talls.
I think this is a huge step forward for Liam, and i hope continues to improve and hopefully learns how to kick next.
Jones is still pretty young and still quite raw as a player, his skills are sometimes average, especially his kicking ability and while he had shown glimpses of his potential and a willingness to work hard, he wasn't setting the world on fire.
The last few weeks we have had some wins but i think we've also seen a big step forward in Liam Jones's progress. Earlier in the year he still didn't have clue when it came to pack marking. He had the leap but he wasn't positioning himself correctly, extending the arms out and he was wasn't positioning himself in the air where he would be balanced correctly. By that i mean that he was leaping and his upper body was still going forward with his momentum and the body contact in the pack. Opposition players were spoiling him easily because he doesn't extend his arms to mark the ball or he would go for the chest mark as a safety due to his lack of confidence in his hands.
The last few weeks, and especially the game against Carlton we saw a very different Liam Jones. I don't think he dropped a single pack mark that he had a good go at.
What i noticed was that he wasn't charging at the contest at full speed and therefore losing his balance in the air. Liam also positioned his run often from the side in order to get the best position, something he hadn't really done before. As a result he was very upright in the air and he was very strong with his hands.
Perhaps Chris Grant's assistance is paying off with some of our key talls.
I think this is a huge step forward for Liam, and i hope continues to improve and hopefully learns how to kick next.
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