Jetta: is it just me?

[O'Reilly Boy]

He is playing fantastically. He has often placed himself close to the back of packs?particularly in the first quarter on Saturday night when the sleeves were rolled up and the game was won?cleanly collecting spilt balls, breaking tackles, making space and getting the clearances, or effecting tackles when it goes the other way. He is chasing, closing down space and, as others have pointed out, delivering quality disposals. He is certainly not tucking the ball under his arm and haring off when in space, but he is kicking long and sweetly. Not just in our best 22; in our top 10.

[Conor_Dillon]

I think they, our coaching staff, are keeping the reins on him. If he plays that sling shot role every week he will get a very solid tag and not get anywhere near it. Perhaps we will see the real Jetts in Sept?

I was going to say something very similar to this. It seems like he is almost reluctant to run and break the game open with speed because he is wary of again receiving the close checking that hindered him during the 2013 campaign. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see him blow a game apart during the finals, opposition teams are giving him far too much space.

I also agree with the comments RE his pressure in recent weeks, it has been the best it's ever been throughout his career and he is remarkably clean in traffic. He has partially covered the loss of Hannebery, being able to get the footy both inside and outside...it is a rare asset in modern football.

[swanspant12]

All he needs is for horse to say: "Jetts take the bloody game on mate no one will catch ya"

Bang. Jetts is back.

[Auntie.Gerald]

I still maintain there are more layers to what we saw in 2012 with Jetts and what we see in 2014 rather then him just supposedly loosing lots of speed or not wanting to sprint off for 80m.

It is NOT that he has lost stacks of pace and it is that he is playing deeper and looking for the kick into a target in the 50m more so and this has been coached no doubt.

I also believe the absence of slingshot with Jetts, Jack and Hannes making significant breaks past the backs and chasing the long ball over the top "slingshot" is symptom of what now works best for the team.

For me Jetta is simply part of the solution in 2014 ie he is fitting into the game plan of a new order and his role has changed.......... we now need to move the ball very quickly from one end to the other but this season more so to our big goal scoring forwards Tippett, Franklin, Reid and Goodes...........so the best question really is how do we isolate space for our talls who are great kicks at goal ? how do we give them the best chance to score with out having to run all over the field?

For me a greater danger then Jetts not being utilised in the same way as 2012.... is The Swans becoming to "Buddy Centric"............when you have a gun forward like Buddy it is so easy to believe in the tight games that he will get you across the line......he has stepped up massively as the year has gone on and been that player that found some magic when we needed it and he was the difference without doubt!

Fast direct footy via foot works for us right now with the forward line we have because it leaves the least amount of time for opposition backs to stack numbers around our talls. In the pre season we were adjusting the scrap games i watched to getting better and better at playing some direct footy thru the middle via foot ie with a forward posting up in the middle who dragged a tall defender up the field and then having Mal etc running off that key forward for another centre pass.

PS - Sling shot still sometimes works for us and we can utilise this style of attack when we have certain players missing........ but it has been countered by coaches very well as most game plans are after every season...........Port have been the best at utilising a hybrid of this style of football where they flood forward in numbers generally handpassing but tend to have less targets to hit upfront....this was well coached because their couple of talls could not compete with plenty of backs around them.......Port are in a similar situation to us in 2012 where we had gut running thru the middle and sling shot footy by the likes of Jack and Jett and Hannes etc because our targets upfront where good but can be minimised with the extra man in defence by the Top 4 teams.

PSS - Now we have incredibly dominant targets who win games !!!!

[undy]

All he needs is for horse to say: "Jetts take the bloody game on mate no one will catch ya"

Bang. Jetts is back.

It was interesting (at least to me) that Jetta rated himself as slower than Rohan, but faster than Harry. Also that he admits that he looks at who is chasing him and adjusts his speed appropriately to be a metre ahead of them. Very sporting

[Rod_]

IMO Its just you

Jettes has a different roles this year. wait for it is my suggestion.

finals player of the year

[Meg]

Very interesting post AG. I agree with you.

[Jeffers1984]

It's clearly obvious that he is playing a different role this year. Not as much slingshot when you have 2 elite big targets up forward.
I'm liking Jetta's year so far. He is averaging more possessions and tackles and harasses well. Yes he could do with a big more polish delivering to the forwards but apart from that he has been solid. Really perplexed on the criticism he is copping lately.

[dimelb]

Classic slingshot move was on display against Port, but Jetts (like others in that first Q) only managed a behind. He hasn't dropped it, I think holding it in reserve for a later date. Otherwise he's playing great football, and I love watching the growth of skills and options.