The Luke Jackson midfield experiment is about to proceed, with Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir assured it would pay massive dividends down the monitor.
Jackson received a premiership at Melbourne taking part in a hybrid ruck-forward position, however he endured a tricky begin to his life as a Docker.
The 21-year-old was goalless and took only one mark throughout the opening two rounds.
But he showcased his potential in Sunday’s 41-point western derby win over West Coast, tallying 12 disposals, 17 hitouts, two contested marks, two targets and 7 tackles.
Although Jackson nonetheless performed the vast majority of the sport up ahead, the 199cm rising star was used as a big-bodied midfielder at instances to rove for fellow ruckman Sean Darcy.
The transfer helped Jackson get extra concerned within the recreation, and it is a position he is set to proceed in Saturday’s conflict with the Crows in Adelaide.
“It’s something we’re going to look to evolve with Luke,” Longmuir informed reporters on Wednesday.
“He’s a really good ground level player, he’s a hard match up given his size around there.
“He’s received some work to do on his stoppage craft and people type of issues, but it surely’s a long-term (plan) with Luke.
“We didn’t get him to the club for the first three weeks of his career. We hope he’s here for 10 years. We look to evolve his game, and try to evolve us as a team as well.”
Jackson solely tallied one clearance in opposition to the Eagles, however Longmuir noticed loads of upside.
“I thought it worked OK on the weekend, it’s going to work better the more experiences he gets there,” he mentioned.
“He’s probably only played a handful of centre bounces as a midfielder in his whole life.
“The extra we do it, the higher we’ll get. I believed these two (Darcy and Jackson) operated rather well collectively.
“Sean hit the scoreboard, he could have easily kicked three goals himself.”
Two-time Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe has been dominated out for a 3rd straight match with plantar fasciitis.
Longmuir is hopeful Fyfe will return for subsequent week’s Gather Round conflict with Gold Coast, however there is not any ensures.
“It’s a bit unpredictable the injury,” Longmuir mentioned.
“We’ve already tried a few things. We’ve got some improvement, but just not as much as we would have liked.
“We really feel prefer it might come good fairly shortly. We might see him perhaps the Gold Coast recreation, however it is a bit unpredictable, so we’ll take it week by week.”
Defender Brandon Walker is set to replace Heath Chapman, who will be sidelined for three weeks with a calf injury.
Midfielder Will Brodie was surprisingly axed for final week’s derby, and it stays to be seen whether or not he’ll earn a recall.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
