A positive Jack Anthony thread

[jack_spain]

Out of the carnage of our loss to St Kilda one genuine positive emerged. Whereas our forwards and backs looked rudderless and our senior players showed no propensity for onfield leadership (who was our acting captain last night? ), I saw a future leader emerge out there last night.

Jack Anthony should be captain one day. There was at least one occasion when he literally demanded the ball be passed to him. His second and third efforts were magnificent and he gave lip to the St Kilda players. In fact before the first bounce he was giving Hudghton stick. Good onya Jack - that's the Magpie spirit. Intelligent, pesky, annoying, mean, and if necessary very arrogant and angry (just like the Magpie species). But we played like good little canaries last night - and not very pretty ones at that.

Already some posters have said they don't think JA gets on too well with his peers - he's a bit aloof. Well, I'll tell you what, that's exactly the sort of courageous captain I want to see. One who demands maximum effort from his teammates and is absolutely unforgiving on himself. Jack Anthony has the mental capacity to dominate games in coming years, and his sheer will-power will lift team mates to want to do the impossible. He may not have Buckley's sublime skills, but he sure has that healthy dose of FIG jam.

I can well imagine Bucks as coach and JA as captain holding up the 2010 premiership cup!

[blacknwhiteatheart]

I can well imagine Bucks as coach and JA as captain holding up the 2010 premiership cup!

i think we are on the same page

[Pied Piper]

Since you've re-posted your Jack Anthony spiel into a new thread (fair enough) I thought I should re-post what I wrote in reply:

Having a crack at Medhurst when he didn't get the ball passed to him on a silver platter showed he has a way to go before being considered captaincy material.

JA has been great, don't get me wrong, but he ain't the messiah just yet either.

PS weren't you and I on the same page a few weeks ago saying Harry O'Brien looked like a future captain?

[Tannin]

some posters have said they don't think JA gets on too well with his peers - he's a bit aloof

Remind you of anyone? My memory is shocking, who was it? Played in the centre a lot, beautiful right-foot kick. Nathan somebody?

[jack_spain]

PS weren't you and I on the same page a few weeks ago saying Harry O'Brien looked like a future captain?

I won't deny it PP. I love Harry and thought he was far from our worst last night. But I've been won over by Jack's never say die attitude. And he has that touch of mongrel that Harry O will never have. Jack looks like he could have walked out of the pages of our great 1920s and 30s sides.

[Snoop Dog]

maybe you and Malthouse are on different pages. seemed little disappointed with Jack in the post match and suggested maybe Jack could get serious about his last 10mins of kicking practice.

Great year though.

Bit rough on Josh - he was one of the better.

[stui magpie]

some posters have said they don't think JA gets on too well with his peers - he's a bit aloof

Remind you of anyone? My memory is shocking, who was it? Played in the centre a lot, beautiful right-foot kick. Nathan somebody?

Last name escapes me but didn't he have the nickname FIGJAM early on?

[jack_spain]

maybe you and Malthouse are on different pages. seemed little disappointed with Jack in the post match and suggested maybe Jack could get serious about his last 10mins of kicking practice.

Did Mick Malthouse take a good look at himself in the mirror last night too! I've been very supportive of him this season, but last night's coaching effort was so calpably bad they must have been eating takeway in the coaches box (except only Geelong is good enough to get away with that).

It's a bit rich to blame Jack for poor kicking when he's been one of our best this year. But then some people think I'm blind for saying that for all his stats Pendlebury has had very little influence on games this year. I hope Mick reflects deeply on his failings this year, because as courageous as our young side was at times, we failed and will always fail until we win the big one. We are too accepting of defeat in this era at Collingwood. I can forgive failure, as I will most of the team last night, but what I won't continue to stomach is people who think we're doing alright going year after bloody year and never threatening to win a flag!

You've had 10 years Mick and one more to go on contract. The equation is simple: No flag = no renewal of contract MM.

[virgomag]

With you all the way jack-spain !!!!!

Luv JA and I also think John McCarthy will be a very handy pick up too !?

[HAL]

What kind of food do you like? Since when? Do you mean your name is John?

[AN_Inkling]

In recent years, off field leadership has become a more important consideration than on in selecting a captain. Haven't seen enough of JA to judge.

The fact he's even being considered, albeit by one poster on an internet forum , shows the dearth of mid-aged players in the squad (along with the under-appreciation of those who are there (Josh and Tarks are surely ahead of Jack, as are a number of others)).

This lack of mid-aged players could be both a blessing and a curse for our younger players. Throwing the youngsters into the deep end has its advantages (forces them to learn quickly, instantly makes them feel part of the team), but it also has some potential pitfalls (can wear them down physically, can negatively affect confidence, can lose creative spark due to over-burdening with responsibility), think we've seen this with Josh pretty much playing number 1 ruck from 17.

I think they need more support, and certainly hope that if we lose many of Burns, Presti, Wakelin (seems gone), Johnson, R.Shaw, Rocca (unlikely) that we bring in some older players from other clubs, we've lost too many experienced players over the last two years, especially quality leaders and need to be careful of over-burdening young players.

[David]

Anyone sporting The Seventh Seal as an avatar must have some credibility. JA for captain now!

[jack_spain]

Anyone sporting The Seventh Seal as an avatar must have some credibility. JA for captain now!

Well, that's one for the Victoria Park Tavernites.

[Banksy]

J.A has leadership written all over him.

[rocketronnie]

Mr Spain's back on his Mick bashing band wagon again I see. Somethings never change.

Anthony is way too immature to be considered captain material for years, if at all. He also needs to develop the ability to give a four quarter effort. He goes missing in games way too much at times, and then pops up to kick a goal or three. He needs to become a team player far more than he sometimes shows. I would think that Dawes is ahead of him in goal assists also. Buckley was not born great, he made himself great by becoming an excellent team man (amongst many other things).

I hope Anthony gets a royal kick up the arse behind closed doors for that public display of petulance. Medhurst was right to tell him to **** off. At the moment, Anthony is lucky to be in the same team as Medhurst, and needs to learn that. I doubt that outburst would have won him the respect of anyone in the team on the night. That sort of garbage breaks morale, it doesn't boost it.

At the moment, real captain material like Fraser, Maxwell, Swan and Pendlebury are so far ahead of him that to consider him captain material in a couple of years is just absurd.

All that said he has the potential to be a very good player for us. His game against Adelaide showed he has the potential to give greater effort than he showed in earlier matches, which were more cameo performances really. Hopefully he learns from this episode and has the character to get straight with Medhurst also. I look forward to further improvement from him next year because if Rocca plays on and with Rusling fit, he may not be a walk up start as he has needed to have been in the last part of 08.