When I'm trying to figure out if a bloke can play, I tend to look at their club's B&F results and the coaches awards.
He's had a 2nd place finish last year in the Worsfold Medal, and a 6th place in 2016, and not placed in the top 10 prior to that in his relatively short career.
This year he's polled Coaches Association votes in 5 out of 18 games.
I reckon he's a very good player: he gets to the right spots and has some of the best hands in the business, but it also seems to me that match-ups and the flow of the game need to play out a certain way for him to dominate. For $1 million a year, I'd want a bloke who can impose himself on the game no matter the situation.
I also think that two years of very good footy is a relatively short amount of time to project another five years of dominance. He's 26 now. If he had been playing like this for 5 years, then, sure, lock in another 5. But some players peak for a relatively short amount of time. It's possible he's one of those.
As I said, good on him and it could pan out to be a good signing by West Coast, but my initial reaction was one of relief.
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