I thought Xerri was really strong in the sections of the game where North were up and about, and Jackson sort of a got on top late in quarters and in the game, with some high-impact plays in-between.
If I think about how it would have shaken out on Saturday with Darcy, I honestly think Xerri would have been pretty useless against Darcy, because he’s basically an inferior version of Darcy. In that case, I reckon the damage on the scoreboard in the first half is much less. So instead of coming from 6 or 7 goals down it’s probably only a few. When Jackson is swung into the ruck he would have had even more impact because he’s fresher, and poor Xerri has been softened up by Darcy.
As to what Jackson is doing in the forward line (or elsewhere) when he’s not rucking, is he contributing more or less in the team than Tabs (or Cox the week before)? Surely it’s more, yeah? I agree with Hypen that it’s easier for defenders to mark him than ruckman to track him (the way Fyfe kicks more goals as a midfielder than as a forward), but it’s not just about him. Teams would need to find a matchup for Amiss, Jackson and Treacy (probably in that order), and I reckon if the plan is to keep Amiss in the 50, then basically Jackson and Treacy just need to figure out how to expose their defender and where they are most helpful. I honestly think they will thrive as chaos agents with Amiss the traditional full-forward. And who from North is going to match-up on Jackson? Put a small bloke on him and he takes a mark, put a big bloke on him and he heads up to the wing and still takes a mark, but also the odd ground ball and runs away from his bloke. There's one less tall bloke standing in front of Amiss.
Even with Hodor forward, which is probably only 20% of the game, he’s actually got better timing on a lead than Tabs, and I reckon having a big unit down there spooks defenders, which will help the others down there.
It’s going to be awesome.
