Given the meaning of Jackson is son of Jack, is it really surprising Luke cuts down beanstalks and takes out Giants for fun? Time to Restump Podcast the magnificent win over the Giants none of us saw coming.
I'm not ruling out the possibility our club suffers schizophrenia or has some sort of personality disorder. We never know which version of us is going to appear. In fact, fans should start sending RSVP requests so we get an idea pre-game who is going to show up.
Have we seen a better version this year of what we're capable of? We've seen passages, periods and even quarters of that ball movement and connectivity, but not for 4 full quarters and not against that level of formidable opponent. Yeah Ok, we’ll take out the first 5 minutes.
It felt like all the elements of our game we've been performing individually and sporadically, finally came together as one and predominantly for the duration. Was it flawless? Absolutely not and it probably never will be as perfection is an unrealistic expectation and an all but unobtainable dream. But roll that out week in week out and… hello September!
To be fair and for balance though, and in accordance with our former coach's never as good or as bad as it seems policy, the Giants didn't seem at their spectacular best. They were without Josh Kelly, Brent Daniels and Stephen Coniglio, arguably their three best prime movers. However, that is where the balance ends.
Whichever way you look at the game, it's all about us. Luke Jackson could have been forgiven for having an off day but he did the absolute opposite. He’s been railroaded all week by media and opposing coaches and players and he answered it all by sending an emphatic message about where he wants to be.
With the acknowledgement that the ruck is Jackson's best position, where does it leave team JackArce? Did Sean Darcy’s problems just get added to?
And can we talk about Shai? Or as opponents refer to him as thunder Boltons and lightning. very very frightening! 24 disposals, 12 contested, 8 marks, 417 metres gained and 3 goals 3 from 86% time on ground. Did we contemplate the enormity of what he would deliver in the midfield? We paid unders for him!
Elsewhere it was both exciting and encouraging to see Neil Erasmus making some highly positive steps in the right direction, often at times looking like he belonged. And while the sample size is small and we might be going the early call, Cooper Simpson is now best 22. His ball use is heavenly! We’ll cross the Brandon Walker bridge when we get to it.
We'd be lying to ourselves if we thought we’d put in that level of performance, save our season and give the coach some deserved breathing space in that game against the Giants on their home deck. In fact, we were getting to the point of disbelief that we had such a display in us.
However, as joyous and as fulfilling as that whole performance was, this isn't out first rodeo. It feels like we've seen this movie more often than we care to acknowledge and as recent as a couple of weeks ago. So, once again we temper our celebrations and tread with caution because, regardless of results, if we don't regularly deliver that same effort, intensity, ball movement and cohesion going forward, then Saturday counts for very little.
However, the path to power isn’t a journey of straight forward steps. As long as the trajectory is on positive trend, we can wear the acceptable range of effort backed volatility.
Enough of the philosophising and hypothesising! We'll bring the grounding and the balance on the pod but, for just a few moments, let's get the watermelons under the arms, walk up a strut, chests out, breasts out and say how good are we going!
We don't win in that
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