Originally Posted by
TheBloods
I owe an apology to one James Rowbottom. I do not regret stating we don't know whether he will be elite or not. But I do regret stating that he won't be with such certainty. His numbers to this point in the season are quite impressive.
He ranks in the top five of his age bracket in the following categories: 1st for contested possessions, 1st for tackles, 1st for clearances, 1st for centre clearances, 1st for stoppage clearances, 1st for ground ball gets, 1st for pressure acts, 1st for defensive half pressure acts, 2nd for player rating points, 3rd for total disposals, 3rd for inside 50s, 3rd for rebound 50s, 3rd for metres gained, 3rd for goal assists, 5th for effective disposals, 5th for intercept possessions, 5th for score launches.
In almost every category he was in company with the likes of Bailey Smith, Sam Walsh, Jack Lukosius, Connor Rozee and Zak Butters, all first round selections in the so-called "super draft."
I never doubted that he was the complete midfielder, but maybe I have been so focused on wanting to see the complete game from him that I was ignorant to a lot of the good things that he was doing. He looked our best midfielder against the Magpies a week ago, and the derby yesterday, early on he looked the silkiest player on the ground, which is remarkable when you consider some of the talent that was around him on the field .. Luke Parker, Josh Kelly, Stephen Coniglio, Tim Taranto. His impact waned as the game wore on, but by then he'd shown enough to officially convince me.
So, consider me convinced.
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