Former Saint Jack Newnes adds some experience to a developing midfield. During his prime at St Kilda, the outside runner strung four 80+ seasons together before dwindling thereafter due to a simple disposal decrease. Newnes won't be budging Sam Walsh from his wing so will need to compete with Sam Petrevski-Seton and Paddy Dow to secure an on-field spot. Keep him on the watchlist during the preseason to assess role and job security: if both light up green, he's worth a late-round selection.
Young blues carry the Newnes
Former Saint Jack Newnes adds some experience to a developing midfield. During his prime at St Kilda, the outside runner strung four 80+ seasons together before dwindling thereafter due to a simple disposal decrease. Newnes won't be budging Sam Walsh from his wing so will need to compete with Sam Petrevski-Seton and Paddy Dow to secure an on-field spot. Keep him on the watchlist during the preseason to assess role and job security: if both light up green, he's worth a late-round selection.
Bad news from Newnes
As a defender, Jack Newnes is a valuable fantasy player. As a midfielder categorised as a defender, he is gold. As a forward, as he was for much of 2018, he is of no use to coaches whatsoever. The move to the forward line as a pressure player for Newnes came as a sign that he is not valued as highly as he once was at St Kilda. Once a consistent fantasy scorer, Newnes is at risk of being completely irrelevant if he remains in his current role. Monitor his preseason closely; if he’s playing anywhere other than forward, he’d make a great middle-round pick.
Age-old story for Newnes
While the average stat lines have been the same for Jack Newnes for the past two seasons, his scores have ridden a rollercoaster with peaks in the start and finish of 2016 and the middle of 2017... then troughs. He began his footy life as a HBF and now starts on a wing, with just as many inside 50s as rebound 50s despite 62% of his ball coming in the back half. Newnes' game records over the course of the season go up and down like the ocean, and if the Saints have a high tide year as their younger players mature towards the middle-aged zone then he could be one boat to be lifted. The team as a whole is plagued with inconsistency, and there are no guarantees that things will suddenly click like the Dogs and Tigers. Newnes is a middle-round pick with some upside.
