Jack Ross was a specialist in the half forward flank rotating into midfield during Richmond's premiership era. Now that the main triple-flagged stars have sailed into the west and the Tigers are deep into their rebuild, Ross's role has moved up the food chain to be much more useful at the coalface, as a big body to shield the high draft picks just learning the caper. He can have decent stat lines in this role against the right opposition, especially when his tackle counts are high, but his scoring floor is not quite good enough for him to be an every-week starter.
Jack Ross was a specialist in the half forward flank rotating into midfield during Richmond's premiership era. Now that the main triple-flagged stars have sailed into the west and the Tigers are deep into their rebuild, Ross's role has moved up the food chain to be much more useful at the coalface, as a big body to shield the high draft picks just learning the caper. He can have decent stat lines in this role against the right opposition, especially when his tackle counts are high, but his scoring floor is not quite good enough for him to be an every-week starter.
Jack Ross'll make ya jump
A promising run of senior games for Jack Ross in his first listed season was cut short when Nat Fyfe trod on his ankle in round 8, causing a syndesmosis injury which required surgery. He returned for round 21 but was dropped two weeks later, and had to watch others join the fairytale flag run. He topped 25 touches twice in his seven full senior appearances and is also capable of big tackle numbers on his day. He has slimmed down in preseason to play more of a running role. As in his junior days, everything can click for Ross to deliver a sensational game, but his scoring lacks consistency. Richmond have been winning flags despite not bossing the inside midfield, so maybe they want flankers and frontal pressure merchants on their bench rather than an extra mid. It should be noted that he was given only one VFL game before his two stints in the seniors so he is obviously highly rated internally. A speculator pick at best, with real upside but questionable job security.
Time is the essence for Ross
As a midfielder, Jack Ross has all the big tricks in his kit bag: inside and outside ballwinning, burst power to get away from packs, and quality by foot when he is in space. The only thing lacking at this early stage is volume, as he went at rates of 21 touches and 79 fantasy points in the TAC Cup in his last junior season. Fantasy coaches often treat points-per-minute as a very important stat when assessing players, and in Ross they have a beast. The question is how many minutes per appearance he can survive at senior level if played this year, as he probably will be. If his time on ground is in the low 60s, as seems likely, he won't be startable.
