It might have been the worst thing that could happen to Josh Gibson: a career high 44 touches and a goal in round 2 in a big home win over the Eagles. Following an All-Australian gig, Gibbo started getting much more attention from opposition defensive forwards. The Hawks hierarchy reacted by playing him on talls a lot more, which further hampered his fantasy production. While he still had good days against minnows and shockers like the four touches versus North in round 13, this culminated in the round 22 return match at Subiaco where he had a mare. His season average ended up only four points down, but if you had made fantasy finals he would have let you down. Gibson was the player most affected by the retirement of Brian Lake after the threepeat. The Hawks decided that Kaiden Brand and Kurt Heatherley weren't ready to play out a full season yet, and Gibson was asked to cover for a sudden lack of tall checking defenders. His 2015 AA spot was won on the basis of him playing on smalls as a zone-off defender, and zoning off the third tall forward worked sometimes but not when it was a pressure expert like Jack Darling or Tyson Goldsack. Gibson might be the man who stands to gain most if Brand is bolted into the Hawks best 22 to play tall, so he's still worth an early round pick even at the age of 33.
Gibson played like a guitar
It might have been the worst thing that could happen to Josh Gibson: a career high 44 touches and a goal in round 2 in a big home win over the Eagles. Following an All-Australian gig, Gibbo started getting much more attention from opposition defensive forwards. The Hawks hierarchy reacted by playing him on talls a lot more, which further hampered his fantasy production. While he still had good days against minnows and shockers like the four touches versus North in round 13, this culminated in the round 22 return match at Subiaco where he had a mare. His season average ended up only four points down, but if you had made fantasy finals he would have let you down. Gibson was the player most affected by the retirement of Brian Lake after the threepeat. The Hawks decided that Kaiden Brand and Kurt Heatherley weren't ready to play out a full season yet, and Gibson was asked to cover for a sudden lack of tall checking defenders. His 2015 AA spot was won on the basis of him playing on smalls as a zone-off defender, and zoning off the third tall forward worked sometimes but not when it was a pressure expert like Jack Darling or Tyson Goldsack. Gibson might be the man who stands to gain most if Brand is bolted into the Hawks best 22 to play tall, so he's still worth an early round pick even at the age of 33.
