Jack Graham started his late-career stint at the West Coast Eagles in much the same role as he had settled into at Richmond, starting on a half forward flank and rotating through the middle at times with mostly a defensive bent to his game. However with Tim Kelly now moving that that flank, Graham's personal stocks have risen as he looks to have been installed in Kelly's place at the coalface. He has shown at both clubs that he can accumulate when given the chance, and at the Eagles he has the chance to find his best game. A fantasy player of some short-term interest.
Jack Graham started his late-career stint at the West Coast Eagles in much the same role as he had settled into at Richmond, starting on a half forward flank and rotating through the middle at times with mostly a defensive bent to his game. However with Tim Kelly now moving that that flank, Graham's personal stocks have risen as he looks to have been installed in Kelly's place at the coalface. He has shown at both clubs that he can accumulate when given the chance, and at the Eagles he has the chance to find his best game. A fantasy player of some short-term interest.
Jack Graham is a B-rotation midfielder at a club that under coach Damien Hardwick has not placed much emphasis at all on ball retention. The ethos at Tigerland is gaining territory, halving contests and locking the ball in, meaning that lesser mid names like Graham do not get a whole lot of uncontested ball on the outside like some teams who prefer to emphasise precision disposal skills to find clear targets. This makes him almost unusable for fantasy purposes, lacking even a high ceiling to make him worth a look in daily fantasy competitions.
Jack Graham is part of the new generation of Richmond midfielders, who have mostly played bit parts in the Tigers' flag run but will form the nucleus of the next team to challenge for finals. Graham's best attribute is his tackling, in that blocking defensive mid role that every team needs but rarely produces a fantasy-relevant player. He has posted just one game of 25+ disposals for the year and ten under 20, which has so far been a combination that has seen him mostly be a disappointment for fantasy coaches. Will we see a late surge with a view to 2022 relevance?
Jack Graham is the sort of B-rotation midfielder who can have a big day when his team is dominating through the middle, but even on big days he can tend to miss out as well as he plays a lesser role while the stars get on with piling on the points. He is always an option in daily fantasy formats, though the infrequency of his big scores means that he will usually only appear in a small percentage of squads loaded up by the big sharks with massively multiple investments. More often than not you will be disappointed in him for fantasy purposes... but maybe he'll hit tonight?
Jack Graham has a fairly stable role in the Richmond best 22 when all the others are fit: rotating between central midfield and half forward, providing pressure and contributing with ball in hand in equal measure. When Josh Caddy is out of the side he plays too much forward and when Dustin Martin is out of the side he plays more in the guts, without being as good as either of those two in their roles. He can put up the odd monster score but mostly when the team is humming, as it may not be tonight sans Dusty.
Graham gets jacked up
Perhaps an interrupted preseason from shoulder surgery can be blamed for Jack Graham's demotion to the VFL after round 4 last season, and he wasn't seen in the seniors again until round 12 due to a hamstring injury. A further shoulder dislocation caused him to miss round 17, and he was booked in for post season surgery on the other shoulder. He finished fourth in the league for tackle rate and lifted all other major stat averages, with 18 disposals and 2.5 marks per game. It is an excellent sign for Graham that he was able to lift his ratings despite a severe lack of continuity, with a four-goal haul against Carlton adding possible dimension to his game. Of course, it's not good that he keeps getting collision injuries, especially since his one wood is cracking in to the contest. He is likely to push his average into startable territory in season four, but you can't rely on him for 22 games which means his fantasy utility is restricted to late pick value.
Jack Graham made his name as a small forward and, like all small forwards at Richmond under the current gameplan instigated by Damien Hardwick, he was instructed not to value stat-getting for its own sake with his KPIs much more focused on exotic statistics like shepherds and pressure acts. This year he will be moved up the ground to join the midfield rotations, which has made him a point of difference player for fantasy coaches looking for a boost from a role change. We are yet to see what his accumulation skills are like on the outside at senior level.
Great grip of Graham
Coming off a highly unlikely premiership medal from his fifth game, Jack Graham continued where he left off with tackling the major feature of his game, at a rate of six to add to 15 disposals. The only startable scores he posted all season were the two times he pushed his possession count to 20. Damien Hardwick is notorious for telling his small forwards to ignore the ball almost completely in favour of applying pressure, and it appears that he might be telling the same thing to young Graham. Until the riding instructions change, it's hard to see enough consistency out of him to justify even a speculator.
Nobody knew Jack
Hamstring and ankle problems in preseason, six VFL games, five in the seniors... premiership medal. It looked like Jack Graham might miss out when he couldn't reach double figures in disposals in the first final, but eight of his nine were contested and he added nine tackles to justify his spot. Three goals in the grand final mostly drifting forward from midfield were cream on top, more than he managed in total during that reserves run. Graham is perhaps the hardest player to gauge for his fantasy value in 2018, as his career is a very small sample size. His VFL numbers suggest he should settle down to become a B-rotation midfielder who rests forward to add to the pressure that is now the Richmond trademark. His size suggests he should not suffer from second-year syndrome, so he should go in middle rounds with a possible reach by a homer fan.
