Jayden Nguyen spent the first part of his senior AFL apprenticeship in the role he played in his junior days of back pocket. While good lockdown defenders are hard to find at AFL level, not every team plays one of them, and as part of his development he was assigned some weeks in the VFL to play in a defensive forward role, in which he continues in the ones today. The need for frontal pressure to prevent oppo half back roaming at will on rebound is paramount to every team no matter their structure, and Nguyen has the talent to make it in this demanding role.
Jayden Nguyen spent the first part of his senior AFL apprenticeship in the role he played in his junior days of back pocket. While good lockdown defenders are hard to find at AFL level, not every team plays one of them, and as part of his development he was assigned some weeks in the VFL to play in a defensive forward role, in which he continues in the ones today. The need for frontal pressure to prevent oppo half back roaming at will on rebound is paramount to every team no matter their structure, and Nguyen has the talent to make it in this demanding role.
