But they’ve taken totally contrasting paths to get there.
Jack built the platform for his stellar career on defence, adding further to his game as he went on, while Hill has been all-out attack from day one. Brilliantly so.
Stephen Hill
The way this guy glides across the ground makes me wonder if I really would like to be chasing him around. To move like that and cover the ground in the way he does is something special.
His goal in the last minutes of Fremantle’s qualifying final win over Geelong might have been lucky how it started, when he grabbed the ball coming off the interchange bench, but it wasn't luck how it finished. Carrying the ball effortlessly, breaking the 50m arc and sealing it beautifully with a goal, it was perfection in motion.
Hill had options to give the ball off but as a coach I love it when players such as him, still in a developmental phase, actually want that moment. He wanted the ball in his hands to ice the game.
Hill doesn't have to touch the ball too much to do damage. He and Danyle Pearce will often change roles around the stoppages from wing to half forward to try and release one another from their direct opponents and keep the opposition guessing. Left to run, he’ll cut them apart.
Sydney cannot afford to give him the same space he had against Geelong. He has struggled against a bigger body working him over, and he must be pushed and body checked constantly for Sydney to be a chance. This won’t exactly be a foreign scenario for the Swans because it’s a move they almost created themselves with their own equivalent weapons in Adam Goodes and Lewis Jetta when they are up and going.
Kieren Jack
So much has been spoken about Kieren Jack’s development from a run-with onballer into the transition machine he is today. It seems that he has become the internal benchmark for his teammates based on what he can do defensively and offensively to hurt the opposition.
He stated his intentions against Carlton early last week with his movement and stoppage work, and his spread and link from behind. It was a clear Sydney win as his opponent Ed Curnow was left to trail and be reactive until he was forced out of the game through injury.
Jack has been in good form and received excellent assistance from Daniel Hannebery and Jarrad McVeigh around the stoppages last week. And he wasn't the only midfielder breaking hard from stoppages, which we have come to recognize as a trademark from the Sydney midfielders.
He will often start his runs by pushing back to the defensive 50 and then charging on a 45 degree angle to open space in behind the lead-up forwards on the wing. When he goes on these searching runs it tests his opponent to run the other way, which they normally cannot do after going at pace for 100m.
When Sydney gets players like Jack and Hannebery running into these areas it normally shows they are on. He leads the way in team workrate, and his agility in close and his movement gets him out of traffic.
Verdict
Kieren Jack. He shades Stephen Hill based on the fact that he has taken his game to another level, even when he gets tagged. He will work even harder in these situations. He plays inside and out like Hill but he handles the challenge of some attention a little better.
What's your verdict?
