No-fuss defender Jack Hombsch is Port Adelaide’s surprise packet
A QUIET, softly-spoken lad from Roxby Downs has Power fans — and his teammates — loudly singing his praises. Andrew Capel charts the startling progress of defender Jack Hombsch.
HE’S the quiet, softly-spoken boy from the SA outback mining town of Roxby Downs.
But Jack Hombsch is making plenty of noise on the field.
The tall, no-fuss defender has been Port Adelaide’s unsung hero in its year of living dangerously.
“He’s had a great start to the year,’’ Power teammate Justin Westhoff noted.
“He’s taking his marks and locking down some big key forwards and, along with our other defenders, has kept us in a lot of games.’’
Warren Tredrea — the former Port star recognised as the Power’s greatest player — says Hombsch has been the club’s standout player this year, describing his form as “phenomenal’’.
After nine rounds Port, which has slumped from third last season to 11th with a 4-5 record, would likely have no more than three players considered for All-Australian selection.
There are the two obvious names — last year’s selections Robbie Gray and Travis Boak — and surprise packet Hombsch.
He might fly under the radar but his numbers speak for themselves.
They illustrate he is equally adept at defending his opponent and hurting him on the rebound.
Hombsch ranks No. 1 at the Power for intercept marks (18), second for intercept possessions (48), first in turning rebound 50s into inside 50s (36.4 per cent) with his long left-foot kicking and third in disposals retention rate (75.6 per cent) and metres gained per disposal (18.1).
He also has shown he is an outstanding lockdown defender, ranking sixth in the AFL among players who have been involved in 30 or more one-on-one contests — a key statistic in determining a defender’s value.
Hombsch, 22 and mobile at 193cm and 89kg, has either won or neutralised 84.1 per cent of his 44 one-on-one contests this year — nearly 14 per cent higher than the competition average among defenders.
He has lost only 15.9 per cent of his one-on-one battles. Sydney’s Heath Grundy leads the competition at 11 per cent from 35 contests.
Last year Hombsch had a losing percentage of 31 per cent, highlighting his improvement in 2015.
Hombsch has conceded just 10 goals to his opponents in nine matches despite going head-to-head with key forward guns Lance Franklin (Sydney), Matthew Pavlich (Fremantle), Jack Gunston (Hawthorn) and Josh Kennedy (West Coast) and emerging star Jesse Hogan from Melbourne
No opponent has kicked more than two goals against him while he didn’t lose a one-on-one contest to Pavlich, Gunston, Kennedy or Hogan.
Not bad for a player who Greater Western Sydney deemed to be expendable at the end of 2012.
He had played nine games in the Giants’ debut season after being snapped up from SANFL club Sturt as a pre-draft 17-year-old.
“The Giants were thinking there were a couple of players ahead of me and there was talk about me being a little bit slow and a bit undersized,’’ Hombsch recalled of the trade that sent him and small forward Jake Neade to Port for draft pick 28.
He’s not being labelled that now.
Westhoff, however, says Hombsch still doesn’t get the credit outside the club that he deserves.
“He does a lot of things that people don’t really realise externally,’’ Westhoff said.
“But he gets big raps within the club and I think that’s all he really cares about.’’
Don’t worry, Justin ... the football world has noticed.
BY THE NUMBERS
Defender Jack Hombsch is Port Adelaide’s unsung hero, quietly producing a standout season which has propelled him into All-Australian contention.
THE INTERCEPTOR
No. Club Rank
Intercept possessions 48 2
Intercept marks 18 1
Points generated from intercepts 24 6
THE REBOUNDER
No. Club Rank
Rebound 50s 22 5
Rebound 50 to inside 50 36.4% 1
THE RETAINER
No. Club Rank
Disposals 14.6 15
Disposal Retention Rate 75.6% 3
Metres Gained per Disp 18.1 3
THE CONTESTER
Jack Hombsch has either won or neutralised 84.1 per cent of his 44 one-on-one contests, nearly 14 per cent higher than the competition average.
Key Hombsch match-ups
Rd Opponent Gls Conceded 1-1 Contests Won Neutral Lost
1 Matthew Pavlich (Frem) 1 3 1 2 0
2 Lance Franklin (Syd) 2 7 1 4 2
3 Jarrad Waite (NM) 0 1 0 1 0
4 Jack Gunston (Haw) 2 2 1 1 0
5 Tom Lynch (Adel) 1 2 0 2 0 `
6 Josh Kennedy (WCE) 0 3 3 0 0
7 Daniel McStay (BL) 1 9 2 6 1
8 Ben Griffiths (Rich) 0 4 0 4 0
9 Jesse Hogan (Melb) 0 3 1 2 0
Season Total 10 44 10 27 7
Percentage 22.7 61.4 15.9
AFL Average 29.5 43.2 27.3
THE NO: 18: Intercept marks by Jack Hombsch — ranked No. 1 at the Power.
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