Jeremy Howe continues to dazzle fans with his marking prowess but which hanger is his best?
IN A week where “ugly footy” is creating headines, Jeremy Howe’s two screamers almost went unnoticed. JON RALPH looks at the Magpies high-flyers best screamers. HAVE YOUR SAY
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WARWICK Capper says Jeremy Howe’s high-flying antics are pretty good.
Just not as good as his.
“He’s a poor man’s Warwick Capper,” the former Sydney star told the Herald Sun with typical modesty.
“I watched him live last week at the MCG. He read the play well and I think he was Collingwood’s best player.
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“He is the last of the high flyers. But he probably hasn’t got the flamboyance of Warwick Capper.”
“Thirty years ago every kid at school was taking marks saying, “Caapperrrrrrr”. They aren’t saying it about Jeremy, but they might one day.”
Warwick is right — if you are looking for flair, Howe doesn’t boast the tight shorts and look-at-me disposition that served Capper so well.
He just takes extraordinary speccies so regularly that might just be the most spectacular mark of all time.
It’s some kind of list he needs to beat; Tony Modra, Brett Burton, Trevor Barker, Russell Robertson, Shaun Smith, Gary Ablett senior.
Some of those have taken better marks than him, but have any been more consistent, more capable of delivering week after incredible week?
At just 27 his body of work is breathtaking.
This weekend’s nomination took to 33 his Mark of the Year nominations, including an incredible eight in a single year.
You could also argue it is under appreciated.
In a week where the game is navel-gazing about ugly footy, two more Howe screamers almost went unnoticed.
And as Capper says, he is almost the last of the mohicans, with Mitch McGovern, Liam Ryan and Joe Daniher perhaps the only three rivals who consistently soar above packs.
It is a sad reflection upon our game that players are not allowed to fly, or are gun-shy because they might make an unrealistic attempt and be penalised.
Capper joked Howe had it easy because he wasn’t good enough to play as a goalkicking forward who could also haul in marks from the clouds.
But this year he has shown he can play as a tight-checking defender who perfectly times the moment to attack.
Melbourne didn’t offer him a realistic deal when they traded him for Ben Kennedy and some later picks (including the Michael Hibberd pick), then two years later offered $750,000 and two first-rounders for identical interceptor Jake Lever.
There is a lot of ugliness in our game.
When the AFL sold our game to the world on the notion, “I’d like to see that”, it wasn’t a highlights package full of tackles, scrimmages and actions that gain pressure points.
Here are three industry figures on why Howe plays the beautiful game.
TONY MODRA, FORMER ADELAIDE/FREMANTLE HIGH FLYER
“He bobs up every week with the mark of the day. I think he was pretty unfortunate not to win (Mark of the Year) last year and the expression on his face told you that.
“You get people like Lance Franklin drawing crowds through the gate but he is one to watch considering how consistent he is. You are almost guaranteed one every week and that brings the crowds in too.
“The last couple of years we have seen him take one of those special marks at least once a month.
“They are the players you like to see when you click on the TV, you know something special is going to happen.”
ANTHONY HUDSON, TV/RADIO COMMENTATOR
“When those sort of players are playing who are prone to the spectacular, you are aware it might happen.
“He tends to play on afterwards and you need a bit of time to eulogise.
“The reality is he is one of only a handful of players who can do it in footy now.
“It is sad, I guess if players can’t do it they can’t do it. But I hope it’s not under instruction, that they aren’t allowed to fly. On the weekend a player was penalised for an unrealistic attempt.
“Some of the great marks in history started out as unrealistic attempts and they just happened to be in the right place.”
MICHAEL KLEIN, AWARD-WINNING HERALD SUN PHOTOGRAPHER
“You are always on edge, expecting the unexpected. You can’t put your camera down, you always expect something to happen.
“He takes more big marks than anyone I have ever seen and I have been doing it for 20 years, no one comes near him.
“The thing is, people almost take it for granted now, if Scott Pendlebury took a mark at half his height we would all go, “Wow”, but we expect Howe to do it now.”
RARE AIR
Jon Ralph rates Jeremy Howe’s top five hangers
1. How did he not win the Mark of the Year for his sublime 2017 Queen’s Birthday leap on the shoulders of former Melbourne teammate Tom McDonald last year? Perfect technique, amazing hang time.
2. Howe won Mark of the Year in 2012 for the perfect ride on Sydney’s Heath Grundy, perching on his back then contorting his body before crashing to the turf.
3. In 2013 West Coast’s Josh Hill kicks long over Howe’s head, who turns and throws himself onto the shoulders of Andrew Embley, eyes still on the prize. as he topples to the ground
4. In Round 23 last year Howe gets the perfect sit on Christian Petracca, who gives him a secondary boost into the air. Legs akimbo, he throws Petracca forward with legs sprawled midair.
5. Full of grace, he gets the ideal sit on teammate Tom McDonald and Bulldog Tom Campbell late in 2013 as they provide the platform for him to leap into the stratosphere.
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