Josh Scott (Gippsland Power)

Height: 190 cm
Weight: 80 kg
Strengths: Strong mark, good ground level skills, able to play up the ground well and great goal sense and set shot ability.
Weaknesses: Light frame for a forward.
Player Comparison: Jack Gunston

After having their number one forward Tim Membrey drafted last season, the Gippsland Power had a hole to fill in their forward line. After playing behind Membrey for most of last season, Josh Scott has stepped up and become one of the best forward players in the TAC Cup this season and has taken his game to a new level.

Even thought he has a light frame, Scott is able to crash big packs and come out with the mark. His ability to read the ball off the boot of the kicker is second to none. This enables him to still contest for the mark even if he is caught behind his defender, which not many forwards can do. If the ball does come to ground, Scott has great ground skills, which enables him to recover the ball and handball to a teammate, or kick a goal himself.

Another aspect of Scott’s game is that he can play further up the ground, rather than being stuck inside forward 50 for most of the game. This is because of his lighter frame. He has a good stamina and is able to run for longer than other forwards in the competition and if he is needed to play up the ground more to give the defenders another target to kick to, he can provide that with his great marking skills.

The one thing that Scott lacks in is his skinnier body type. This hurts him trying to use his body to gain an advantage against his opponents and is sometimes pushed out of contests by a few bigger defenders in the TAC Cup. This could easily be taken care of however, at an AFL club. If he can build himself up to have a stronger body type, he will be able to compete at a good level with most defenders in the league, and become a great forward with the marking skill set that he obtains.

So far in this TAC Cup season, Scott has kicked 47 goals from 12 games, including a nine-goal haul and three five-goal efforts. He leads the goal kicking for the TAC Cup this season, a huge 15 goals in front of the second-placed Christian Petracca. His set shot kicking backs up his strong marking and often kicks truly. This is supported by his immense goal sense. Scott knows how to kick goals, and is able to conjure up a goal from nothing.

Throughout the AFL, most forwards are quite big and strong, but some forwards are light on their feet, and leaner than a Travis Cloke or a Jonathan Brown. Josh Scott is leaner than most, but this doesn’t mean he won’t have a successful AFL career if given the chance. Jack Gunston is not the biggest forward around the league, but is still able to create space and his good goal sense has seen him snare four and five goal hauls for the Hawks this season. Scott could play the same role as Jack Gunston in most AFL teams, as it provides a versatile player that is hard to match up on due to their quicker leading ability and strong marking.

The 2013 AFL Draft is stocked up with midfielders, but lacks in forwards. The best forward being Tom Boyd will most likely go number one in this year’s draft, so Scott has put his name down as one of the premier forwards in the TAC Cup this season. He played for Vic Country against Vic Metro down at Simonds Stadium in the National Championships where he kicked three goals and looked very dangerous down forward. If given some time to bulk up, he could help many different AFL teams who need a good leading forward such as St Kilda, the Western Bulldogs or the Gold Coast squads.