Past Player - Jonathon Griffin

[NikkiNoo]

- Jonathon Griffin -

Jumper Number: 6

Height: 202 cm

Weight: 90 kg

DOB: 14/01/1986

Career Matches: 15

Career Goals: 4

Recruited from: East Fremantle (WA)

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Jonathon Griffin came to the Crows at the end of 2004, after being drafted as a rookie. After a good year in the SANFL, he was upgraded to the senior list at the end of 2005. In 2006, he played most games for the Central District reserves team. The Crows persisted with the lanky ruckman over the next pre-season and he made is long awaited debut in 2007 at AAMI Stadium round one against Essendon, due to injuries to Ivan Maric and John Meesen.

He was up to the challenge and shouldered the ruck duties, with the more experienced Ben Hudson, for the first thirteen games of the season. He then played a further three more games for the season, including his first final. An Indigenous footballer, he mainly plays in the ruck with the occasion stint up forward.

His best game came against Richmond at AAMI Stadium, round eight. He kicked two goals and earned his first Brownlow Medal vote for his career.

With hopefully a little more muscle to his slight frame, Jonathon Griffin looks set to continue his promising form into season 2008.

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Honours:
Brownlow Votes - 1
2007 AFC Emerging Talent Award
2007 SANFL Premiership Player (Central Districts)

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AFC Player Profile

Player Statistics​

Crow*Girl nominated to be Griff's watcher.

 

[-CG-]

Re: #6 - Jonathon Griffin

Recent News Articles:

Griffin on Pre-season training - 8 Nov 07

 

[Adam BK]

Re: #6 - Jonathon Griffin

Dont know if you were going to post this but it has been a few days so thought might as well.

Griffin growing in stature

2:30 PM Thu 8 November, 2007

By Katrina Gill,
for afc.com.au

WHEN the first batch of Crows players commence pre-season training on Monday young ruckman, Jon Griffin, will be making a beeline for the gym.

The lanky West Australian established his position as Adelaide’s preferred back-up ruckman by being selected ahead of teammate Ivan Maric in the club’s elimination final against Hawthorn.
Griffin made his debut, almost by default, in round one after Maric and then-Crow John Meesen joined Rhett Biglands and potential pinch-hitter Ken McGregor on the sidelines with injury.

But it didn’t take long for the 202cm big man to make the supporting ruck role his own with some promising performances securing his place in the side for the first 13 rounds.

With the smell of success fresh in the air and having discovered the self-belief necessary to play at the highest level, Griffin is poised to deliver on the potential that brought him to Adelaide four years ago.

“I’m really looking forward to getting back into training,” he said.

“And with a big pre-season behind me...who knows what could happen next year.”

To read more of the article: http://afc.com.au/Season2007/News/NewsArticle/tabid/4417/Default.aspx?newsId=53118

 

[-CG-]

Re: #6 - Jonathon Griffin

Griffin waits
Katrina Gill
Thu 06 March2008
afc.com.au

SATURDAY night’s NAB Cup grand final against St Kilda at AAMI Stadium will be young ruckman Jon Griffin’s last chance to stake his claim on a spot in the Crows’ line-up for round one.

Last season Griffin was thrust into Adelaide’s supporting ruck role while former Crow Ben Hudson took the lead and Ivan Maric, Kurt Tippett, John Meesen, Rhett Biglands and Ken McGregor recovered from injury.

This pre-season it was Griffin who was forced onto the sidelines for several weeks after he suffered separate hamstring and ankle complaints. The 22-year-old watched on in Dubai as Tippett and Brad Moran emerged and Maric took steps towards regaining the top-tall mantle at Adelaide.

Now Griffin is one of four young big men currently in the Adelaide side who are vying for two, or possibly, three round one spots.

“I try not to think about the situation too much otherwise it can get to your head a bit,” Griffin said with a smile.

“I try not to think about our positions, like who is in front [in the race to play in round one] and who’s not. I just go out and do what I have to do.”

Last week Griffin was deliberately left on the bench for the first half of the game against Hawthorn.

Maric impressed in the ruck during the opening two terms and the 202cm Griffin was equally as impressive when he emerged from the pine in the second half.

Both big men finished with 11 hit-outs and after the game senior coach Neil Craig said he still hadn’t finalised the ruck combination to take on former teammate Hudson and the Western Bulldogs in round one.

Griffin, who is Adelaide’s tallest player, said the competition between the ruck group had helped to bring out the best in each individual.

“Our ruck sessions are game-like and the main training, or rehearsal, on a Wednesday is pretty competitive between the four of us,” Griffin said.

“It’s real heated when we’re out on the ground, but when we come off we all have a laugh and spend a bit of time together. We’re all supporting each other and trying to get each other up. It’s good to see the transition from when we’re on the ground to when we’re off it.”

Griffin, who came to Adelaide as a rookie at the end of 2004, has added four kilograms to his frame since he finally stopped growing at the start of last year.

The West Australian has also been working on another aspect of his game, which he hopes will give him an advantage over some of the club’s other aspiring ruckmen.

“I’ve definitely been working on my goal kicking and I’m just waiting for the opportunity to go up forward because it’s a position I love to play,” Griffin said.

“I actually played all my junior footy in the forward line until I was around 18 and I had a growth spurt, which forced me into the ruck.

“Its quite difficult to break into the forward line at the moment because Kenny [McGregor] is playing so well and Tippo [Tippett] is doing a good job too, but hopefully they might find a spot up there for me.”

“I’m just playing the waiting game I guess- just waiting for my chance up there.”

Griffin played 16 games, including the elimination final loss to Hawthorn, last season and was looking forward to the challenge of playing against St Kilda’s All-Australian duo of Steven King and Michael Gardiner on Saturday night.

“I took a fair bit out of last season and I guess it’s a good foundation for the future,” he said.

“I’m drifting between 97 and 98kgs now, so I feel a lot stronger and a bit more confident with that weight behind me now.

“Now, I can start throwing some boys around,” he said with a smile.

 

[Dandy_GO]

Re: #6 - Jonathon Griffin

I wish he would.
I like Griff a lot, and he did some very nice stuff in traffic last week, but he still doesn't know how to use his size.
Cost us at least a goal in our Hawthorn final last year when he let friggin Jordan Lewis scare him off the ball.

 

[betterthanu]

Re: #6 - Jonathon Griffin

Griff has such a strange kick. He just seems to always bomb it long without looking but more often that not it comes off for him. Not sure if thats just luck from a panicked kick or intentional.

 

[Farmy]

Re: #6 - Jonathon Griffin

Griff has such a strange kick. He just seems to always bomb it long without looking but more often that not it comes off for him. Not sure if thats just luck from a panicked kick or intentional.

If it was something bad he probably would have been told not to do it by now.

 

[adam10]

Re: #6 - Jonathon Griffin

Doesnt look a bad player!

 

[cammo84]

Re: #6 - Jonathon Griffin

Last season I remember thinking that Griffen is a few kilos away from becoming a very good player. Glad to hear he's only a couple away from his ideal weight.

Griffen for #1 ruck spot. He is simply a better player than Maric.

 

[Baron Winds]

Re: #6 - Jonathon Griffin

Hard Hawks show Crows the way

CROWS ruckman Jon Griffin says his team will take a leaf out of Hawthorn’s playbook when they tackle Fremantle at AAMI Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Crows, who are renowned for their own high-pressure style of game, struggled to cope with the Hawks onslaught on Sunday, and Griffin said the game was a “wake-up” call for Adelaide.

“Hawthorn was just at the ball carrier all the time,” he said.

“When you had the ball, you’d turn around and there were Hawks players everywhere. It’s something we’ve got in our game too, but we didn’t really execute it as well as we should have yesterday.

“We’ll carry that into next week and definitely make sure we get at Fremantle.”

The Crows were competitive, but couldn’t get their running game going against the well-drilled Hawks.

Griffin lamented his team’s ability to do the “simple things” like stick tackles and use the ball efficiently around the ground.

“Hawthorn was really good on the day, and their pressure caused our disposal efficiency and tackling to be down,” he said.

“When you do those fundamental things of the game [like applying pressure and tackling], it really does work.

“[When Hawthorn] is tormenting teams, it makes it really hard to get your flow going. They were really good at that, and hopefully its something we can add to our game this week.”

Adelaide is perched in the bottom half of the eight with two wins and two losses, having played two of the three unbeaten teams in the opening four rounds.

Despite Sunday’s sub-par performance, Griffin was confident his team was heading in the right direction.

“Obviously Hawthorn is a benchmark of the competition at the moment,” he said.

“It’s a good wake-up call for us because we believe we should be up there as well.

“Personally, I don’t think we’re that far away [from the top teams] at all. We’ve played some pretty good footy over the past four weeks.

“Yesterday was a bit slow for us, but we’ll definitely get back on the horse and play well this week.”

It’s unlikely any players will come off Adelaide’s injury list this week with Kris Massie (hamstring) already ruled out and Chris Knights, Brent Reilly, Luke Jericho and Brad Moran still two or three weeks away.

Bryce Campbell pulled up sore from Sunday’s loss to Hawthorn and is rated only as a ‘test’.

On Monday, Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams questioned whether the previous week’s bruising Showdown had an effect on his players in the last quarter against the Lions, but Griffin dismissed any suggestions the Crows went to Tasmania underdone.

Griffin, who suffered a heavy knock in Showdown XXIV, recovered well to perform admirably against the Hawks’ big bodies.

But the 22-year-old faces the tallest challenge of all this week when he goes head-to-shoulder with Dockers man mountain Aaron Sandilands.

“Sandilands is obviously the tallest man in the AFL, so he’s got some strengths, but he’s also got some weaknesses as well,” Griffin said.

“He’s probably not as mobile as some of the best ruckmen going around like Dean Cox and Brendon Lade, but that’s not to say he still doesn’t get his fair share of the ball.

“I think Sandilands is up there in the league’s top three ruckmen with Lade and Cox.

“It’s going to be a huge challenge. I embrace those challenges, and I can learn a lot during the game to make me a better player.”

Source:

 

[Mismatched]

Re: #6 - Jonathon Griffin

Interesting story on Griff (http://afc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/4417/default.aspx?newsid=71738):

Griffin finds sense of belonging

"TWO years ago, Adelaide ruckman Jon Griffin took up alongside teammates Andrew McLeod and Graham Johncock and ‘came out’ as an Indigenous Australian.

Griffin, 23, arrived at the Crows in 2004, but kept his heritage a secret for three years.

It wasn’t that he was ashamed of his background; he just didn’t know how people would react to an a-typical, pale-skinned, 202cm, ginger-haired Aboriginal.

“I’ve struggled to have a sense of belonging,” Griffin said in Darwin on Wednesday.

“Being white and black, it was sometimes difficult to come out and tell people who I was. Growing up, I was always a worried about showing people or bringing people back to my place because I didn’t know what their reaction would be.

“When I came to the club I kept quiet, but I knew in time they would find out.”

His heritage was revealed at the Crows’ 2006 Club Champion awards night....."

 

[WALL-e]

Re: #6 - Jonathon Griffin

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=389627

A FITTER, stronger and more confident Jonathon Griffin says he’s raring to go for Adelaide’s NAB Cup-opener against Geelong at the Telstra Dome on Saturday night.

Griffin, 23, watched helplessly in the latter half of last season as teammate and good friend Ivan Maric assumed the role of number-one ruckman at West Lakes.

The promising big man played the opening 10 games of the season before a long-standing hip complaint worsened.

Griffin turned to cortisone injections in a bid to resurrect his year, but was sent back to Central Districts in the SANFL where he struggled to play out games.

In round 21, he was scheduled for surgery to remove debris from the joint while his Crows and premiership-bound Central Districts teammates prepared for finals.

“I played four or five games for Central Districts after being dropped from the (Adelaide) team and I was finding it pretty tough,” Griffin said.

“I was more or less there as an insurance policy in case Ivan, Kurt Tippett or Brad Moran dropped, but after about a month I went in and had the hip done.

“I’d been carrying it for the last two years, so it was good to fix it up, hopefully, for good. It feels great now and I’ve had a pretty good pre-season, so I’m raring to go for 2009.”

At training these days Griffin casts a very different shadow to the one that arrived in Adelaide as a rookie in 2005.

The 201cm West Australian, who first came to the Crows’ attention while playing for East Fremantle, has added more than 20kg to his once lean frame.

He also has a greater presence off the field, having found confidence in his football ability and acceptance of his indigenous heritage.

“My confidence is growing every year as I get more experienced and stronger in the gym. Everyone says big blokes take a bit more time, but it’s hard to be patient and wait,” Griffin said.

“I’ve cracked 100 kilograms now, so I’ve come a long way from the 80 (kilograms) I weighed when I first got to the club. I’m starting to feel more confident about being able to hold my position and start throwing some guys around.”

The first players Griffin will jostle for position with are teammates Maric, Tippett and Moran, who are all competing for the two available ruck spots.

Solidly built draftee Shaun McKernan has also thrown his name into the mix after an impressive pre-season.

But Griffin, who played 16 games as a back-up to former Crow Ben Hudson in 2007, said the healthy competition had only made him more determined to regain his place in the side.

“I’ve made it clear to Bicks and Vines (assistant coaches Mark Bickley and Todd Viney) that I was pretty disappointed missing out last year and also with the result the boys had in the finals,” Griffin said.

“I can’t control selection, so I can’t sit here and say that I’m going to play 22 games, but I want to make sure I play the best I can every week.

"I want to stay injury-free and, hopefully, everything else will take care of itself.”

Great news for the big fella

 

[cmndstab]

Re: #6 - Jonathon Griffin

Wow, he's broken 100kg! Great to hear

If he can keep his body right this year he should start to stamp himself as one of the best young rucks in the competition.

 

[adelaide_40]

Re: #6 - Jonathon Griffin

Well done on cracking 100kg griff, hopefully can play the full year fully fit, our 2nd best ruckmen when he is at his best .

 

[Mad Fan of AFL]

Re: #6 - Jonathon Griffin

I think it is great that griff made it off the rookie list. Here is where the beauty of the rookie list is. You can pick up a ruckman and develop him on the rookie list and if he shows improvement you elevate him.

We should try to hunt for another genuine 200cm ruckman for the rookie list so we can develop them there. However since griffen we have not...which i dont understand. We could afford to develop two very easily. Isn't that what the rookie list is for?

 

[dplggr47]

Re: #6 - Jonathon Griffin

^perhaps there weren't any decent ones to consider.
the Crows abundance of ruckman and talls who can also ruck (Maric/Griff/Moran, Sellar/McKernan/Craig), may have contributed to not picking up anymore ruckman.