Lin Jong has emerged as a hot prospect after a stellar finals series with Footscray.
The Bulldogs were not sleeping on the talented Jong, rewarding his breakout season with a two-year contract extension.
Jong showed why the Dogs are so keen on him with a game-breaking performance in Sunday’s VFL grand final triumph.
“I was so stoked to be able to stay with the club and happy they’ve had that faith in me to become a good player,” Jong said.
“I’m just trying to pay them back now.”
Jong arrived at the kennel from TAC Cup side Oakleigh Chargers with pick nine in the 2012 rookie draft.
From the first day he walked through the door as a skinny kid, it was evident that he was a goer, a player willing to throw his lightly built frame in the line of fire for the team.
With maturity, the 21-year-old has struck the right balance of when to use his body in the contest and when to sit on the fringe of the pack, where he can use his devastating burst to good effect.
The onballer reads the play well in congestion. When the grand final was on the line in the last quarter, Jong busted it open with his breakneck speed from the clearances.
Jong believes he was one of the major beneficiaries of the Bulldogs’ decision to field a standalone team in the VFL.
It’s given him more certainty of where he will be playing from week to week. And with coaches on the same wavelength as those at the AFL arm of the club, it’s been easier to absorb instructions through consistent messages.
Playing against men 100 per cent of the time is another bonus.
It has been a far cry from the time he spent with Williamstown in the AFL Victoria development league last year, which is relative wilderness for an AFL-listed player.
“This year, I’ve been lucky enough to be playing ones without that pressure of being dropped,” he said.
“I’ve got a lot of self-confidence out of it.”
Jong was desperate to win a premiership at Etihad Stadium, having lost a TAC Cup grand final with Oakleigh three years earlier.
From the team perspective, the preseason critics gave Footscray no chance, but Jong said the players never doubted.
“We’ve just jelled so well together this
year and we all had that passion to win in
the VFL.”
Lance Jenkinson
