Michael Jamison may have kept Travis Cloke to just the one goal at the MCG on Sunday night, but he unhesitatingly declares the player as one of the three greatest in his 123 matches through eight seasons so far.
Somewhat relieved that Cloke’s kicking was slightly askew, Jamison rated the former as a constant challenge.
As he said: “He (Cloke) is one of the top three players I’ve played on, so it’s nice to keep him to one goal.”
So for the record, who are ‘Jamo’s’ top three in order?
“In order, it depends on how they’re usually going at the time, but co-incidentally Nick Reiwoldt, whose team we play next week, is probably No.1, then ‘Buddy’ Franklin, who’s clearly a tough player to play on, and ‘Clokey’.”
In having to adjust his game to each, Jamison concedes there are associated difficulties. “They are so hard to match up on because they all have different strengths and they all have pretty goon plan Bs, so if you happen to get on top they can switch and still be pretty dominant.”
Carlton has gained much from Jamison’s presence in the defensive half, and in Sam Rowe, ‘Jamo’ has gained an important ally.
“I’ve been playing down back for nine years and I don’t think I’ve really played alongside another key back consistently, so to have ‘Rowey’ back there for the past ten weeks, and to think that he’s only trained for this one pre-season as back has been an extraordinary effort,” Jamison said.
“We need him to keep showing that solid form for the rest of the year and hopefully take it into next year.”
Rowe, it seems, is very much his own man, with Jamison revealing he rarely had to act as mentor to the boy from Walla Walla.
“We certainly worked pretty closely in the pre-season but he (Rowe) hasn’t really come to me because he’s been going well enough. He hasn’t sought too much guidance,” Jamison said.
Though this interview was conducted in the Carlton rooms late on Sunday evening, after what was unquestionably a poor turnout for a game of this magnitude, Sunday night football is neither here nor there for Jamison.
“I’m sure the fans don’t really like it, but as a player you get into the routine of AFL games and we play from Thursday through to Monday nights,” Jamison said.
“It all rolls into the next round and you don’t really focus on what night you’re playing - you’re focusing more on how many day’s break you’ve got in between games - and that is the lot of a professional AFL footballer.”