Jake Eime: The Running Backman Who Might Make Draft Night Interesting
Every draft year there’s a kid who can run all day and kick it miles, and every draft year some club talks itself into believing that’s a premiership ingredient. This year that kid is Jake Eime, a South Australian defender with speed to burn, and for once I’m not going to be sarcastic about it – well, not entirely.
Who is Jake Eime?
Eime’s come through the South Australian system as a rebounding half-back, the type who collects it on the back flank and is suddenly forty metres up the ground before the commentators have finished saying his surname. He’s quick – genuinely quick, not just ‘quick for a defender’ quick – and he uses the ball well going forward, which in modern footy is basically the whole job description now. Gone are the days when a defender’s only task was to stand there and spoil things. These days they’re expected to play like a slightly taller, slightly more reluctant midfielder.
He’s drawn plenty of comparisons through the carnival season for his dash off half-back, and recruiters love a player who can change the complexion of a quarter in about four seconds flat. Richmond fans of a certain vintage will remember when we used to have blokes like that – we called it
