Jaxon Prior - Analysis

Essendon picked up Jaxon Prior as a delisted Free Agent this off-season, after 39 Games at the Brisbane Lions.

Jaxon was originally pick 59 in the 2019 National Draft, debuted in 2021.He's a 188cm, flexible defender who can also play on the wing. He would have learnt a lot at the Lions, they made 2 Grand Finals in his time there and played finals in each of his 5 seasons there. Jaxon himself played in 2 Finals, a loss to Melbourne in 2021, and a win against Richmond in 2022.

His Draft Profile noted that his Strengths as his athleticism, ability to read the play and his foot skills. I think you can add flexibility to that now.

His areas of improvement where his defensive work and contested work. I think his ground level contested work has improved and adds to our side. He's brave in the air, but he has some work to do to improve his one-on-one defending in the air, he has a tendency to run under the ball a little bit and that makes him easy to nudge under the footy.

He's a bit like his dad Michael, who played 81 games for Essendon between 1994 and 2000, in that he's neat, and unassuming. Nothing about him makes you go "wow", but I think there's a solid, flexible role player there that adds some attributes we lack. Particularly his positioning smarts, ability to win the ball on the ground or air, and his kicking skills are excellent.

We've had a look at him on Patreon for our Analyst Tier Subscribers, here.