Tom De Koning | 2020 Season Review
Written by Joseph Addamo
Throughout the 2020 off-season, Blue Abroad will be providing content to cover everything you need to know about the Carlton Football Club.
After a largely improved season, we will be reviewing every player that pulled on the famous Navy Blue guernsey in 2020.
This is the Blue Abroad Player Review for Carlton’s #12 – Tom De Koning.
SEASON SYNOPSIS
In a season where Matthew Kreuzer succumbed to injury, Tom De Koning showed he’s ready to take the number 1 ruck mantle at Carlton. After managing just one game in his career prior to this season, ‘TDK’ played 7 games in 2020, and will be looking to build on these performances in the offseason to have an even bigger 2021.
His block of games in 2020 were not enough to get a full gauge on where De Koning ranks among his fellow ruck peers in the competition. He averaged 7.7 disposals at a 69.1% contested possession rate, 3.4 ground ball gets, 12.6 hitouts (31.7% hitout win rate, 23.9% hitout to advantage rate), 1.4 marks (0.9 contested) and 2.3 tackles.
These averages range between below average and elite, highlighting that there’s still plenty of potential to unlock in De Koning’s raw ability as a ruckman. The full package could come together quickly, with De Koning proving to be one of the Blues’ most exciting young prospects.
BEST PERFORMANCE
While there was no true breakout performance from ‘TDK’ in 2020, he showed glimpses of his rucking and ground-ball ability across a number of games. Dominated in ruck contests by Nic Natanui and Jarrod Witts were offset by his ability to cover the ground and show a clean pair of hands when the ball hit the deck.
Arguably, his best performance came in the Round 16 comeback win vs. the Sydney Swans. De Koning had a career-high 12 disposals, 4 clearances, 3 tackles and 10 contested possessions while also taking 1 contested mark (in slippery conditions). Rucking for most of the night against Callum Sinclair, De Koning only lost the hitout count by 2 (19-21), but clearly outworked his rucking counterpart across the ground in key stat categories.
OFF-SEASON & 2021 OUTLOOK
Carlton has already re-signed ‘TDK’ to a three-year contract extension that now ties him to the club until the end of 2023. This contract extension highlights the faith of the Carlton coaching staff in his ability to continue to improve in the coming seasons.
De Koning, once labelled as a “Project KPD”, is now clearly vying for the number 1 ruck mantle against Marc Pittonet heading into 2021. While across multiple games in 2020 both Pittonet and De Koning played together, it wouldn’t be expected that this is the case too often moving forward. With Charlie Curnow waiting in the wings and Levi Casboult still proving his worth as a starting 22 forward-ruck, there doesn’t appear to be room for the extra tall in the starting lineup, when fully fit.
Long-term, I’m pretty focused about becoming the next ruckman: it’s where I want to get to. I love playing around the ball… it was an exciting year. – Tom De Koning
2020 REPORT CARD RATING
C+
STATUS HEADING INTO 2021
Consistent Senior Player
