McNeice back and mid, decent but not outstanding, but hey 28 disposals
Morgan did some nice things. I certainly haven’t given up on him yet, when he’s built up his confidence he will start being more damaging.
Gleeson wing then defence. OK.
Francis forward and mid. He didn’t have a great day, but I’m not reading injury/mental weakness into it like some here. Timing was off on his leads in the first quarter (when the delivery was awful) and some cameos aside never got into it much. Love his aggression at the ball and the man.
Hocking defender and mid. He is not claiming a senior return but is certainly playing a role for the team.
Stanton defender and mid. Spent much of the day as the last man in line, pinpointing switches across the ground with quality kicks.
Langford was decent. Was needed forward a tad more after Smack went off.
Merrett was defender most of the day. Quality kicking that often broke things often.
Begley: meh.
McKernan did left finger/arm/shoulder injury in the first quarter. Still waiting on @Paul_Cousins update, because he certainly chatted with him.
Bellchambers kicked his three goals in as many minutes in the last quarter, all from clunk marks. He was OK otherwise, but more or less banished forward given Smack’s absence and Draper’s tapwork.
Howlett courageously wore the headband in the second half. Forward and mid, should have kicked more goals. Two of them, sprinting past the pack and taking perfect taps, would have brought the house down.
Bird: 37 touches says most of it!
Clarke: a little down on recent weeks. I just can’t invest in him while his kicking is so awful.
Draper started at CHB on the awesomely-named Wylie Buzza and was OK till Smack went off and he went into the ruck. He demolished the ruck, with a very large proportion of ruck contests resulting in clear taps direct to our midfield. And if that didn’t work, he then scrambled at ground level to get that clearance, getting quite a few more that way. I have glossed over whether his other opponents were the 25yo 200cm/100kg #45 Ryan Abbott and the younger but similarly-sized #20 Ryan Gardner.
Long had no overt stuff-ups today, yay! Did a few nice things, but few is the key word. Defender, mostly.
Redman struggling to get a touch, sent to the backline in the second half.
Ferry is quality: if he wasn’t that in-between 191cm he would definitely be a WSPHU. Nobby OK. Boyse is a reliable goal-kicker and playmaker. Holmes as a forward I don’t get, though I guess we do have a lot of solid midfield starters. Marklew started back before going forward and doing alright for himself with three goals. Hind defender then mid. Kid is good. Goes hard despite weighing nothing, fast, breaks the play open and delivers the ball well by foot.
Thanks again DJR.
Would like to see Redman build into the year after coming back from injury. Has he spent any time at all through the midfield? I think he is the one that could offer something in a run with role.
On Francis I have always been of the view that he is a defender but understand the clubs approach at the moment. Very hard to find a key forward and Frang is one the few we have with the talent to do it. We have to be patient. Getting the consistency of games is the main thing at the moment.
So good to hear that the young fella is coming on. Something about his ebullient nature and wide-eyed openness just makes me see him as a big mastiff puppy that is still growing into its body. Watch out when he realises how big he is. Working with the big Russian will certainly help him. It sounds like he is a keen to learn and there is certainly some proof being shown in his game day performance.
Let’s not forget that he is from a soccer background so he is still learning where the boundaries are in terms of using his aggression at the ball and man. Wait till he builds up some real strength, from the looks of his frame and current build, a few years in the weights room will turn him in to a very big boy. That he is holding his own already is excellent and fantastic progress. All fingers are crossed.
For those who watched what are his endurance levels like?
Wow, in a few years we may get to see him palming it down the throats of Dois, Zac, Darce, McG, Raz and Walla… Whilst they slice past the oppo mids and defenders and deliver it forward to JoeDan and Jimmy.
