A pretty easy win today, Coburg didn’t provide much opposition.
Of our listed guys:
Parish was as good as it sounded, about 35 touches, 5 goals and missed an easy shot for his 6th. I don’t think he spent much time at all forward, I think all his goals come from the midfield roving packs. Very solid in every aspect.
Gleeson only played the second half but was excellent. He had at least 6 or 7 intercept marks and was very clean by foot. A great effort first up.
Mutch got quite a lot of the ball and was good if not great. He has a lot of good attributes but lacks a bit of speed and penetration in his kicking. Missed a couple of relatively easy shots in the first quarter.
Houlihan had another forgettable game. Hardly touched the ball or had any impact.
Redman played the first 3 quarters and was very encouraging. He racked up a lot of possessions off the back flank without really exerting himself overly before resting in the last quarter. He think he would be very happy getting through the game.
Zerk was excellent probably in our best 3 along with Parish and Draper. He took a number of very solid marks, spoiled when he had to, was very clean on the ground as well as by hand and foot. His body has really filled out since last year, it’s only a matter of time before he makes his debut. Has gone past Hartley.
Gown played the whole game but was very quiet, had very little impact.
Ham did some nice things, particularly in the first half but slowed down the longer the game went on. Not as clean as he has been in training with a few fumbles but pretty good by foot. Still very light though and while willing struggles against the bigger bodies at this stage.
Long was very good until he went off with what looked like a popped shoulder. He took some good marks, kicked and ran well and had good decision making. Also didn’t hold on to the ball too long as he has a tendency to do. He didn’t look in too much pain when he came off, hopefully it’s only a short term problem.
Hartley was excellent in the first quarter when Coburg had a tendency to just bang it long with the wind. Was still OK in the last 3 but didn’t take as many marks as I would have liked and made a couple of bad mistakes when kicking.
Dylan Clarke got a lot of the ball like he always seems to without being very damaging. His kicking was mostly OK but still had a few up and unders.
Zac Clarke took some excellent marks up forward and kicked a few nice goals but didn’t do much around the ground. He got quite a few taps in the ruck but not a lot to advantage. Quite in contrast to:
Draper who was again excellent in the ruck and dominated all his opponents. Most of the time he was there either he or a team mate ended up with the ball. He took a lot of strong contested marks around the ground continually out positioning his opponents, as well as kicking 2 or 3 goals up forward. He certainly has much more of a mans body now.
Mynott did well without dominating. got quite a few possessions and generally used it well and also kicked 2 or 3 goals. He got a corkie above his knee in the 3rd but came back on in the 4th to finish off the game.
McNiece was another that was just OK. He had at least 2 or 3 kicks smothered when clear, and didn’t really do anything to particularly set him apart. He will have to do a lot more to get another crack in the seniors.
Jok was excellent overall with a couple of drawbacks. He got a lot of the ball, probably 25 possesions, his handballing was excellent and his hands very good. He would have laid about 12 tackles and most were great tackles, taking the player right to the ground. His kicking was also generally very good, but he also had a couple of absolute shanks. What I would have like to see was him go in harder both at the contest and in the air. He often sat back and let the opposition get the ball before laying a strong tackle rather than going in harder and getting first possession himself.
Begley and Stewart were in the crowd watching, Mo22ie unfortunately wasn’t there, and Laverde will be the emergency tomorrow as was said earlier.
And lastly thanks to @Hoffy for the updates during the day and keeping me company