We moved into sixth place, ahead of Geelong and Port Melbourne.
(Note: we’re just 0.03% behind Willy in fifth.)
Apparently Green has not had VFL success before:
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As far as individuals go -
Redman - I thought our best today. He was pretty quiet in the first half, with just one burst out of defence where he ran and bounced and delivered a 40m pass being a highlight. When he went to the midfield in the 3rd I though he was instrumental in turning the game. He played a bit like Langford has been doing for the 2s and we started to win the clearances. Took some good clean one grab marks, and he is aggressive and strong in the contest.
Green - I thought he fumbled a fair bit in the first half, and twice he staged for frees. His 2nd half was better, going on the ball more probably helped get him going. He kicked 3 typical Green goals which is where his value lies.
Mynott - I thought was pretty quiet. He played mainly onball and struggled to get enough of the ball in that role.
McNeice - has moments where he is very creative and almost McKenna like, including the goal he handballed over the top to Younan. But at other times he made a few mistakes. Not sure whether he is AFL standard or not. Jury is still out for mine.
Draper - as DJR said, he got his hands to a lot of marks and failed to hold them. He took a couple of good grabs in the 3rd. I thought Buzza and #56 beat him pretty clearly in the hitouts.
Zork - a very promising player. He is fearless in the air, and takes a good mark. He won his first 2 airial contests against Stanley, and at one stage won a HTB showing equal agility to Stanley 1 on 1 on the ground. I like him a lot.
Francis - typical Francis game. Intercept marks, some strong tackles. I thought he faded a bit in terms of influence, but not necessarily from fatigue. He looks pretty fit.
Hartley - was good at times, taking a few well judged marks, but also was beaten a few times and conceded shots on goal. Without looking at the stats, I would say Buzza and Stanley kicked about 6 between them, a few from beating Hartley. There was one time right in front of me when, from a Geelong kickout Hartley was pressing up, and when the ball went out the other side, Stanley took off behind him and Hartley was caught napping and then chased at 3/4 pace 15 adrift of him until the ball was kicked diagonally in and he was unable to get back to prevent Stanley marking 40m out. I really hate pressing up and then letting your opponent outrun you on the break!
Young Lav = clearly a long way to go for him, but he has a mature body, and a healthy dose of aggression. Great to see his goal and the entire team rushing up to congratulate him. He almost held a big grab in the goalsquare also in the 2nd, but at other times, he was put out of the contest by a little bump just as he went to run and jump at the ball (a la Joe).
Luenberger - showed that at this stage, he is still a much better hitout ruckman than Draper, and his efforts around the stoppages today was good, for a bloke who cops a fair amount of criticism for not being any use on the ground.
Have I missed anyone?
PS Hind is a very good VFL player, its a pity he is not on our list.
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Players I forgot -
Houlihan - pretty quiet before he hurt his ankle mid 2nd. Came back but probably still restricted.
Parish - contrary to others’ views above, I was a bit underwhelmed. He got first hands on the ball a fair bit, which is what you want from an inside mid, but was a bit ineffective in being able to break free. He lacks a bit of body size for that role (a bit like Hams was). His handball though is quick and good, probably his strength and maybe something we should be using him for. It would make him like Clarke, though, if so. His kicking at times was better than it has been, flatter and quicker than some of the floaters he often kicks.
Brown - a reasonable contributor without doing anything that calls for a senior call up.
Long - gradually worked into the game, and he tackles and competes well. He doesn’t get enough of the ball to be an influential player, tending towards serviceable games. Unfortunately, that late clanger was horrendous, and could have cost us the game had there been another couple of minutes on the clock. It ruins a lot of good work when he does things like that.
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Thanks Jodi
We hope Parish improves he was a high pick at 5 in a reasonably good draft
What about Francis? Were you happy with his game?
I’ve seen Francis enough now to know what to expect. He loves to peel off and read the ball coming in and take the intercept mark, and he did that effectively again today. The other good news is that I don’t remember him being beaten in a 1 on 1 today. Think Hurley when Hurley used to win the 1 on 1s. However, he doesn’t win a lot of the ball. Maybe he has a rest when we are in possession. I’m not sure. I didn’t notice any lack of fitness or second efforts. He is definitely a senior player in waiting, and there is no doubt about his ability. I think it is not a bad thing for him to be rounding out his game, and building his fitness at this stage. It is not a question of whether, but when.
He tackles fiercely, and his kicking is very penetrating. He has all the tools.
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VFL site has our bests: Redman, Green, Hocking , Hind, Long, Parish
Goals: Brown 3, Green 3, Younan 2, Houlahan, Mynott, Leuenberger, Sheahan, Lavender.
Only saw first half but here’s a couple of things:
Zerk - had Ryan Abbott then Buzza. One time had to take four or five big steps back going with flight of ball to get a spoil in, was super courageous. Later after Stanley started killing Harts, Zerk beat him one on one.
Mynott - sat under two consecutive high balls and took marks both times.
Francis - haven’t seen him cover the ground so well before. Moved on ball and into centre bounces in second term. One time was great run down and aggressively got the Cat and the free kick. Imposed himself on game.
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Mynott was our 4th highest disposal winner with 21, not sure where everyone is getting that he had a quiet game
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Not much on Long?
Reckon we should be pumping 90% rucktime into Draper. Luey is finished and should play him forward and break open only in case of emergency. Draper is the future.
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Hitouts 64-33 our way (51 to Leuenberger, pretty much proportional to his time on ball). Stats otherwise very similar, with us being slightly more inclined to kicking over handballing.
Younan 10 tackles along with 2.3, St Francis 9 tackles along with his 18 touches and 6 marks (5 of which were intercepts, ha ha ha).
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Here’s your story. We were amazing in that 15 minute period (goals to Younan Younan Brown Loony Sheahan Mynott Green).
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Younan reminds me a bit of puopolo. Also good to see parish get over 30 hoping he can start to get those numbers in the seniors.
Credit to DJ, with Fennell going down for the day at the first bounce we were down not only a rotation but also a key mid on top of Langers and Clarkey going up - at half time he was prepared to mix things up by putting Redman and Green on the ball, thought both were instrumental in the 3rd quarter surge that sealed the game. Houla missed a lot of time with his ankle too so we were actually down two rotations a lot of the day, looked a little tired very late.
Mason flying at the moment, Greeny was terrific, great to get some midfield km’s into Frang, and thought Leuey was fantastic among others. Darcy found a ton of footy, wasn’t always clean but his attitude and effort were first class. Great spirit in this group.
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In the games I’ve been able to get to live, Boyse has always burned it up!
I was surprised no one took a punt on him, worry, athletic hit up half forward.
Yet a lot of games I miss I read up and he’s been poor.
What’s the knock on him DJR? I’ve always liked what I saw.
For the time-challenged, I have cued the replay below to the start of the burst that won the game. 14 minutes, 7 goals.
Sadly, the camera sticks with the ball so you don’t get to see how happy Green was with himself after kicking the last of those goals.
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Cool. If it’s the club making this happen in getting the games up, even when they’re not streamed etc, … then they get a fkn HUGE tick from me.
Can you pinpoint a time stamp for Mynotts Incredagoal @theDJR?
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Start at 1:31:20 when Redman’s brutal tackle (with help from Parish) gets it going our way. Lots of things to like about that sequence, including Hocking’s shepherd to stop us being forced out of bounds.
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Like.
Kids got style.
In case whoevers filming these games gets around these here parts, … may be an idea to follow and zoom on the player after a goal is kicked rather than the bluddy Goal Umps flag waving prowess for 15 seconds. 
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