Ben McEvoy

[sainter]

Good on him.

He'll never forget his first game and it was great to see how happy the rest of the players were for him and the two other new boys.

It was always going to be a huge ask coming up against Sandilands but he didn't take a backward step and to me that's all that matters at this stage. He won't come up against a better tap ruckman in the league so he would have learnt a lot from it.

He definitely has clean hands as Tassie Saint and does seem to kick the footy well.

 

[just a line monkey]

Looks set to be a around the ground ruckman.
Good debut looking forward to his improvement over the coming years.

 

[Squizz]

ABC Grandstand : Jun 25, 2008

Two very different milestones

St Kilda ruckman Ben McEvoy achieved two milestones on debut, both memorable, but for vastly different reasons.
The Saints big man became only the ninth player in AFL history to play in the same team as a player who was competing at the top level before he was born. That player is of course Robert Harvey who made his debut in the then VFL in 1988.
At the other end of the spectrum McEvoy may have created a record that he can call his own.
Leading out from full-forward the former Dederang-Mount Beauty youngster received a slight shove in the back while attempting to mark, causing the football to cannon through his hands and into his head, this may be an AFL first.
McEvoy could be the very first AFL footballer to headbutt the ball before using the more traditional Aussie Rules methods of disposal, the kick and handball.
He then had the opportunity to join the group, with a growing list of players, to kick a goal with their first possession in AFL football, but wanting to be different again McEvoy hit the post with his first kick, joining another illustrious and much smaller group.
McEvoy says that his teammates won't let him forget the incident, known in rugby league as a "falcon."
"They've been getting stuck into me like you wouldn't believe," he says.
"It will make for a good story down the track; luckily I did get my mitts on a few after that."
But the other record McEvoy is much prouder of, playing with the 36 year old Robert Harvey is something he will never forget.
"You can't really think of him as old because you see the way he still runs, on Friday night he clocked up 30 possessions, he's just amazing."
"I've got as much respect for him as anyone I've ever seen play AFL footy, it genuinely was amazing to play with him and I really value it," McEvoy says.

The Debut:

Unless they come from a famous family or are picked up as the number one draft pick most footballers make their AFL debut with very little fanfare.
But McEvoy was thrown into the limelight sooner than expected after Saints coach Ross Lyon announced that early season Brownlow hope Nick Dal Santo and leading goal kicker Stephen Milne would be dropped back to the reserves.
McEvoy's name was put forward as one of the players who would be making their debut and soon everyone wanted a piece of the 18 year old.
"It was pretty daunting and obviously a pretty big week for me; it got a fair bit of exposure."
The on field task for the 200cm Ben McEvoy was equally as daunting, he was competing against the tallest and heaviest player in AFL history, Aaron Sandilands.
Sandilands stands at 211cm and weighs 123kg, while his sidekick Robert Warnock (206cm), isn't much shorter.
"I was pretty worried leading up to the game, just not knowing how I was going to combat it," McEvoy says.
The Saints debutant admits that he was "fairly well beaten" in the ruck but can see the positives from the experience.
"It was good to get that over and done with; I dare say it can't get too much harder."
"It was definitely a daunting task first up, I'm looking forward to rucking against someone more my size."
This week McEvoy will be up against the North Melbourne pairing of David Hale (201cm) and Drew Petrie (197cm), a more than competent combination, but much shorter than the Dockers duo.

 

[makemytime]

has he got a three year deal already?

 

[Squizz]

has he got a three year deal already?

I'm sure I read somewhere that he got longer than the normal contract term for a first round draft pick (2 years), but for the life of me I can't find the article.