Perfect day at Point Jellybean, with the lads getting up by eight goals or so.
Happy to report some quite positive signs from the lads, although there is plenty of ironing out to be done.
Shannon Cox - Best on ground for mine. Or at least if he wasn't technically BOG, he was clearly the most AFL capable of either side. He was the General of the defence, Clemo or Burns style, which is remarkable given it's technically his second year, with one WAFL year. He spoiled magnificently, gathered spillages cleanly, evaded beautifully with great feeds, marked bravely and ran the ball out with pace. His improved fitness and physique has given him a yard or four and he is now very fast. But it's his maturity which won me over. AFL next week.
Brad **** - Very lively, gathering plenty of it and using it for the most part beautifully. Kicked two goals by my count, but should have had four. really shagged one right in front. Has pace and despite his light frame, he is really quite smart with his body in terms of positioning and buying himself space. I see no real reason why he can't play soon. Leon might be bulkier, but given he is a squaib, I fail to see how this makes any difference.
Chris Bryan - Got reported for a bump in the last, which wasn't high, but was designed to hurt a player going over the ball. Will probably go, even though I reckon there's nothing in that sort of thing. I reckon he was pretty good in some ways. He busted a gut all day and played as the primary ruckman. The Werribee ruck would be close to 7', so Bryan winning taps was rarely going to happen. What he did do was nullify the contest with willing committment, and roved the dead ball and botted it forward many times. He worked his arse off around the ground too and had presence. Did a couple of nice things. Made many turnovers too, including two shanks at goal that were getable. Wearing the #40, he reminded me of a slightly shorter Jamar from Melbourne in that he lacks polish, but should probably be a bearable foil for a White/Fraser type. Queries by Filth supporters that he doesn't work hard were not evident; he killed himself out there for the team. Had an enforcer vibe about him the whole time. Shame he got reported.
Nathan Brown - Encouraging game from this lad. He is a hulk, but in Presti-like fashion, manages to be at the contest considerably more than not. Spoil count would have been through the roof. Is smart too and vocal and I think he will be a Wakes-esque General in years to come. My main criticism of him is that he is fantastic when the play is live. When he has time to think about it however, he is freezing, and making ordinary decisions and as such his turnover amount was too high to introduce him the the AFL just yet. This is fixable with coaching and experience.
Tyson Goldsack - I like this kid a lot. Played defence. His want of the football is quite remarkable and he will fight and fight until he gets a result. He got plenty of it despite having plenty of time through the bench. Is quite strong physically, despite wiry frame. He takes players on with confidence and strength and despite getting caught a few times trying for too much, he also broke out of many tackles, opening the play up. He seems to also make very good decisions with the ball and doesn't appear to get lost (ie. always seems to know which way our supporting players are). Quite tall, but is extremely good below the knees.
Sharrod Wellingham - Started off quite shakey, but improved as the game went on. You could see him mustering confidence. Kicking went from poor to very good, finishing with a strong mark and goal. Very athletic, quick and judging by the second half, a very good kick. Ended up getting a fair bit of it. Outside player, but has some qualities that we sorely need on our senior list.
Chris Egan - Unlike Welli, Eags got plenty of it, but started of rusty and finished off about the same. Played accross half back for a while and his iffy disposal led to some costly turnovers (although Meyer, Cox & Brown were kind enough to extinguish the spotfires). I am abnormally encouraged by what most would view as a bad performance, mainly because he got a heap of it, it's his first game back from a broken thumb and he's usually cleaner than that by foot.
Ben Davies - Heaps of it and ran and fought hard. Still lacks the polish required for AFL and is neither quite inside nor outside. He was good by VFL standards, but we aren't, or shouldn't be, recruiting for Willi.
Sam Iles - See Ben Davies.
Ben Reid - Disappointing first game for Chopper. Played full forward. Started off well with a great ground level fight and feed by hand for a goal, but then had plenty of bench time through lack of effectiveness. Came back in the second half and won a few balls accross the middle, but couldn't provide many good leads. Got one goal. On the plus side he is bullet quick and pressures extremely well. No need to slash wrists, but wasn't good.
Martin Clarke - Struggled to get into the game in the first half, netting only a couple of possies and spending time on the pine. Did much better in the second half. Relishes the tough stuff, which is good given Gaelic is effectively Soccer in its physicallity. Ended up gettting a bit of it in the second half and the encouraging signs are that he finds plenty of time and finds a good option with good footskills. Pretty good pace and didn't do anything wrong other than struggle to find the pill early. Still a way off, obviously, but I have no doubt he will be an AFL quality footballer.
Played at a pretty good intensity and given the number of first gamers we had, I reckon we did very well.
Happy to report some quite positive signs from the lads, although there is plenty of ironing out to be done.
Shannon Cox - Best on ground for mine. Or at least if he wasn't technically BOG, he was clearly the most AFL capable of either side. He was the General of the defence, Clemo or Burns style, which is remarkable given it's technically his second year, with one WAFL year. He spoiled magnificently, gathered spillages cleanly, evaded beautifully with great feeds, marked bravely and ran the ball out with pace. His improved fitness and physique has given him a yard or four and he is now very fast. But it's his maturity which won me over. AFL next week.
Brad **** - Very lively, gathering plenty of it and using it for the most part beautifully. Kicked two goals by my count, but should have had four. really shagged one right in front. Has pace and despite his light frame, he is really quite smart with his body in terms of positioning and buying himself space. I see no real reason why he can't play soon. Leon might be bulkier, but given he is a squaib, I fail to see how this makes any difference.
Chris Bryan - Got reported for a bump in the last, which wasn't high, but was designed to hurt a player going over the ball. Will probably go, even though I reckon there's nothing in that sort of thing. I reckon he was pretty good in some ways. He busted a gut all day and played as the primary ruckman. The Werribee ruck would be close to 7', so Bryan winning taps was rarely going to happen. What he did do was nullify the contest with willing committment, and roved the dead ball and botted it forward many times. He worked his arse off around the ground too and had presence. Did a couple of nice things. Made many turnovers too, including two shanks at goal that were getable. Wearing the #40, he reminded me of a slightly shorter Jamar from Melbourne in that he lacks polish, but should probably be a bearable foil for a White/Fraser type. Queries by Filth supporters that he doesn't work hard were not evident; he killed himself out there for the team. Had an enforcer vibe about him the whole time. Shame he got reported.
Nathan Brown - Encouraging game from this lad. He is a hulk, but in Presti-like fashion, manages to be at the contest considerably more than not. Spoil count would have been through the roof. Is smart too and vocal and I think he will be a Wakes-esque General in years to come. My main criticism of him is that he is fantastic when the play is live. When he has time to think about it however, he is freezing, and making ordinary decisions and as such his turnover amount was too high to introduce him the the AFL just yet. This is fixable with coaching and experience.
Tyson Goldsack - I like this kid a lot. Played defence. His want of the football is quite remarkable and he will fight and fight until he gets a result. He got plenty of it despite having plenty of time through the bench. Is quite strong physically, despite wiry frame. He takes players on with confidence and strength and despite getting caught a few times trying for too much, he also broke out of many tackles, opening the play up. He seems to also make very good decisions with the ball and doesn't appear to get lost (ie. always seems to know which way our supporting players are). Quite tall, but is extremely good below the knees.
Sharrod Wellingham - Started off quite shakey, but improved as the game went on. You could see him mustering confidence. Kicking went from poor to very good, finishing with a strong mark and goal. Very athletic, quick and judging by the second half, a very good kick. Ended up getting a fair bit of it. Outside player, but has some qualities that we sorely need on our senior list.
Chris Egan - Unlike Welli, Eags got plenty of it, but started of rusty and finished off about the same. Played accross half back for a while and his iffy disposal led to some costly turnovers (although Meyer, Cox & Brown were kind enough to extinguish the spotfires). I am abnormally encouraged by what most would view as a bad performance, mainly because he got a heap of it, it's his first game back from a broken thumb and he's usually cleaner than that by foot.
Ben Davies - Heaps of it and ran and fought hard. Still lacks the polish required for AFL and is neither quite inside nor outside. He was good by VFL standards, but we aren't, or shouldn't be, recruiting for Willi.
Sam Iles - See Ben Davies.
Ben Reid - Disappointing first game for Chopper. Played full forward. Started off well with a great ground level fight and feed by hand for a goal, but then had plenty of bench time through lack of effectiveness. Came back in the second half and won a few balls accross the middle, but couldn't provide many good leads. Got one goal. On the plus side he is bullet quick and pressures extremely well. No need to slash wrists, but wasn't good.
Martin Clarke - Struggled to get into the game in the first half, netting only a couple of possies and spending time on the pine. Did much better in the second half. Relishes the tough stuff, which is good given Gaelic is effectively Soccer in its physicallity. Ended up gettting a bit of it in the second half and the encouraging signs are that he finds plenty of time and finds a good option with good footskills. Pretty good pace and didn't do anything wrong other than struggle to find the pill early. Still a way off, obviously, but I have no doubt he will be an AFL quality footballer.
Played at a pretty good intensity and given the number of first gamers we had, I reckon we did very well.
o ) What about Danny Stanley. Did he play?
and Stanley played ok in the two's?
