Development manager Jamie Maddocks reviews the 13 AFL-listed players who took to the field in Footscray’s season-opener against Sydney on Friday afternoon.

Mitch Wallis

26 disposals, three marks, nine clearances, eight inside-50s

“Mitch was really strong around the contest, playing a mixture of midfield and a little bit of forward time. His ability to get us from inside to outside the contest was really strong, and his leadership throughout the game really shone through.”

Stefan Martin

14 disposals, two marks, 24 hit-outs, five clearances

“Stef competed really well at stoppages, both at centre bounce and around the ground, and gave us first-use at times. We really liked the way that he tried to join in on offense and get ahead of the ball to try and take some marks. It was a strong outing from Stef.”

Josh Schache

11 disposals, five marks, three tackles, two goals

“Josh played both forward and in defence – as it turned out it was quite a hard night to defend Sydney’s key forwards, but he battled and did his best. As a forward, he was able to get on the end of a few for us. It was a good weekend of education for ‘Shack’ as a defender.”

Rhylee West

24 disposals, six marks, four tackles, eight clearances

“Rhylee was his usual self around stoppages and contests – crashing into packs, knocking some bodies over and happy to play messy at times. He continues to be a consistent performer.” 

Louis Butler

19 disposals, four marks, one goal

“Louis played a strong game on the wing. His ability to get up and down the ground, and to compete at ground level and stoppage was very good. He also hit the scoreboard as a winger which is important – we like the way he is trending.”

Tim O’Brien

11 disposals, three marks

“Tim had limited game-time in his first official match for Footscray, but played mostly as a defender and had a little cameo as a forward late in the game. He did some good things, and showed some good leadership and football IQ out there. We look forward to him building his capacity so he can go and play at the higher level.”

Buku Khamis

Five disposals, two marks, eight spoils

“Buku played a full game as a key defender. His ability to keep the Swans out of their forward-50 at times was really important, as was his ability in the air to bring the ball to ground and involve our smaller players. To stay on the ground for the whole duration of the game shows what a great team player he is.”

Robbie McComb

36 disposals, 10 marks, nine clearances, seven inside-50s one goal

“Robbie was probably our best on the night. He was really strong as a midfielder around every contest, and his ability to spread both offensively and defensively to help his teammates was really impressive. To find the scoreboard and have that many disposals while being very productive, was a very good performance.”

Arthur Jones

11 disposals, four marks

“Arthur played most of his time on the wing, and really showed his capacity to win or halve the contest at ground level – it’s been great to see Arty’s growth from week to week. His ability to get out the back will be used on more occasions going forward, but we like the way he is learning about our style and implementing it into his game every week.”

Luke Cleary

15 disposals, three marks

“Luke slotted into our back seven really nicely. His ability to see the game in front of him and read all the cues to help intercept, but also defend and get the ball into our half was a highlight. The way he found his teammates in traffic was very impressive too.”

Riley Garcia

24 disposals, eight tackles

“Riley played a full game this week after coming back from injury. His ability to follow the ball and then get ahead of it to pressure the opposition was very important. While his capacity is still increasing, we’re starting to see some of his gifts come out.”

Cody Raak

22 disposals, 11 marks, four intercepts

“Much like Luke (Cleary), Cody plugged into our back seven and did some really good things. We were a bit tall back there, so his ability to get back and help us at ground level was great. When the Swans were surging and having a lot of inside-50s, he was critical in helping us stay in the game for as long as we did.”

Jordon Sweet

Five disposals, 15 hit-outs

“Jordon played a bit of a different role in this game with Stef (Martin) taking most of the ruck stoppages. It was a tough night for him – he didn’t have much supply in the forward half, but he’ll be better for the experience with how the game panned out.”