Western Bulldogs Development Coach Peter German looks at how each of the Dogs' listed players fared in Sunday's VFL win over Essendon.
Jack Redpath: He has spent time in defence in the last four or five games that he has played and it was probably his best game on the weekend. It looked like he started to grasp a lot more of the concepts of how to play down back. He was able to get into position and restrict his opponent so it was a really pleasing game. Some of his kicking was a bit off target but that is an area we think we can fix quickly.
Christian Howard: Howie played a bit on the wing and on ball. He is starting to play a bit more inside, which is certainly getting him harder and tougher at the ball and laying more tackles and putting more pressure on, which is pleasing. We are starting to integrate him into an inside and outside player and that will help his footy.
Tory Dickson: Tory worked really hard without a lot of reward. After coming back from a long eight week spell it is hard to get into the groove straight away but we were pleased with his GPS data that he worked really hard. He should be better for getting the game under his belt.
Patrick Veszpremi: Patty had an injury that was nagging him for the majority of the game so he didn’t have the same workrate he has had in some of his previous games. That hindered him a fair bit during the day so we have to see if he will come up for this week.
Jason Tutt: Tutt was alright. I thought it was the sharpest he has looked all year, with his ability to break away from the contested ball and really use his speed on four or five occasions – and that is what we are trying to encourage him to do. Obviously it is one of the strengths of his game and we want him to build on that.
Tom Campbell: Tom was really good in the ruck, it was probably his best ruck game this year. He’s really following up well at ground level and he has added that to his game, where he is putting some good pressure on after the stoppages. Forward play, he had a couple of opportunities but he has to make sure he makes the most of those chances as a forward. That is one of his key areas for development.
Mitch Wallis: Mitch was paid close attention to for the majority of the game, so he really had to work hard to earn his possessions – I think he had about 20. We are trying to make sure he gets a blend of inside and outside football and he kicked one goal, three behinds, so that was pleasing. We pushed him forward in the last quarter, so it is just putting him in different positions to keep developing his game.
Jarrad Grant: Granty kicked two goals and he made the most of his opportunities. He probably just needs to do that more often in a game. He was paid a fair bit of attention, the opposition obviously saw him as a real danger and had a player who played him really tight. We tried to play him up the ground to do a bit of ruck work, so that is something we might endeavour to do more often.
Daniel Cross: Crossy was really good, I thought it was the best game he’s played since being down at Williamstown. He was good in all areas, he was good at the stoppages, he was good defending and in defensive transitions. He showed his courage again running back with the flight of the ball and kicked a goal, as well as 32 touches. I thought it was a good well-rounded game.
Mark Austin: Aussie was down back as well. Both our defenders were a bit undersized on [Tom] Bellchambers, [Scott] Gumbleton and [David] Hille but I thought Austin played a real good game down back. He was able to get around the lack of height that he had on his opponent and was just a good defensive game.
Lachie Hunter: He’s making good inroads. He kicked three goals and had 29 possessions. He is really starting to get confidence to back himself in to go and attack the ball. He is really attracting the ball with his high workrate and he’s been great.
Development League:
Alex Greenwood: Alex had an outstanding game. He collected 33 possessions and ran very hard all day. He used the ball well and had six or seven clearances as well.
Daniel Pearce: Pearce had a bit of a change in role, playing predominantly through the midfield. He had some good clearances and gathered 22 or 23 possessions but was just adapting to the role.