Development Coach Chris Maple looks at how each of the Western Bulldogs listed players fared in windy conditions against Casey Scorpions on Saturday.
Fletcher Roberts: Played his first game as a defender in VFL seniors this year. Aquitted himself quite well – spent a variety of time on Melbourne players such as Fitzpatrick and Chris Dawes. Was consistently spoiling the ball for most of the night and had a fairly solid game.
Daniel Pearce: Daniel played more as a wing / half forward this week in a change of role. Was a little bit inconsistent at times but was quite good when he was around the ball and we will be looking for Daniel to continue that role and develop in that area.
Lachlan Hunter: he played his first VFL senior game. Lachlan played mainly as a forward but also spent some time on the wing. He didn’t have a huge night statistically but we were very happy with what we saw. He applied good pressure.
Josh Prudden: Josh also played his first senior VFL game. He is an inside mid and came up against the bigger bodies and the older boys but he had a very good start – gathering 16 possessions. He looks to be quite a complete player.
Jack Redpath: Played his first game as a defender in the VFL seniors. Again stood up against some big names, such as Chris Dawes at times. Has good closing speed as a defender as well as a long kick. He spoiled well all night.
Tom Campbell: Played forward and ruck. Unfortunately it wasn’t a great night for the tall forwards, however Tom in the ruck was very competitive. He got a lot of hitouts and followed up his work really well with his tackling. He also took a couple of nice strong marks.
Ayce Cordy: Ayce played his first game back in the VFL after starting the season in the AFL. He played the full night as a forward and took some very strong marks in the goal square. He kicked three goals, but again it wasn’t a great night for the tall forwards but Ayce competed well.
Lukas Markovic: Predominantly played the game on Chris Dawes and had a really good night. He played very tight and will put his hand up for senior selection again. He’s been playing really good, consistent VFL football.
Jarrad Grant: Jarred played as a forward. Was pretty quiet from Jarrad but he had some good tackles, some good chases and worked hard on his pressure. He played as a forward so it was good to see him get onto the scoreboard with a goal.
Christian Howard: Probably played his best VFL game thus far this year. Created quite a bit of run and dash from his midfield role and spent some time on Melbourne’s Jimmy Toumpas. Christian had five tackles, so it was good to see that improvement in his game.
Dylan Addison: Played his second game back from a hamstring injury. Put his hand up and played a variety of positions around the ground and had a real impact. In contention for senior selection.
Nathan Hrovat: Nathan played his first game back in the development league. He was on limited time but got through really well. His legs have pulled up really well after the game. He got a lot of the ball and played mainly midfield and forward. And we will look to see Nathan play senior VFL footy this week.
