Lewis Young
22 disposals, 11 marks, five rebound 50s
“Like most of our players, ‘Lewy’ was shaking off the rust after a long lay-off in terms of game-play. His ability to find the ball in the aerial contest to support with spoils and intercept marks was good – he judged the ball really well when he had good positioning. The way he helped us repel many of Geelong’s forward forays was impressive.”
Easton Wood
12 disposals, six marks, two inside 50s
“’Woody’ was coming back after another injury layoff. It was great to have him out there in terms of the way he can lead and communicate to the players around him. While he had some moments that he’d like back with some errors off his boot, he positioned himself pretty well around the ground most of the night. He intercepted very well, and his ability to use his speed at times was important.”
Josh Schache
16 disposals, 14 marks, six goals
“’Schack’ had a slow start to the game, but from then his ability to use his work-rate to run sideline to sideline and create opportunities for himself was a real highlight. The way he finished in front of goal with 6.1 was the real difference between both teams on the night.”
Rhylee West
12 disposals, seven tackles, one goal
“Rhylee played a mixture of inside-mid and forward. His defensive pressure was on display with seven tackles, but he probably didn’t have the amount of interactions with the ball that he normally has. Despite having less impact on the game, his defensive pressure was still high, and his time spent forward too will help him in the long run."
Ed Richards
27 disposals, five marks, six rebounds 50s
“Ed was another player coming back from an injury he sustained in the VFL pre-season against Collingwood. He was a little bit rusty early with his positioning, and was working on just getting back into games and competition, but the way he used the ball, his speed and decision-making around the ground was really important. The way he used his speed in particular to get back and defend, and take space away from his opponents was ultra-impressive."
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan
Five disposals, three marks, two goals
“’Marra’ would have had a pretty frustrating night – what we did like though was that he kept running and kept moving around the ground as much as he could. He was playing on some bigger bodies which restricted him from running and jumping into contests, but he persevered and got a lot of game-time under his belt which is really good. To finish off the game with a couple of goals in the last quarter – it’s important to finish on a high so he can take that into next week.”
Buku Khamis
19 disposals, six marks, five rebound 50s
“Buku was another one of the players who probably didn’t start the game the way he would have liked. In greasy conditions the ball was hard to handle – which is tough especially when your game is built around intercepts. I loved that he was jumping into contests and through opponents’ barriers, working through blocks and jumping in and starting to take his own marks from there. He used his speed on the ground to run away from contests to which was really impressive.”
Ben Cavarra
Eight disposals, eight tackles, three clearances
“’Cav’ again played a mix of forward and inside. He probably had limited opportunities with the ball, but I did like his last quarter and his intent around the contest and stoppage. He looked quick and strong over the ball – we’ve just got to keep finding ways for him to get involved when the game isn’t going his way.”
Dom Bedendo
Seven disposals, five marks, four inside 50s
“Dom played mostly as a forward. His confidence with the ball in hand is always improving – we want to see him continue to use his speed with intent, because when he does he gets involved which is great. He’s still learning the game and the level it takes to play against men week in and week out, but he’s heading in the right direction.”
Pat Lipinski
36 disposals, five marks, six tackles, five clearances, three goals
“Pat was probably one of our only players early to stand up and bring pressure. His ability to be clean at stoppages and contests was elite, which was highlighted by his scoring shots. He was clean off the ground, clean to receive the ball and had great footwork to score. His ability to also get from contest to contest was impressive, and the way he uses his hands and feet to find his teammates was at a high standard.”
Lachie McNeil
12 disposals, four tackles, one goal
“This was actually Lachie’s first VFL game – he started okay and had a couple of really nice ground-ball efforts and tackles, but again it was a tough night with the ball on the ground quite a bit. He used his speed often which helped us get inside our forward-50, but we just needed to find other ways for him to make the most of his opportunities.”
Will Hayes
24 disposals, four marks, four clearances, seven inside 50s
“’Hayesy’ found himself back on the wing for nearly all of the game. He didn’t use the ball as well as he usually would - which is something that he noted – but his ability to run and help our defenders in our defensive-50, and then also run and get into our forward-50 to help us lock it in or score was what he does really well. Those were the highlights of his game.”
Riley Garcia
35 disposals, four tackles, five clearances, six inside 50s
“Riley played most of the game as a midfielder, but spent some time forward too. You can never fault his work at the contest for a little fella – he’s strong over the ball and had one of the highlight ground-balls of the year winning it off Rhys Stanley. His ability to take the ball from stoppage and contest and run away at speed to connect with his teammates was noticeable – he was very good.”
Jordon Sweet
Seven disposals, four clearances, 21 hit-outs
“Jordon was up against it, in terms of being double-teamed by some AFL-standard talls. At stoppages he was pretty reliable and connected well with his teammates. We’d like him to get to those big-man areas at times down-the-line more and help us out, but again you can’t fault his work ethic. It’d be good to see him build off this game.”
