Tac cup 2012

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Tomnat Tigers said:
Nick Graham won the Morris medal one vote ahead of Nick Rippon.
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That damages their futures no end. Benbow won the Morrish last year and he couldn't get into the Northern Blues.
It is a pity, but the Morrish Medal has become something of an albatross that no U18 player wants around his neck. It has been for a long time, but in the last few years it has basically presaged the death of AFL aspirations.
 
beowulf said:
That damages their futures no end. Benbow won the Morrish last year and he couldn't get into the Northern Blues.
It is a pity, but the Morrish Medal has become something of an albatross that no U18 player wants around his neck. It has been for a long time, but in the last few years it has basically presaged the death of AFL aspirations.
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Kruezer, Heppell and Blair? Cunnington would of won it by 30 votes if he didn't miss quite a few games too......
 

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Caught one and a half of the two games last weekend - half of the really open, flowing attractive match, and every inglorious minute of the fumbly stoppage-ridden turnover-fest. C'est la vie. Nice day for it, at least!

(Apologies for inevitable inaccuracies, lapses of memory etc, I don't take notes at the games and when I end up writing reports mid-week some of the details have vanished into the mists of my old age...)

Arrived at Oakleigh-Dandy early in the third, with Oakleigh a couple of goals up and Dandenong making me wonder how they'd even gotten that close. Rays f50 entries were few and far between as Jackson Macrae put on another show. The Chargers big men were firing up forward and their mids were dominant around the stoppages, the game never really looked like going any other way. The margin blew out to 10 goals in the last qtr before the Rays pegged a couple back late, but it was still a pretty comprehensive trouncing.

BoG from what I saw was Jackson Macrae again. Must be rocketing up the draft order, I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself having started talking him up from the first Chargers match I saw this season. More of an outside player than a clearance winner, but very capable of winning contested ball as well. Strong overhead and very good by foot. Nice size at 188 or so, strong through the core but could still stand to beef up a little for the AFL, pace is ok, not anything special. Reads the play exceptionally well. His signature move is the pause and sidestep around behind a tackler coming in from one side, luring them into overcommitting then waltzing around them and keeping on with his run. Must have done it a dozen times, at AFL level opponents will watch for it though. Think he has enough tricks to compensate even once that one gets worked out though.

Exon put in a power of work through the midfield and halfback, had Whitfield a lot of the time, though Macrae did his share of that duty too. Really solid, hardworking game.

Jaksch was really good up forward, played deep, just too quick on the lead, marked too cleanly, kicked straight as a die. Ended up with 4. Apparently spent some time down back before I got to the game. Really neat kpp package, nice height at 104cm and the ability to play both ends genuinely well.

Sam Raru is a really solid, big-bodied type (very, in fact, at 181cm and 87kg) who did a lot of heavy work in the stoppages and showed a bit of explosive strength when he had to, but whose game will mostly be remembered for his extraordinary breakaway stoppage from the centre bounce, swerving bouncing run to about 55 out, and then his massive thumping drop punt that split the middle almost post high - at the wrong end of the ground
laugh.gif


Ned Walmsley had a good game in the fwd line too, a little shorter but a lot more solid than Jaksch, the two of them worked well together. Showed a nice ability to take his marks contested, wrestling, or on the lead, and to convert well. Ended up with 3, could be a late-option smokey, especially if he's grown a bit above his listed 191cm.

Jay Kennedy-Harris is 64kg and so needs desperately to spend the summer stuffing himself with steak if he has any hopes of playing AFL without getting busted into little bits, but showed a lot as an underager. Genuine run and carry, very quick, played mostly as a reciever but did get into smart positions to recieve. Made a bunch of multibounce runs up the wings and into the fwd line, has a good swerve and won't cough it up as soon as the first tackler gets near him. Kicked 2 but showed a definite tendency to handball off even within range of goal, probably had 3 or 4 assists even in the half I saw.

Interesting ruck battle between Prowse and Pierce, with Prowse probably coming out on top by virtue of body size and around the ground work. Pierce has a very good leap and jumped over him at center bounces, but is very skinny and Proswe was able to shove him around once body contact was there. Both showed some good tapwork at times, and fast hands (Prowse in particular under obvious instructions to never ever ever under any circumstances kick the oval red thing). Neither ready to go as AFL rucks, but either could be worth a late pick as a project/development player.

Vizzari from the backline and Collopy in the middle provided a lot of run.

For Dandenong, not much to write home about. Pongracic was solid again, still at times not sure how much of his game is just shoving smaller kids around though. Foot speed at times questionable, but his effort and physicality can't be faulted. Kicking was good this week too.

James Harmes the other one that caught my eye, blond underager who worked his way into the game more and more as it went on. One to watch next year, inside-outside with an emphasis on the inside, handy knack of being in the right place and already moving at high speed when the ball jars loose. Can win a clearance and think his way through traffic.

Whitfield looked ordinary, to be honest. Played forward again with bouts on the wing, except for a short burst in the 3rd when he went into the centre and won two slashing clearances in rapid succession before vanishing again. Still has the cool head and good disposal, but the workrate from last year is just nowhere to be see. London to a brick on he's got OP, by my guess. No gutrunning, very little explosive pace, spent a lot of time standing around hands on knees, curled around himself and obviously hurting.

Sandy Geelong was, frankly, dull. Low-skilled high-pressure game but many of the skill errors happened out in the clear and were not related to pressure at all. Have very rarely seen such a fumbly game in such clear, dry conditions, and I've NEVER seen a game in which both sides missed so many clear targets by hand. Handball skills were woeful, no two ways about it. The Dragons jumped out to a three goal lead before Geleong even got on the board, and the margin remained roughly constant for the rest of the match. The Falcons got their share of the ball, but continually grounded linking handballs across halfback and when they did get it forward, simply lacked a big target to make the most of it. Fraser Fort had a go up there, but the experiment was not much of a success. Sandy looked just that slight vital bit more polished all day to eventually grind out a win by 4 goals.

Christian Salem was very impressive. Underaged but solid midfielder-cum-flanker, really ran like a machine to link up and provide and option, and ended the day with a lazy 15 marks. Impressed with his ability to get into dangerous positions and burn off his man by sheer gutrunning effort. I remember taking a mental note along the lines of 'jeez he's clean by foot' at one point, whereupon he promptly coughed it up a couple of times running, but was still very good all day. Strong contested mark. Ended up with 2 goals, missed a couple more from reasonable tricky shots from 45ish on an angle. One to watch.

Tom Langdon got a huge amount of ball and used it mostly ok. Solid guy at 189 and 80, but still more outside than in without express pace from what I saw. Still, ballmagnets never go out of fashion, especially ones who can hit the scoreboard.

Tom Tyquin won a decent amount of ball in the middle, though i wasn't really sold on his decisionmaking. Tended to win it from the centre, run diagonally every time and kick to a long lead somewhere on the boundary around the 50 metre line. Go in straight down the guts once in a while, son!

Chris Mangioni played the general, rebounder, and all-round mopper-upperer down back, and did it with aplomb. Bit of pace, bit of aggression, solid reading of the ball and a willingness to back himself. Good game all round, though he's too small for AFL.

For Geelong, not much to write home about. A few of their underagers showed enough to suggest they'll be a force next year though. Doug Bond was very good on the forward line, a bit light but has the pace, gets load of the ball and chases/tackles with intent. Kicked 2.

Tom Gribble a bit better held than the previous couple of games, still racked up the touches but without quite the same hurt factor. Up-and-under kicking a real issue with him.

Darcy Fort had a mixed day, won almost every tap against little opposition but I would have liked to see him impose himself more around the ground. Doesn't mind getting his hands dirty when the ball hits the ground at a stoppage, but needs to run to present an option more (and not to drop it like a cake of wet soap when it does come to him). Improved later in the game, still not quite at his best though. Kicking is a work in progress, tapwork still rather predictable.

Bourke is another one to watch next year, lean agile wingman with good height. Nice disposal, have seen him play as a lead-up fwd to some effect too.

Christiansen (brother of) did some good things in the forward line (also gave away a boneheaded 50 for running across the mark) - some nice crumbing. Ended up with 1.1, but is frighteningly skinny. Kate Moss, Jack Skellington and Ethiopian famine victims would all look at him and say 'wow, that kid is skinny'. I could encircle his upper arm with one hand. Listed at 56kg, and that's generous.

Next weekend in the prelims, Oakleigh vs North Ballarat and Gippsland vs Sandy. I'm hoping for a Gippy-Chargers GF myself. Silken midfield class of the Chargers vs the never-say-die comeback kids from the Power. Would be an awesome matchup.
 
Humble Minion said:
Caught one and a half of the two games last weekend - half of the really open, flowing attractive match, and every inglorious minute of the fumbly stoppage-ridden turnover-fest. C'est la vie. Nice day for it, at least!

(Apologies for inevitable inaccuracies, lapses of memory etc, I don't take notes at the games and when I end up writing reports mid-week some of the details have vanished into the mists of my old age...)

Arrived at Oakleigh-Dandy early in the third, with Oakleigh a couple of goals up and Dandenong making me wonder how they'd even gotten that close. Rays f50 entries were few and far between as Jackson Macrae put on another show. The Chargers big men were firing up forward and their mids were dominant around the stoppages, the game never really looked like going any other way. The margin blew out to 10 goals in the last qtr before the Rays pegged a couple back late, but it was still a pretty comprehensive trouncing.

BoG from what I saw was Jackson Macrae again. Must be rocketing up the draft order, I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself having started talking him up from the first Chargers match I saw this season. More of an outside player than a clearance winner, but very capable of winning contested ball as well. Strong overhead and very good by foot. Nice size at 188 or so, strong through the core but could still stand to beef up a little for the AFL, pace is ok, not anything special. Reads the play exceptionally well. His signature move is the pause and sidestep around behind a tackler coming in from one side, luring them into overcommitting then waltzing around them and keeping on with his run. Must have done it a dozen times, at AFL level opponents will watch for it though. Think he has enough tricks to compensate even once that one gets worked out though.

Exon put in a power of work through the midfield and halfback, had Whitfield a lot of the time, though Macrae did his share of that duty too. Really solid, hardworking game.

Jaksch was really good up forward, played deep, just too quick on the lead, marked too cleanly, kicked straight as a die. Ended up with 4. Apparently spent some time down back before I got to the game. Really neat kpp package, nice height at 104cm and the ability to play both ends genuinely well.

Sam Raru is a really solid, big-bodied type (very, in fact, at 181cm and 87kg) who did a lot of heavy work in the stoppages and showed a bit of explosive strength when he had to, but whose game will mostly be remembered for his extraordinary breakaway stoppage from the centre bounce, swerving bouncing run to about 55 out, and then his massive thumping drop punt that split the middle almost post high - at the wrong end of the ground
laugh.gif


Ned Walmsley had a good game in the fwd line too, a little shorter but a lot more solid than Jaksch, the two of them worked well together. Showed a nice ability to take his marks contested, wrestling, or on the lead, and to convert well. Ended up with 3, could be a late-option smokey, especially if he's grown a bit above his listed 191cm.

Jay Kennedy-Harris is 64kg and so needs desperately to spend the summer stuffing himself with steak if he has any hopes of playing AFL without getting busted into little bits, but showed a lot as an underager. Genuine run and carry, very quick, played mostly as a reciever but did get into smart positions to recieve. Made a bunch of multibounce runs up the wings and into the fwd line, has a good swerve and won't cough it up as soon as the first tackler gets near him. Kicked 2 but showed a definite tendency to handball off even within range of goal, probably had 3 or 4 assists even in the half I saw.

Interesting ruck battle between Prowse and Pierce, with Prowse probably coming out on top by virtue of body size and around the ground work. Pierce has a very good leap and jumped over him at center bounces, but is very skinny and Proswe was able to shove him around once body contact was there. Both showed some good tapwork at times, and fast hands (Prowse in particular under obvious instructions to never ever ever under any circumstances kick the oval red thing). Neither ready to go as AFL rucks, but either could be worth a late pick as a project/development player.

Vizzari from the backline and Collopy in the middle provided a lot of run.

For Dandenong, not much to write home about. Pongracic was solid again, still at times not sure how much of his game is just shoving smaller kids around though. Foot speed at times questionable, but his effort and physicality can't be faulted. Kicking was good this week too.

James Harmes the other one that caught my eye, blond underager who worked his way into the game more and more as it went on. One to watch next year, inside-outside with an emphasis on the inside, handy knack of being in the right place and already moving at high speed when the ball jars loose. Can win a clearance and think his way through traffic.

Whitfield looked ordinary, to be honest. Played forward again with bouts on the wing, except for a short burst in the 3rd when he went into the centre and won two slashing clearances in rapid succession before vanishing again. Still has the cool head and good disposal, but the workrate from last year is just nowhere to be see. London to a brick on he's got OP, by my guess. No gutrunning, very little explosive pace, spent a lot of time standing around hands on knees, curled around himself and obviously hurting. .
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You only saw a quarter and a half, so maybe you got a few players mixed up.

Watched most of the game.

Had McDonald as the clear BOG, went head to head with Whitfield for most of it, and the stats speak for themselves. McDonald had 29 touches, 15 handball recieves and 8 marks (3 contested), directly against Whitfield's 17.

I probably had McRae second best on, he certainly had a stronger finish to the game, and is firming as a mid first round selection imo.

His development reminds me alot of Fyfe's, marking medium forward, turned midfielder late in the season.
 
Humble Minion said:
Caught one and a half of the two games last weekend - half of the really open, flowing attractive match, and every inglorious minute of the fumbly stoppage-ridden turnover-fest. C'est la vie. Nice day for it, at least!

(Apologies for inevitable inaccuracies, lapses of memory etc, I don't take notes at the games and when I end up writing reports mid-week some of the details have vanished into the mists of my old age...)

Arrived at Oakleigh-Dandy early in the third, with Oakleigh a couple of goals up and Dandenong making me wonder how they'd even gotten that close. Rays f50 entries were few and far between as Jackson Macrae put on another show. The Chargers big men were firing up forward and their mids were dominant around the stoppages, the game never really looked like going any other way. The margin blew out to 10 goals in the last qtr before the Rays pegged a couple back late, but it was still a pretty comprehensive trouncing.

BoG from what I saw was Jackson Macrae again. Must be rocketing up the draft order, I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself having started talking him up from the first Chargers match I saw this season. More of an outside player than a clearance winner, but very capable of winning contested ball as well. Strong overhead and very good by foot. Nice size at 188 or so, strong through the core but could still stand to beef up a little for the AFL, pace is ok, not anything special. Reads the play exceptionally well. His signature move is the pause and sidestep around behind a tackler coming in from one side, luring them into overcommitting then waltzing around them and keeping on with his run. Must have done it a dozen times, at AFL level opponents will watch for it though. Think he has enough tricks to compensate even once that one gets worked out though.

Exon put in a power of work through the midfield and halfback, had Whitfield a lot of the time, though Macrae did his share of that duty too. Really solid, hardworking game.

Jaksch was really good up forward, played deep, just too quick on the lead, marked too cleanly, kicked straight as a die. Ended up with 4. Apparently spent some time down back before I got to the game. Really neat kpp package, nice height at 104cm and the ability to play both ends genuinely well.

Sam Raru is a really solid, big-bodied type (very, in fact, at 181cm and 87kg) who did a lot of heavy work in the stoppages and showed a bit of explosive strength when he had to, but whose game will mostly be remembered for his extraordinary breakaway stoppage from the centre bounce, swerving bouncing run to about 55 out, and then his massive thumping drop punt that split the middle almost post high - at the wrong end of the ground
laugh.gif


Ned Walmsley had a good game in the fwd line too, a little shorter but a lot more solid than Jaksch, the two of them worked well together. Showed a nice ability to take his marks contested, wrestling, or on the lead, and to convert well. Ended up with 3, could be a late-option smokey, especially if he's grown a bit above his listed 191cm.

Jay Kennedy-Harris is 64kg and so needs desperately to spend the summer stuffing himself with steak if he has any hopes of playing AFL without getting busted into little bits, but showed a lot as an underager. Genuine run and carry, very quick, played mostly as a reciever but did get into smart positions to recieve. Made a bunch of multibounce runs up the wings and into the fwd line, has a good swerve and won't cough it up as soon as the first tackler gets near him. Kicked 2 but showed a definite tendency to handball off even within range of goal, probably had 3 or 4 assists even in the half I saw.

Interesting ruck battle between Prowse and Pierce, with Prowse probably coming out on top by virtue of body size and around the ground work. Pierce has a very good leap and jumped over him at center bounces, but is very skinny and Proswe was able to shove him around once body contact was there. Both showed some good tapwork at times, and fast hands (Prowse in particular under obvious instructions to never ever ever under any circumstances kick the oval red thing). Neither ready to go as AFL rucks, but either could be worth a late pick as a project/development player.

Vizzari from the backline and Collopy in the middle provided a lot of run.

For Dandenong, not much to write home about. Pongracic was solid again, still at times not sure how much of his game is just shoving smaller kids around though. Foot speed at times questionable, but his effort and physicality can't be faulted. Kicking was good this week too.

James Harmes the other one that caught my eye, blond underager who worked his way into the game more and more as it went on. One to watch next year, inside-outside with an emphasis on the inside, handy knack of being in the right place and already moving at high speed when the ball jars loose. Can win a clearance and think his way through traffic.

Whitfield looked ordinary, to be honest. Played forward again with bouts on the wing, except for a short burst in the 3rd when he went into the centre and won two slashing clearances in rapid succession before vanishing again. Still has the cool head and good disposal, but the workrate from last year is just nowhere to be see. London to a brick on he's got OP, by my guess. No gutrunning, very little explosive pace, spent a lot of time standing around hands on knees, curled around himself and obviously hurting.

Sandy Geelong was, frankly, dull. Low-skilled high-pressure game but many of the skill errors happened out in the clear and were not related to pressure at all. Have very rarely seen such a fumbly game in such clear, dry conditions, and I've NEVER seen a game in which both sides missed so many clear targets by hand. Handball skills were woeful, no two ways about it. The Dragons jumped out to a three goal lead before Geleong even got on the board, and the margin remained roughly constant for the rest of the match. The Falcons got their share of the ball, but continually grounded linking handballs across halfback and when they did get it forward, simply lacked a big target to make the most of it. Fraser Fort had a go up there, but the experiment was not much of a success. Sandy looked just that slight vital bit more polished all day to eventually grind out a win by 4 goals.

Christian Salem was very impressive. Underaged but solid midfielder-cum-flanker, really ran like a machine to link up and provide and option, and ended the day with a lazy 15 marks. Impressed with his ability to get into dangerous positions and burn off his man by sheer gutrunning effort. I remember taking a mental note along the lines of 'jeez he's clean by foot' at one point, whereupon he promptly coughed it up a couple of times running, but was still very good all day. Strong contested mark. Ended up with 2 goals, missed a couple more from reasonable tricky shots from 45ish on an angle. One to watch.

Tom Langdon got a huge amount of ball and used it mostly ok. Solid guy at 189 and 80, but still more outside than in without express pace from what I saw. Still, ballmagnets never go out of fashion, especially ones who can hit the scoreboard.

Tom Tyquin won a decent amount of ball in the middle, though i wasn't really sold on his decisionmaking. Tended to win it from the centre, run diagonally every time and kick to a long lead somewhere on the boundary around the 50 metre line. Go in straight down the guts once in a while, son!

Chris Mangioni played the general, rebounder, and all-round mopper-upperer down back, and did it with aplomb. Bit of pace, bit of aggression, solid reading of the ball and a willingness to back himself. Good game all round, though he's too small for AFL.

For Geelong, not much to write home about. A few of their underagers showed enough to suggest they'll be a force next year though. Doug Bond was very good on the forward line, a bit light but has the pace, gets load of the ball and chases/tackles with intent. Kicked 2.

Tom Gribble a bit better held than the previous couple of games, still racked up the touches but without quite the same hurt factor. Up-and-under kicking a real issue with him.

Darcy Fort had a mixed day, won almost every tap against little opposition but I would have liked to see him impose himself more around the ground. Doesn't mind getting his hands dirty when the ball hits the ground at a stoppage, but needs to run to present an option more (and not to drop it like a cake of wet soap when it does come to him). Improved later in the game, still not quite at his best though. Kicking is a work in progress, tapwork still rather predictable.

Bourke is another one to watch next year, lean agile wingman with good height. Nice disposal, have seen him play as a lead-up fwd to some effect too.

Christiansen (brother of) did some good things in the forward line (also gave away a boneheaded 50 for running across the mark) - some nice crumbing. Ended up with 1.1, but is frighteningly skinny. Kate Moss, Jack Skellington and Ethiopian famine victims would all look at him and say 'wow, that kid is skinny'. I could encircle his upper arm with one hand. Listed at 56kg, and that's generous.

Next weekend in the prelims, Oakleigh vs North Ballarat and Gippsland vs Sandy. I'm hoping for a Gippy-Chargers GF myself. Silken midfield class of the Chargers vs the never-say-die comeback kids from the Power. Would be an awesome matchup.
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How did you see young Banfields game? I thought he was pretty impressive. Josh Kelly also showed flashes of brilliance.
 
Looking forward to this game, should be a cracking contest.

McRae and McDonald are in absolutely white-hot form at the moment, both have had 30+ in all of their finals games so far (McDonald missed the Cannons win).

Membrey is the best forward of the bunch, and is coming off a big bag in the prelim. McDonald might even go to him, which would be an awesome 1-on-1 match up for the GF.
 
Pykie said:
Looking forward to this game, should be a cracking contest.

McRae and McDonald are in absolutely white-hot form at the moment, both have had 30+ in all of their finals games so far (McDonald missed the Cannons win).

Membrey is the best forward of the bunch, and is coming off a big bag in the prelim. McDonald might even go to him, which would be an awesome 1-on-1 match up for the GF.
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Bad idea - Membrey is much stronger then McDonald at the moment.
 

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Nolan might be a good match up for Membrey. Strong and physical. Collins has been solid and could go onto him. I think Cutler would be too talented for Scott if Collins went to Membrey.
 
ThePuppetMaster said:
Bad idea - Membrey is much stronger then McDonald at the moment.
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Membrey is stronger than everyone at that level.

McDonald is an AA backman, has over 2 inches on him, is alot quicker, and just as strong in the air, and can probably keep him honest with his rebound.

There's no use playing a dour defender one-on-one with him for a wrestle, none of these kids are as physically developed.

I dare say Macrae and McDonald will be running the midfield though.
 
Pykie said:
Membrey is stronger than everyone at that level.

McDonald is an AA backman, has over 2 inches on him, is alot quicker, and just as strong in the air, and can probably keep him honest with his rebound.

There's no use playing a dour defender one-on-one with him for a wrestle, none of these kids are as physically developed.

I dare say McRae and McDonald will be running the midfield though.
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No doubt.

I just think if you put McDonald on the powerful key forward and it doesn't go to plan then you're sacrificing a key player.

You want McDonald firing in the GF.
 
I'd almost be tempted to start Jaksch on Membrey. He's not as strong, but he's taller, quicker, and reads the ball almost as well. Mind you, he could also have a day out up forward, Gippy had to play 185cm Ryley Hall on Stewart on the weekend cos of their lack of tall backs - Jaksch would eat someone like that alive.

Can't see Gippsland winning it, Oakleigh just bat far too deep in the midfield (with blokes like Raru, Ashby, Exon as the third and 4th rotations), and have the edge in talls as well.
 
I'm not going to be around for the actual game, I hope a downloadable copy is made available (even in crap-quality Flash, it's better than nothing!)
 
Spilt boiling hot soup on my hand last weekend, so have been trying to avoid typing! So this report is horribly late and I've inevitably forgotten a whole bunch of stuff. But I wanted to get the review in before the GF tomorrow, so here we go...

Prelims were last weekend. One absolute cracker, one flogging. Naturally enough , I saw every moment of the flogging and only half of the close one...

Gippy and Sandy the first game, I got there at half time with the Power up by around 2 goals. this was the bigges margin I saw - incredible, desperate, see-sawing match, quick moving and high-pressure, multiple lead changes right up to the death. Gippy's undersized backline had huge problems with James Stewart (who to be honesy I don't particularly rate, but he was playing on a fullback (Hall, who attacked the ball hard and did the job pretty well considering his huge height disadvantage) about 5 inches shorter than him and kicked a few) , while up the other end, Membrey was marking everything and usually kicking the goal. Really could have gone either way, but the etter team probably won in the end. Desperately close, nail-biting, high-standard and hugely enjoyable game.

Membrey BoG by a fair way, was immense for Gippsland. Wonder when the last time was that an undersized marking fwd went first round? Cos he's shooting up the pecking order in my book. Just such an incredible judge of the ball in flight, strong hands, and a really reliable kick on goal. Pretty much big enough to play AFL straight away, though he'll have to work on his ground and defensive work to be a grade. Would suit a side with tall skinny running kp fwds, his close-to-goal physical marking work would provide a nice contrast. Kicked 8, couldn't do a thing wrong.

Graham was quieter than I'm used to, but looking at the stats I see he had 20 touches and kicked 2, including the sealer late. Testament to his quality. Played a bit more forward than in the guts.

I liked Kearns game on a wing, not the most physical, but just racked up the ball and used it well, got dangerous around goals.

For the Dragons, no real standouts to the level of Membrey, but some good performances. Ong was on the angry pills and went in harder than I'm used to seeing and was rewarded - Gippy eventually had to put Channing on him as a hard tag. Likes to use the hands more than the feet, but is lean, agile, and his handball-vision is very good.

Le Grice was a handy fwd/roaming fwd - not a dominant presence exactly, but took a lot of marks and gave the Dragons a lot of structure.

Langdon was good again, but he'll rue a missed chance deep in the 4th. Looked like he'd taken the mark about 25 out directly in front, but then something odd happened, either it was called touched late or he tried to play on when he shouldn't have or something, and what could have been the winning goal ended up in a dogs breakfast. Played more a 3rd tall fwd this week, Sandy were obviously trying to stretch the Power's limited tall defensive stocks. Is a player, not sure where he fits in at AFL level though. Looks by instinct to be an outside gutrunning mid, but is he quick enough?

Oakleigh v Rebels was never in doubt, the Chargers simply dominated them from start to finish. A few nervous moments in the first 5 mins when the Chargers missed a few shots on goal, but after that it was a procession. Too good and deep in the midfield, fwd line too dangerous, defence too solid. North Ballarat hardly had a winner on the ground, sad to say.

McDonald probably the best player for mine. Much more of a midfield than hb role today, and looked the better for it. Big, physical, inside kid, but he's to a surprising burst of pace, and his decisionmaking and evaluation of the situation in a heavy traffic situation is really first class. One of next year's best prospects, North have got themselves a good one. Big scare for him early when a Rebel dived across his kicking leg in a smother attempt, and he went down clutching his knee, with a yell of pain audible from the stands. Thought he'd done something very serious, but after spending the rest of the 1st and part of the 2nd on the bench getting his knee strapped, he came back on and played it out.

Macrae bloody good again, he synergises well with McDonald because he's a better outside player, and with McDonald inside he can play that role more often. Huge numbers again, and three goals. Seems almost unflappable and is bordering on untackleable these champs. Should be rocketing up the draft order.

My usual hobby-horses Jaksch and Kennedy-Harris played the exact same sort of high-quality games they've been playing all finals series - Jaksch too tall and quick on the lead for anyone he's played (on except Joe Daniher, who made him look like a 12 year old) and exquisite by foot either shooting on goal or in general play, while Kennedy just runs and carries and splits games open and sets up goals again and again. With Kennedy, McDonald and Billings guning it as underagers, Oakleighs 2013 midfield is already looking gruesomely good.

The usual Oakleigh backing band were as good as we've come to expect. Walmsley provided a physical contested counterpoint to Jaksch in the fwd line and ended up with 2, Raru was strong around the clinches, Billings just keeps finding space in the fwd line, and Collopy has more pace than he appears and is always dangerous when he gets the ball at half forward. I really can't see Gippsland beating this side tomorrow, they bat very, very deep.

Miserable end to the season for the rebels, thumped by 80 points. Hard to dissect their weaknesses and strengths from this game, they were simply overpowered all over the field. When they did get a promising move going it was almost always via some act of individual pace and brilliance by Dom Barry or Tyler Blake rather than any sort of system.

Nick Rippon tried his guts out in the midfield, handy player, but in that deadly doomy mid-170s height zone without a single standout weapon. Hendy didn't get much of the ball, but effectively nullified Prowse as a factor in the ruck contest. Just had too much leap for Prowse at the centre bounces - won almost all of them - and stopped him having an impact around the ground.

Crouch found a bit of it around the stoppages but didn't really manage to make his disposals hurt. Blake added some pace and run, added creativity to a rather reactive midfield, but when shifted onto Kennedy-Harris couldn't restrict his output. Herbert had a purple patch in the 3rd quarter when he kicked three through being in space at the right time in the fwd line, but this patch represented approximately half of his entire team's scoring for the game.

Tanner Smith and Michael Close both a bit disappointing, Smith played a near-impactless role across half-forward - as one of the higher-rated kpd prospects I would have liked to see him shifted back onto Jaksch for a while, he looked out of sorts. Close is normally a tireless gut-runner for a big bloke, just presents up forward again and again, but he spent a lot of time in the ruck and was just invisible.
 
Huge late change.

McDonald a late out, obviously the knee from last week.
 
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