LIVE: Carlton v Richmond - Rd 1 - 7:30PM Thu
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If he's still 80Kg I'll eat my hat...197cm
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He knows its in jest.
I wouldn't say every team, but most would for sure.
I seriously doubt it... but happy to be proved wrong.
Hugh Bond's mate Janes Van Es might be worth a look, drafted by the Saints with pick 31 in 2022 but had a wretched run with injuries while there, delisted in 2024 but had a very strong year in 2025 for Port Melbourne in the VFL. Can really play when fit. Very athletic strongly built 197cm KPD with a 2.91 20m at the combine in his draft year.
Great that Ah Chee is dominating. Maybe says a bit about our squad though.Unfortunately by far the biggest story of the day was the awful injury to Mark Keane. From my vantage point I couldn’t tell exactly what the injury was, but it didn’t look great and the vision is even worse.
Despite a couple of flaws, the lad is a gun intercept defender and play-maker, and will be badly missed given he sets up how we exit out of defence. It makes the Butts/Murray conversation easier, but this is a big blow.
Soligo also seems to be dealing with an issue (possibly groin) and was on light duties today. Combined with Curtin out for two months and Draper unlikely to play early, plus Rankine suspended round one and now the Keane injury, it does feel like our start to the season will be very tough. That’s a lot of firepower either out or underdone.
Draper, Ryan and Cumming did a bunch of running before the other lads came out. Quite a bit of it was at high speed, including sprinting and repeat efforts, so hopefully all three aren’t far off rejoining the main group. I did notice Sid had some work done on his groin by a trainer, but he did a lot of running afterwards which alleviated my concern.
Aside from that, everyone trained fully aside from Ludowyke who only played the first two quarters of match sim before doing a block of running. Was a bit of a shame as he clunked a really nice mark in the first term which would’ve boosted his confidence.
Speaking of which, today was essentially an internal trial game. Four quarters, umpires, the works. Worth noting the first term was cut five minutes short due to the Keane injury - the lads just went straight to the quarter time break.
They definitely seemed a bit flat after the injury, as you would expect, but overall it was a pretty solid hitout in reasonably hot conditions. The boys were pretty fatigued towards the end and the mistakes definitely ramped up, but there were also some really sharp pieces of play throughout that got me excited.
I don’t think we are quite as slick as this time last year - the missing personnel obviously plays a big role in that. There were quite a few top ups out there as well who just can’t match it with the senior guys, though I thought Taheny handled himself quite well.
They didn’t list teams this time so I’ll just read out the squads and the changes made to each as the game wore on.
—
Q1 - Teams
Blue - Jones, Keays, Berry, Ah Chee, Thilthorpe, Rachele, Pedlar, Dawson, Walker, Michalanney, Hinge, Bond, Rankine, Worrell, Peatling, Neal-Bullen, Laird, Milera, Fogarty, Butts, O’Brien, Keane
Yellow - N. Murray, Edwards, Cook, Welsh, Taylor, Marsh, Nankervis, Dowling, Cotton, Ludowyke, Borlase, Maley, Sholl, T. Murray, McAndrew, Strachan, Bell, Foot (plus a few top ups).
Q1 - Goals
Blue - Ah Chee 2, Rachele, Berry, Pedlar, Walker
Yellow - Maley, Cook
Q1 - Centre Bounce Attendances (out of nine)
Blue: O’Brien 7, Berry 7, Dawson 6, Peatling 6, Rachele 5, Rankine 3, Thilthorpe 2
Yellow: Dowling 8, Edwards 7, McAndrew 6, Foot 6, Taylor 6, T. Murray 3
Q2 - Teams
No changes (aside from Keane out)
Q2 - Goals
Blue: Rachele 2, Ah Chee, Thilthorpe, Keays, Fogarty, Rankine, Jones
Yellow: Strachan
Q2 - Centre Bounce Attendances (out of 10)
Blue: O’Brien 9, Peatling 8, Dawson 7, Berry 7, Rachele 6, Rankine 2, Thilthorpe 1
Yellow: McAndrew 9, Dowling 9, Foot 9, Edwards 8, Taylor 4, T. Murray 1
Q3 - Teams
Blue: IN - Nankervis, Borlase, Sholl, T. Murray, McAndrew, Bell
Yellow: IN - Walker, Michalanney, Worrell, Laird, Milera, O’Brien
Q3 - Goals
Blue: McAndrew, Thilthorpe, Ah Chee, Pedlar, Keays
Yellow: Taheny, Butts, O’Brien
Q3 - Centre Bounce Attendances (out of nine)
Blue: McAndrew 7, Peatling 6, Dawson 5, Berry 5, Rachele 5, Rankine 5, T. Murray 2, Thilthorpe 1
Yellow: O’Brien 8, Dowling 8, Edwards 8, Foot 7, Taylor 4, Maley 1
Q4 - Teams
Blue: IN - Taylor, Foot, Butts
Yellow: IN - Keays, Dawson, Nankervis, Borlase
Q4 - Goals
Blue: Pedlar, Fogarty, T. Murray, Thilthorpe, Ah Chee
Yellow: Maley
Q4 - Centre Bounce Attendances (out of eight)
Blue: McAndrew 6, Berry 6, Rachele 6, Foot 6, Peatling 5, T. Murray 2, Rankine 1
Yellow: Dowling 8, O’Brien 6, Edwards 6, Dawson 5, Keays 5, Maley 2
—
Ok, time for some (many) player comments:
1. Jones - once again pretty solid on the wing, though he did get caught holding the ball Chayce-style. Kicked a nice goal as well as setting up McAndrew’s in the third term. Still not sure which way we will go with the wings but he’s in the frame for sure.
2. Keays - not a big game in front of the sticks but interesting to see him play mostly midfield in the final term. Not sure we will go down that route much in-season but he was pretty solid in there, winning it out of the centre a couple of times. He’s always had pretty sure hands on the deck.
3. Berry - not nearly as prolific as last Friday. Started really well with a couple centre clearances and a goal, but for whatever reason drifted out of the game a bit. Still close to a lock for round one given the injuries to our midfield.
4. Ah Chee - easily one of the best out there with five goals (and could’ve had six if not for a Rankine stuff-up). They came from marks, kicks from the boundary, crumbs…just a very well-rounded player. Dropped an easy mark late he should’ve taken but otherwise was outstanding. Spent some time on the wing.
7. Thilthorpe - actually attended a centre bounce as a midfielder, which I found amusing. His marking is still way off his best but he was nonetheless able to have an impact with three goals (he left a couple out there too). He’s moving great, it’s just his overhead stuff that’s in struggle town.
8. Rachele - hard to back up last Friday but he was still impressive. Needs to learn when to take players on and when to release early, but one clearance in particular where he gave a lightning fast handball to Peatling was glorious. Kicked three goals and took a very good mark 1v1 against Laird. Work rate has improved a lot, allowing him to get multiple possessions in a chain.
9. Murray - took some kick-ins and whenever he did he went real long and straight up corridor. Did a ripping don’t-argue on Pedlar, but otherwise didn’t have a big game.
10. Pedlar - made a couple of typical blues but gee the good is very good. Hit the scoreboard in three of the four quarters - all snaps - and his overhead marking is outstanding at the moment. Laid a ripping tackle on Cotton. No midfield time though!
11. Edwards - won the first centre clearance of the game and had a great opening quarter despite having to go off briefly with a blood nose. Found it harder as the game wore on to have an impact at stoppage, but still got a fair amount of pill in transition. Laid a great tackle on Rachele that was paid holding the ball and took a nice mark against Peatling going back with the flight. Needs to stop kicking off the back foot at stoppages though - he will have to work on driving the legs a lot more in the reserves. Not ready yet but he’s coming along which is pleasing.
12. Dawson - doing what he needs to and moving really well out there. He’s a class above most and just does things effortlessly. Didn’t kick a goal but assisted in several of them. Played the last quarter in the B’s to even things up a bit.
13. Walker - didn’t do a heap for me today, the big Texan. Muffed a couple of chances he would normally take and didn’t have much of an aerial presence. Not awful but seen him play a lot better.
15. Cook - kicked a terrific goal from the boundary and I liked that he put on the jets on a number of occasions. Oddly enough though it was his disposal which let him down today. Worst I’ve seen him kick.
16. Michalanney - did one lovely burst through the corridor that was exciting to watch. Otherwise not a big day offensively.
17. Welsh - took a nice pack mark but also dropped a sitter, which kind of sums him up. Interesting to see Worrell (with ball in hand) yell out at him to keep running hard forward instead of thinking his work was done.
19. Taylor - I’m a fan but he wasn’t great today. Got a fair bit of midfield time but struggled to get involved aside from a few typically classy touches. Got a quarter in the A team but played strictly forward. Needs to do more.
20. Hinge - bit better today. Looked to put speed on the game and take risks with his kicks, which usually paid off. Set up Ah Chee’s second goal after taking a strong contested mark. Has developed a really nice swivel of the hips to break tackles.
21. Bond - very solid. Played a bit higher than usual and got a lot of it. Kicking was excellent and even took a kick-in or two. Nothing particularly eye-catching but has really turned into a dependable footballer.
23. Rankine - was just going until the third quarter where he played majority midfield and really exploded. Had a period where he won three of four centre clearances (high quality ones too). Hope he sheds that knee strapping soon, it’s a bit of an eyesore.
24. Worrell - up until the fourth term I had him as one of the best defenders on the ground. His intercept work was strong and he was providing a lot of drive. Then in the last quarter his kicking went to absolute shite, including two consecutive out on the full howlers - both under no pressure. Hope we don’t see that in the real thing.
26. Marsh - got a bit of it on the wing and probably should’ve been used more; he got ignored a few times when his teammates needed to trust him. Took a really nice pack mark in defence late in the game which showed his clean set of hands. A couple of work-ons though: he needs to move the ball on a bit quicker after taking a mark, and a couple of times he either went to ground or wasn’t strong enough over the ball. Needs some more time in the oven but will be a good player for us.
27. Nankervis - both he and Cook started in the Yellow side, so not sure who is preferred. Did one incredible run from defence where he broke tackles and left opponents in his wake, but unfortunately stuffed it up after receiving the ball back. Took a 1v1 mark against Ah Chee on the wing which is no easy feat. Think he just needs to do a bit more to guarantee a starting position, but the noise around him is positive.
28. Neal-Bullen - played a lot on the wing today in the absence of Cumming. Got a decent amount of pill but didn’t hit the scoreboard. Overall just an ok game after a great showing last Friday.
29. Laird - his lofty kicking still irks me but when it comes to mopping up ground ball in defence there’s not many better. Several times when things got a bit scrappy, particularly later on, it was Laird who took it cleanly.
30. Milera - did a couple of nice runs through the corridor and hit one kick to Marsh where he saw him last moment out of the corner of his eye, which was genuinely elite.
31. Dowling - found the going tough today. Got his hands on it a fair bit at stoppage but often found himself under serious heat or getting smothered. Doesn’t have much pace so needs to find a way to absorb and drive through opposition tackles.
33. Cotton - another quiet day but at least he found some more ball working up the ground. Had a nice burst where he showed his speed but unfortunately got smothered. Actually had two shots at goal but missed both.
36. Maley - kicked two goals despite playing for the far weaker side. Hands were good again and times his approach to the footy well. Didn’t mind his leap in the ruck either - I thought he did ok against the much taller McAndrew.
39. Murray - strange player. Can look deadset ordinary at times, yet will then take a really strong mark or do something that catches the eye. Got a lot of ruck time today and acquitted himself well, beating O’Brien a few times in the centre with his pure leap. Can get really lazy on his kicks at times, it’s like he loses concentration.
41. Butts - liked his work today. Did some nice work defensively including a great spoil on Dawson who was in the van. Even used his pace (he is genuinely fast for a big bloke) with ball in hand once or twice and kicked a goal (albeit from a 50m penalty).
42. McAndrew - beat ROB at centre bounce again, particularly in the first half. Took a couple of pack marks though I wouldn’t say they were the cleanest clunks I’ve seen, and managed to hit the scoreboard as well. I do think ROB got on top a bit late as McAndrew tired.
43. O’Brien - centre work (late game aside) was poor again but I do think he competed better around the ground and probably had the better of McAndrew at throw-ins. Follow-up work was a bit better than Friday and took a nice contested mark in front of goal, which he kicked truly. Still worried but he was better today at least.
46. Bell - once again struggled defensively but was a pretty solid contributor with his running ability and lovely kicking, including a terrific pass to Cook for his goal. Even sold some candy at one point. At the moment he’s a bit of early days Keath - great skills but a bit of a liability one on one. Will be interesting to see how he progresses.
47. Foot - got a massive amount of mid clock and was once again ok without convincing me of his suitability for AFL. Overruns the ball too much at stoppage and isn’t a particularly good kick. I like his energy and no doubt he works hard, but there’s too many rough edges for me at his age.
Also side note - there were at least three 50m penalties for the stand rule today. Get ready to hate it.
Looked like a back quarter of the season injury to me at best.
Selection or development?
Just got home from work, opened up the socials and the video came up. It looked awful. Season done for sure with a fracture like that. No luck of the Irish for poor Mark!
Shut up!
I was just judging it on the time frame said by Nicks.
