Qld U18s vs Oakleigh Chargers - Today at Redland
QLD 14-10-94 Oakleigh 13-8-86
Quick notes:
Qld Academy/ u18's Prospects
Those who have been mentioned previously:
Hipwood (KPP) - clearly the stand out for me today - played 99% of the game at CHB - marked well o/head ala Harris Andrews - often found team mates with his delivery ( by hand & foot) - including some exceptional long ranges passes to the chest of team mates - very impressed with him today (to go along with his NEAFL performance last week against Aspley)
Keays (Mid) - very disappointing today - don't know if he was inconvenienced by an injury or illness (???), or just didn't have it today - if you did not know about him coming to the game today as a recruiter, then he would not have rated a mention - everyone is entitled to an "off one" now & then - and maybe I have marked him harshly because of expectations - others may have seen it differently !!
Buzza (KPF) - Kicked 5 - marked strongly at times, put some down at other times, but had a significant influence on the game, and that's what you are looking for from your KPP's
Chol (KPF/Ruck)- lots of "love" for him on the Fantasy Draft threads - at best he looked like he has some potential, but nothing on show today to get overly excited about
Wagner (Mid - HF/HB) - a few sloppy disposals early, but kept at it all day and was a good contributor - demonstrated that he has a good tank, spent long periods on the field and never stopped running - without being a stand out, did his hopes no harm.
Dennis (Ruck) - Clearly beaten at the stoppages most of the time (as was anyone else who QLD threw in there) by Oakleigh's Wenn - Dennis is a string bean and the bigger bodied opponent "pushed him around" whenever there was body on body jockeying, with Dennis holding his own when it was a pure "jump" contest
Those who rarely rate a mention:
Corvo (Med Def) - not sure whether he was on the field at all in the first quarter (if so, did not notice him, nor make any notes), but from the second quarter onwards he impressed with his defensive pressure, positioning and decision making - and his disposal, especially by foot - he has improved considerably, and from what I saw today and last week against Aspley in the NEAFL, I expect him to at least rate a mention through the Championships
Watson (T Def) - hadn't seen much of him prior to today - liked some of his defensive work, especially his spoiling - this will sound strange when his opponent for most of the time (Ridley) kicked 6 goals, but most of these did not come from direct one on one contests (except for one strong lead & mark) - again, happy for others to put me right if they saw it differently)
Also, there were some good moments from Rolls, Filewood & Budarick.
Oakleigh
Have to admit that I did not focus too much on the visitors, my interest was more in the possible selections from QLD, and many of the Oakleigh "notables" were not on show (8 missing in the Vic Metro squad, plus Silvagni (inj??)), but:
Wenn - as mentioned previously, did a great job in the Ruck - was a little limited in his influence around the ground though
Ridley - kicked 6 - was "Johhny on the spot" several times, so credit for being in the right position - kicked well, can't recall any misses (possibly the odd one)
Apologies to the rest, my focus was elsewhere.
While probably not an opinion as scathing as that, I definitely agreed that Keays was very much down on his usual output and probably marked it as a bad game for him. However, he still managed 31 disposals, 6 clearances and 5 tackles. I think we all expect him to be the dominant force and do the freakish things that say maybe Wagner is quite capable of doing. However, he's just not that type of player, and he's really beginning to develop into a genuine inside mid. Regardless, to get 31 touches and have a visibly poor game is surely a good sign, always finding a way to contribute.
Apart from that i'd say you're pretty much spot on with what my thoughts were. I thought Hipwood did a few dumb things with the footy that seemed to stick in my mind a bit. Corvo, Wagner and Buzza were my best three on the day.



