VFL Carlton Reserves 2025

[Blue_Fusion]

He was infinitely better this week, than he was in the game that saw him get another call up. He was great in that first game, but mostly in the last quarter. This game he was great for four quarters, his disposal was first rate, and he seemed to move so much better than I have seen him at any stage this year.

Let's hope it can translate to AFL level this time...

 

[swuzzlebubble]

You can stream the VFL games free on the AFL website through the VFL portal. You have to scroll down the home page a bit for the VFL banner. They have a “match centre” portal the same as the afl and you can stream there.

Or just go to the game in "match centre" and select "news and videos".

 

[Just Kreuzing]

Let's hope it can translate to AFL level this time...

Exactly much less time to assess & execute at AFL level!

 

[Soapy V]

If Doc comes back in he needs to play defence. The days of mid/hf are gone for him

I’m a massive Doc fan but we need to be smart. Playing back now to support Weiters Jack along with Carroll and hopefully soon Wilson needs to be his role

I hope to see Boyd back there soon as well

 

[Just Kreuzing]

If Doc comes back in he needs to play defence. The days of mid/hf are gone for him

I’m a massive Doc fan but we need to be smart. Playing back now to support Weiters Jack along with Carroll and hopefully soon Wilson needs to be his role

I hope to see Boyd back there soon as well

The only role he can be considered for imo, takes over the role of Cowan/Cerra from Friday night if he does return.

 

[BlueLocke]

Reckon Doc could also take Hollands role down back if we need to chuck Ollie on a wing to cover Acres.

 

[Blue_Fusion]

If Doc comes back in he needs to play defence. The days of mid/hf are gone for him

I’m a massive Doc fan but we need to be smart. Playing back now to support Weiters Jack along with Carroll and hopefully soon Wilson needs to be his role

I hope to see Boyd back there soon as well

Swans play their home ground pretty well.

If Doc is in the back line, we cannot have him blazing away and bombing the ball to no one.

Sandy are bottom 3 in the VFL with only 1 win and 64%... the gap between that v the Swans is massive.

He won't be afforded the time, space and options. Hopefully some of his experience can shine through because if he can't play in defence either then it's curtains for him unfortunately.

 

[Soapy V]

Reckon Doc could also take Hollands role down back if we need to chuck Ollie on a wing to cover Acres.

Leave Ollie. Moving him would not be smart or good for him. He is improving and doing his role. We have Acres Binns Elijah Lucas who can all play Wing

 

[Beyond Blue]

If Doc comes back in he needs to play defence. The days of mid/hf are gone for him

I’m a massive Doc fan but we need to be smart. Playing back now to support Weiters Jack along with Carroll and hopefully soon Wilson needs to be his role

I hope to see Boyd back there soon as well

IMO he’s unplayable in the backline at league level nowadays. He is not the same player he was 7-8 years ago when he was an all Australian level half back. He does not want to put his body on the line and his kicking is panicked and unreliable. also can’t really play wing either as they need to get back on the last line of defence to help out. I think Voss is right only playing him half forward as that’s about the only place to hide him.

Reserves footy can be deceiving as the pressure and speed of the game is much slower than league football. I wouldn’t be rushing to put him back in the senior team any time soon unless there is an injury crisis. A bit like giving Binns a chance on Friday I hope Voss starts looking to give young blokes a chance if they are playing well in the reserves rather than going back to Doc who is clearly past it.

 

[The Bighouse]

Amazing what happens when players can get consecutive games and play week after week.

Ben & Lucas Campo Wilson HOK HOF Charleson all showed they will get better with games. They need to play every week. That’s how you develop and these guys do have ability

This is why the VFL is a joke. A game here and there and a heap of byes is just wrong. It’s why I want these younger players playing in the seniors more regularly. Will help their development

Agree on the VFL (reserves comp req’d for continuity) but you can’t be selecting juniors to play 1’s for any reason other than form & warranted selection.

 

[Soapy V]

Agree on the VFL (reserves comp req’d for continuity) but you can’t be selecting juniors to play 1’s for any reason other than form & warranted selection.

Disagree. Games changed and if seniors players aren’t performing you need to look at other options. Poor VFL structure makes it hard for players to keep pressing for spots

 

[Michael Jezz]

If Ben Campo has the tank, he should take Acres wing for a year before moving midfield
Duffy will play AFL
Don't write off Monahan

 

[Bamboo Harvester]

IMO he’s unplayable in the backline at league level nowadays. He is not the same player he was 7-8 years ago when he was an all Australian level half back. He does not want to put his body on the line and his kicking is panicked and unreliable. also can’t really play wing either as they need to get back on the last line of defence to help out. I think Voss is right only playing him half forward as that’s about the only place to hide him.

I don't believe this for a second. Not sure if you watched the game last nite, but he wasn't afraid to put his body on the line at all - ended up getting his head half caved in on 2 separate occasions and had to come off with the blood rule both times.

His form and confidence no doubt dropped early in the season after missing nearly another year of football, but I'm one who still backs him in, absolute warrior.

 

[T2B_]

Leave Ollie. Moving him would not be smart or good for him. He is improving and doing his role. We have Acres Binns Elijah Lucas who can all play Wing

I agree. I think we're just starting to see what the coaches have been wanting to see in regards to him in his current role.

 

[Opium]

Don't know why some are saying its too late for Monahan. There is still a lot of season left, and if he can continue to improve and is a regular contributor in the last month/ 2 months then I think he has a chance for another go around.

Monahan is another who caught my eye. His running from defence stood out. Suits the modern game.

 

[Soapy V]

If Ben Campo has the tank, he should take Acres wing for a year before moving midfield
Duffy will play AFL
Don't write off Monahan

He’s not a wing. He’s inside and contested player. It would be like playing Cripps or Hewett wing. Wing needs to run up and down ground and link and cover. Not his go

 

[LemmingMaster]

Interesting to see which player takes the Cowan role, Doch, Wilson or Boyd.

There is a part of me that hopes we get to see Wilson at some point, not sure if this is his week or allow him to maintain this level.

 

[Beyond Blue]

I don't believe this for a second. Not sure if you watched the game last nite, but he wasn't afraid to put his body on the line at all - ended up getting his head half caved in on 2 separate occasions and had to come off with the blood rule both times.

His form and confidence no doubt dropped early in the season after missing nearly another year of football, but I'm one who still backs him in, absolute warrior.

I hope you are right but his first 4 games of this season were atrocious to the point of being selfish. A team that wants to be successful simply cannot afford to carry players because they were good players years ago.

 

[gbatman]

Will anyone get promoted to the AFL side? Not sure. I think Cottrell and Fogarty come back for Cowan and McGovern if they are fit.

Let's remember we played the third last VFL side so the opposition was a fair way off AFL level.

Docherty played well, got a lot of the ball. We could promote him but he is super super valuable to our VFL side. This is why I don't want him to retire.

Ben Camporeale - I like him, he's big and strong and wins a lot of the ball. His ball handling under pressure is elite which is the key to an onside mid. I want to see him work on his outside game. Bring some run and carry to the team and get more of it on the outside. Make more contests. I have high hopes.

Boyd - He looked far too good for the level. He's going for central kicks and I like that but probably not hitting quite enough. He's aggressive, he can play AFL but there aren't really any spots for a smaller defender. I want to see him play half forward.

Wilson - He keeps growing. I think there is a player there if we have the patience. He's probably not quite at AFL level. I think he will add a little size and experience and he will be. There are a lot of moments he does not get used where he would in the AFL side so I think he will be someone who goes better at AFL level in some ways. I don't think he is an onballer but I can see him playing wing and defence. Very sweet kick on him.

Lucas Camporeale - I am not as confident about him as Ben. He needs to fix his kicking. Because of his kicking it is holding his development back, here is why. A wing/half back needs to be a player we look to use and get the ball into the hands of and they need to be a player who we want running with the ball and kicking it. Lucas is not positioning and setting himself to receive the ball running hard forward because this puts him in a position to kick and he is not confident with his kicking. Because his team mates are not confident with his kicking they aren't looking for him enough. His footy IQ is good, he gets the ball but he gets it in a way where he is in a position to feed it off by hand. Low impact, not really taking the game on, being too conservative and safe. He is not offering any run, he is not running with the ball which is what I want to see. Development wise I would be telling him I want to see him run with it, setup to receive handballs on the run and really look to carry it and break lines and I don't care if you have 15 kicks and miss 13. You can't make it in the AFL if you are playing this way and are not confident on kicking the ball. You need to position better, take the game on, run with it, get involved with forward handball chains and back your kicking in and push this development. He is not going to develop properly being an outside player who receives and feeds it back all the time and won't take the game on or kick. Having said this his short kicking is ok. I think he has something to work on but I want to see him being more daring and trying to generate forward run, not just being a link in the chain who kicks little dinky kicks to safe options. Long story short, Lucas needs to play, position and run like he is a gun kick.

Charleson - Looks like an AFL player. Just clean and composed and finds the right options. Has a great build for the game. I think he has onball traits with his build, ball handling and his composure with ball in hand. He looks as if he has an ability to work well in a system, knows where his team mates are. I think he will be a good one for us in time.

O'Farrell - He is another who is an AFL player in the making. Good mark and athlete. He's far too light at this stage so paitence. I think he will get a look in in his third season, about the time Haynes and McGovern are done.

O'Keefe - He is still maturing. His hands really impress me. I just want to see him used more which means getting himself in the right spots. Do this and tidy up his goal kicking, we would be looking at him when McKay, Curnow or DeKoning are injured. Still undersized for an AFL ruck.

Monahan - - I like his athleticism and pace, he just needs to learn the game. Surely we can work on teaching him to get the ball off half back.

Pittonet - Pitto it Pitto. He's going ok.

Lemmy - He looks to be presenting more but he's just not doing quite enough.

Moir - We see plenty of hit talent but he is playing at an intensity well below AFL level. The defensive work is not there. Quite simply he is moving too slow and getting to the man and lose ball too slow. Work rate and intensity are needs for him.

Duffy - Good to see him.

 

[Wickzki]

Will anyone get promoted to the AFL side? Not sure. I think Cottrell and Fogarty come back for Cowan and McGovern if they are fit.

Rumors out there that Cotts may be lucky to come back this year.

 

[Just Kreuzing]

Rumors out there that Cotts may be lucky to come back this year.

Out at least until after the bye according to the club injury report!

 

[Wickzki]

Out at least until after the bye according to the club injury report!

Optimistic.

 

[BigFrizz36]

,

Rumors out there that Cotts may be lucky to come back this year.

The club has listed him out for 5 - 6 weeks from now with an ankle (and had a small knee clean up) but you are adding up to another 10 weeks on that? That's a pretty severe ankle.

Someone on here said that they'd seen him jumping over a fence in a moonboot last week. Be interesting to see how it plays out.

 

[Stefchook]

Lucas Camporeale - I am not as confident about him as Ben. He needs to fix his kicking. Because of his kicking it is holding his development back, here is why. A wing/half back needs to be a player we look to use and get the ball into the hands of and they need to be a player who we want running with the ball and kicking it. Lucas is not positioning and setting himself to receive the ball running hard forward because this puts him in a position to kick and he is not confident with his kicking. Because his team mates are not confident with his kicking they aren't looking for him enough. His footy IQ is good, he gets the ball but he gets it in a way where he is in a position to feed it off by hand. Low impact, not really taking the game on, being too conservative and safe. He is not offering any run, he is not running with the ball which is what I want to see. Development wise I would be telling him I want to see him run with it, setup to receive handballs on the run and really look to carry it and break lines and I don't care if you have 15 kicks and miss 13. You can't make it in the AFL if you are playing this way and are not confident on kicking the ball. You need to position better, take the game on, run with it, get involved with forward handball chains and back your kicking in and push this development. He is not going to develop properly being an outside player who receives and feeds it back all the time and won't take the game on or kick. Having said this his short kicking is ok. I think he has something to work on but I want to see him being more daring and trying to generate forward run, not just being a link in the chain who kicks little dinky kicks to safe options. Long story short, Lucas needs to play, position and run like he is a gun kick.

Really liked your comments on Lucas. He got selected early on the back of his outside run in the preseason games. He needs to get back to it. (And obviously to work on his disposal as well.)

 

[FitzroyBlueBagger]

Interesting to see which player takes the Cowan role, Doch, Wilson or Boyd.

There is a part of me that hopes we get to see Wilson at some point, not sure if this is his week or allow him to maintain this level.

I don’t think he’s preformed anywhere consistently enough this year to warrant selection, last nights performance was certainly his best by far for the season, if he can be at that level more regularly then he will put himself into a position to be selected..

He has the speed run & carry and kicking skills we are crying out for, although he still requires development on other areas of his overall game..

I’m keen to see him when his ready to roll…