Game Day Casey v Richmond @ Casey Fields 2pm 27/4

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Shai Bolton

25 disposals, 11 tackles, eight clearances, eight inside 50s & one goal


“It was really pleasing for him to come back from AFL football with his attitude, and he returned above the level. His defensive pressure is really standing out. He looks ready to bounce back into AFL opportunity.”

Patrick Naish

25 disposals, 14 handball receives, seven inside-50s & three clearances

“Continues his great form, over a number of weeks now he’s been among the high possession winners for us. Defensively he’s been really impacting, his contest work has been really standing out, which is really pleasing to see.”

Connor Menadue

23 disposals, four marks, five rebound-50s and threes inside-50s

“Is another one who returned from AFL, playing really good footy. He came back and looks a really different player at VFL level. His leadership really stood out at different moments of the game. Again another one looking to go back into the AFL.”

Jacob Townsend

19 disposals, four marks, nine tackles, five clearances, five inside-50s & one goal

“His pressure in the contest has been outstanding. He’s really hard around the ball, his tackle numbers are high, with nine for the day. He kicked a great goal for us at a critical part of the game. His leadership is something that’s taken a step forward this year.”

Riley Collier-Dawkins

18 disposals, 15 contested possessions, seven tackles & four clearances

“Looks a real promising player for us. A big, strong inside midfielder. A lot of handballs on the day - 18 disposals on the day, 12 of those handballs - high tackle numbers again with seven. His ability to break the game open in the third quarter was critical to the outcome. He’s playing some great footy.”

Derek Eggmolesse-Smith

17 disposals, six handball receives & three rebound-50s

“Playing off half-back, he looks like he’s a promising type with his left foot, and uses the ball really well, runs and carries. It wasn’t a great day for the run-and-carry, but his critical one-on-one wins stood out.”

Ivan Soldo

14 disposals, six tackles, 43 hit-outs, eight clearances & four inside-50s

“Dominated the hit-outs and had six tackles, so his work around the contest was really good, and it was really pleasing late in the game where he showed some leadership. He controlled some structures around the stoppages which he hadn’t been doing in previous years. That shows his growth as a player. He had some nice intercept marks late in the game also.”

Fraser Turner

12 disposals, three marks & two clearances

“Huge work-rate for a young player. I think he racked up 16kms on the GPS, which is phenomenal running on the day from a wing. He’s learning structural-wise, but he’s a promising player in the making.”

Luke English

10 disposals, four tackles & two clearances

“Played a little bit of forward and a little bit of midfield. A low possession rate, but certainly around the contest, getting the game going our way was something that really stood out; particularly in the last quarter when we needed some fresh legs and drive.”

Dan Butler

10 disposals, five handball receives, four tackles, five inside-50s & one goal

“The game was difficult to impose his speed on, but when he did, he certainly changed the way the game was being played. He found some space a couple of times and really gave some drive by running and carrying the ball. He kicked a nice goal from follow-up contest-to-contest work and he looks ready for AFL opportunity when it presents.”

Mabior Chol

Nine disposals, four marks, two goals & four tackles

“A difficult game for talls. It was pleasing again - as it’s been in recent weeks - he may not be having a good quarter, but he’s finding a way to impact the game, be it in the air or on the ground. He finished the game with two goals which is a great example of consistency week-to-week.”

Callum Coleman-Jones

Nine disposals, seven hit-outs & seven tackles

“Limited impact in the game, but it was pleasing for him to get seven tackles on the day, which is a really good result for our big guys to impact the game that way. It was a difficult day aerially and he’ll learn a lot from the day.”

Callum Moore

Eight disposals, three tackles, three spoils & one goal

“As mentioned previously about the talls, it was so windy and difficult to judge the flight and the aerial contest, but he kicked 1.2 and could have quite easily finished with three goals. When we only kicked seven goals for the game, he could have had a big impact on the result. But it was pleasing to see him show his strengths, particularly at ground level.”

Maverick Weller

Six disposals, one tackle & one clearance

“Played the first half and hurt his back and didn’t take any further part in the game.”

Jake Aarts

Five disposals, one goal, three spoils & two tackles

“Only low possession rate, but he had high impact in the game, particularly his contest work. He kicked a critical, match-winning goal in a really clutch moment. He took his chance from 35 meters out when others weren’t on the day with the breeze, which ended up being the match-winner. His contest work looks ready for AFL opportunity.”

Ryan Garthwaite

Four disposals, 12 spoils & three marks

“Had 12 spoils on the day, which was a team-high. Anything that came in his direction, he won his one-on-ones. He offered terrific support in our mechanics behind the ball - he’s such a great leader in that regard.”

Ben Miller

Four disposals, three spoils & three rebound-50s

“Playing a little bit of forward and a little bit of back at the moment, we’re trying to work on his versatility as a player. Another tall player who struggled to impact aerially, but it’s a work in progress.”

Jack Graham

“Unfortunately Jack hurt himself in the warm-up and was done after five minutes.”

Jacob Ballard

15 disposals, four tackles, six handball receives & three clearances

“We only had the five VFL-listed players for the day, but he was important in the third quarter as an inside-mid, particularly his toughness around the ball is something we really like to see.”

Hugh Beasley

13 disposals, three tackles & four rebound-50s

“It wasn’t his best game for the year. He was beaten in a couple of contests that he hasn’t been beaten in aerially, but it was a difficult day, windy and breezy and made it hard for the talls. Again, there were some critical moments in the game where his one-on-one wins were very important in the outcome.”

Steve Morris

10 disposals, six tackles & three spoils

“A captain’s game as always - really tough, and there was a patch of about three or four minutes where he was in everything defensively and offensively. He really led from the front and is a great role model for our younger players.”

Tom Silvestro

10 disposals, seven contested possessions & one clearance

“Played forward, which is a little bit out of position. He’s an elite runner and continues to get to contests for us. We really valued his contribution to the outcome.”

Chad Harris

Six disposals, five tackles & two inside-50s

“Our 23rd player, I really like his attack on the ball. He had limited minutes, but looks ready-made to play VFL football, particularly with his hardness.”
 
There are some obvious players doing well in the VFL, and most of us probably expect Bolton in for Riewoldt and Garthwaite in for Astbury this week. Some good comments there from McRae give excellent insight into some of these players.

Soldo could have a very important role to fulfil at some point so his form looks reassuring. It must be a really tough job managing all your tall timber in the VFL, but at present big Ivan seems to be holding CCJ out of the number one VFL ruck position on merit, and the latter looks the goods at this stage, 7 tackles a great sign.

Turner sounds like he is a bit lost in terms of positioning at times but he runs miles, is fast, and seems to use the ball really well from what we have seen of him. Barring accidents I expect to see him playing plenty of AFL footy in 2020.

Eggmolesse seems to perform consistently at VFL level this year and I would be intrigued to see him at AFL level, but from the vantage point of a casual observer, he just looks a nice player when you see him play.

The Collier-Dawkins comments look very encouraging. Reading between the lines they want him to develop his spread and kicking game, but McRae rated his third term as being critical to the result and this is something I always look for in any sportsman, ability to impact his team's results. Players who can do that at a lower level usually become good players at a higher level.

Menadue and Townsend look ready to play roles if called upon and as with Soldo, this is reassuring because I am sure they will be needed at times. I also wonder what Naish could do if called up in the near future.

I love the honesty of these comments each week from McRae, they are very illuminating.
 
Hmmm, not so predictable the selection with two keys out and two runners in, can only think this is due to the Mutts not having a lot of calls. It could also be that Garthwaite is not considered to be up to AFL level fitness as yet.
 

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