It was a solid performance from Peel against South Fremantle. I thought Sowfs looked very poor in the first half but they improved in the second and had a real crack in the first half of the last qtr but goals to Mz, Blakely and then Mz again put the result beyond doubt. All the dockers played really well, there were no passengers today.
I was so distracted by the new guys, the quality of performances from some of our more established guys barely registered but its fair to say that Mz, Croz and Griff all played as you would expect "AFL players in waiting" to play in the second tier, with Mz being the pick of the bunch.
I've already mentioned that TV played quite well, probably his best game for Peel so far.
The same could be said for Moller, he was good when he went into the ruck, but as the stats show, their opposition was quite poor in that department. Moller looked alright up forward, he didn't take many marks but he did bring the ball to ground, a good forward crumber would have been handy.
Duffy got going in the second half and carried the ball up the ground on a number of occasions especially in the 3rd qtr. He kicked a good goal from a set shot from about 45 out. Hurley's performance was very encouraging, he dominated a number of opponents including Mugambwa, and used his size and mobility cleverly. He also got back to touch the ball through for a behind on the very last line of defence a couple of times. He kicked well, took on players and made some smart decisions. I really like Hughes and as a result I think I might overstate some of his performances. He was solid today and kicked well, one of his kicks was very good, he swooped on a ball on the HBF in traffic and switched the ball to the corridor where he pin pointed Mz in traffic. It was a courageous and well executed kick.
Tanner had a good game, unspectacular but very efficient. He took his opponent out of the game, spoiled very well and kicked accurately. Ballard and Grey did their usual thing. Ballard racked up some good numbers and Grey destroyed the ball in the marking contest. He took a very good mark in the first qtr leaping right over the top of his opponent. He's still the most likely player in the team to effect a spoil regardless of who his opponent is.
I must be a bit like Dory from Nemo, I'm easily distracted by new and shiny things and Weller, Blakely and Langdon are all very new and very shiny. The quality of their respective performances cannot be ignored, they all played exceptionally well but all in their own unique way. Langdon played both HF and HB, he carried the ball and delivered it accurately. Blakely was outstanding in the clinches, I've said it before but I am continually amazed at his ability to get a handball away in a tackle and I noticed him sprinting out of congestion 3 or 4 times today. I haven't seen him do that much before, he tends to hand ball from congestion but this seems to be a new facet to his game, or maybe I just haven't noticed it til today. Weller was outstanding in traffic and his disposal is elite. He's starting to "stack", as RTB says, some good performances together now which is really encouraging and will probably get an opportunity later in the year.