Review Round 16, 2017: Box Hill Hawks v Geelong, 5 August 2017, 2.00pm @ BHCO

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Somewhat wasteful in front of goal today, but a good win nonetheless.
Really impressed with Stewart today, like the big Pitt's ruckwork too.
 
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AlwaysHawks15

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Stewart was excellent, thought lovell was good with a few fumbles which hopefully will diminish with more game time, willsmore irritates me, plays with no aggression and just cruises around the ground. Is definitely a 1 trick pony which doesnt bode well for his future unfortunately. Pittonet is a monster, we are looking great for ruck depth even without fitzpatrick. Could play a game or 2 if we cant make finals before the end of the year.
 

AlwaysHawks15

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Watched bits and pieces and thought Lovell was really good - what did everyone else think?

Vickery was in everything in the first half - not taking too many big mark/goal combos but was competing hard and his second efforts were good. Lots of contest mark/follow up/handball to a small
Vickerys competes the way we want him to compete in the seniors at this level. Doesnt need to dominate just provide a presence. This is what clarko will be looking at going forward.
 
Sep 15, 2009
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Watched bits and pieces and thought Lovell was really good - what did everyone else think?

Vickery was in everything in the first half - not taking too many big mark/goal combos but was competing hard and his second efforts were good. Lots of contest mark/follow up/handball to a small
I saw the first half only and whilst it was good to see him get a lot of the ball and do a lot right, I felt he butchered the ball a bit. And sometimes he didn't take the first option.

But a pleasing outing overall. Seems to have slimmed down and his lateral movement still good.
 

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Oct 2, 2014
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Horrendous 3rd quarter aside that was a dominant performance from Box Hill. We had something like 45 scoring shots which is an astronomical number, but unfortunately were quite wasteful in front of goal. Should have been a 100-point smashing instead of 53 points. This wastefulness let Geelong back to within 16 points at 3QT. Also, a comment on the umpiring – possibly the worst I have seen at any level all year. Not just for us (because they did roger us) but so many decisions for both sides were ignored altogether. Here are my thoughts of the Hawthorn listed players.

Lovell: Would probably be our leading disposal getter as he had 24 at 3QT. He’s very dangerous at the centre clearances due to a burst of speed and neat little sidestep, but unfortunately, he really struggled with his disposal today. After ~5 months without skills work it’s understandable and the good thing is he’s still getting his hands on plenty of the pill with reduced minutes. You can’t teach that.

Hanrahan: When this kid has ball in hand wonderful things happen. His movement in and out of traffic is exceptional, and he hits targets almost every time. Has a burst of acceleration to get him out of trouble. Never got caught unless he was the recipient of a hospital handball. Was BOG in the first quarter, but faded out after that. Needs to work on getting his hands on the ball more, but when he does I feel like I’m watching Cyril.

Stewart: Criticised him early for going to ground too often. Came out afterwards and played a massive game. His tackling pressure is immense and a few times he really made the Geelong players feel it. Was good in the centre clearances putting his head over the ball, and ended up with 4 goals while setting up plenty more. Really like him in the midfield. BOG for mine.

Morrison: With ball in hand he’s very reliable and on more than one occasion used his vision to start a chain of attack. Wins a good amount of the ball in close. Seems to lack some pace but makes up for It with smarts. He played predominately in the midfield instead of halfback which is a new role. He was OK without being fantastic but showed glimpses of brilliance. Could see him developing into that role.

Pittonet: A big reason for our early dominance, especially into the breeze, was Pittonet. He was great in the ruck, because when he does win it down usually it’s to the advantage of our players. Palming the ball straight to the chest of Lovell for a centre clearance was a thing of beauty to watch. Always tackles hard and has great second efforts. I’ve always said that his weakness is not really marking the ball for a big man, but today he killed Geelong in the air. Ran hard to force Stanley to defend. Kicked a goal for his efforts. Had Stewart not played a superb game he would have been BOG.

Heatherley: Vintage Heatherley game. Gave up size and height against his opponent but never took a backwards step. Puts his body on the line and is ferocious with his attack, epitomised by a vicious tackle that saved a certain goal when Geelong players were streaming forward. Likes to link up and rebound out of defensive 50, and even got a rare goal for his efforts. Good game but still errant with disposal.

Willsmore: You look at Willsmore’s stats and think he had a good game, but he was very poor today. Looked slow and indecisive with his disposal, and was caught holding the ball many times. His game was summed up when he received the ball in defensive 50, and handballed it straight to a Geelong player who kicked a goal. Ended up with 2 goals – both coming from unselfishness from Vickery and Stewart.

Vickery: Very unselfish game from Ty. Worked higher up the ground and took marks which is what you want of your big men. Kicked a goal, but tended to be extremely unselfish by handballing it to players running into an open goal-square instead of taking the shot himself. Though this was to the detriment of his own game (he probably could have ended up with 3 or 4) it would no doubt please the coaches.

Nash: Moves very well for a big man. Has a weird kicking action (don’t all the Irish?) that usually hits a target but also seems to get smothered a lot. Played a reasonable game, without doing anything exceptional but also without being horrendous. After a long lay-off it’s just good to see him out there.

The Box Hill players were also very impressive. Murphy, Switta, Lane and Brolic would all make decent rookie selections. Cooler heads like Warren, Mirra and Moore (who has been a fantastic pickup) are all playing great football. There’s a lot of talent to come back into that team, and credit must be given to Newman. There's so many players playing for Hawthorn tomorrow that would have been important to Box Hill, and to continue winning without them is a testament to both the talent and coaching of this side.
 
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Oct 2, 2014
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I think VFL might be Stewart's level.

Same thing was being said of Howe this year Abasi. I think if given a continuous run at the seniors rather than dropped after every poor performance he'd develop into a handy player. Has seemed to work wonders for guys like Hardwick, O'Brien, Howe etc. who apart from the latter were all playing worse than Stewart at this level. Willsmore tho...
 
With Puopolo close to the end of his career, we don't have another genuine small forward on our list apart from Stewart.
Rioli, Breust and Hanrahan.
 

The Cleaner

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Fun to watch big Pitts adding contested marks to his repertoire today.

Make no mistake, this is an exceptional season from a team that missed finals last year and was expected to struggle in the wake of Hawthorn's rebuild. There were over 10 quality AFL players missing from this line up and have been for most of the year. Even if they only gain a few for the finals, that final salute is there for the taking.

It feels like we're seeing a promising future coach making his mark and some inspired VFL recruiting pay off. As Hawthorn turns over its list and playing strategies, Box Hill feeds in seamlessly. Both teams are reaping the benefits. Job well done.
 

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