CASEY coach Justin Plapp reviews the Melbourne-listed players who played in the VFL

VFL
Sunday, August 9, Box Hill City Oval, 2pm
Box Hill Hawks 18.15 (123) d Casey Scorpions 7.7 (49)

“IT was clearly our most disappointing and worst performance that we’ve had this year, after making some really good improvements, particularly from an alignment point of view. We lacked effort and composure and Box Hill is a very structured, well coached team and it played very well. We were made to look second rate, so we were disappointed in all areas of our game, including our effort to compete and our attitude. We only had three or four winners on the day, so it made it very hard to compete at a level that was acceptable. From the word go we were on the back foot and we were well and truly beaten in the end.”  – Justin Plapp

Rohan Bail: We thought Rohan was our best player for the day. He won his position and made a pretty decent contribution to the way we wanted to play. Rohan had 23 possessions and kicked two goals.

Jayden Hunt: Jayden was disappointing. He had been challenged through illness leading up to the match, and ended up with six possessions and no tackles. He’s a kid that’s got to be able to respond, but unfortunately Hunty didn’t have a good day. I’m sure he will respond in a positive manner.

Mark Jamar: Russian had 15 possessions, 24 hit outs and one effective tackle for the day. His strengths are around centre bounces and stoppages, and he won that area of the game pretty well. But, like a lot of the team, he wasn’t at his best.

Jay Kennedy-Harris: There was some improvement from Jay this week. He had 24 possessions and two effective tackles. Jay had a couple of opportunities to hit the scoreboard, but his inability to finish off his work was disappointing. He’s certainly building after some quieter weeks.

Jordie McKenzie: He had 17 possessions and three effective tackles. Jordie tried and was pretty strong around the football. But he didn’t have a lot of impact on the game. He had an inside tagging role on Jonathan Simpkin and then was moved onto Jed Anderson. Jordie played his role, but we would’ve liked a bit more output from him.

Ben Newton: Newts had four effective tackles and 15 possessions. We would’ve liked a lot more out of him. His ball use was OK at times, but he didn’t win enough of the football and we need him with the ball in his hands. He was disappointing, but he gets another opportunity to respond this weekend.

Aidan Riley: Aidan was good. He had 35 possessions and four effective tackles. Aidan was really positive and influential around the stoppages. He won numerous critical contests, but let himself down a couple of times with missed kicks and the effectiveness of his disposals. Aidan really tried over the course of the game.

Christian Salem: We were really happy with Christian’s game. He had 23 disposals and five effective tackles. He played various roles, including inside mid and back. His ball use was good and some of his inside work was strong as well. He’s building to play in the AFL again and he’s heading in the right direction. It was his third game back from injury and we were happy with his effort and performance.

Jake Spencer: Spence had 14 possessions, one effective tackle and two goals. Both of those goals came from ground level contests, where he finished his work off really well. He played in the ruck and had 23 hit outs. Jake dropped some marks, which we expected him to take, so that’s an area for him to work on this week. But his effort levels were good and he hit the scoreboard, which was positive.

Billy Stretch: It was a quieter game from Billy. He had 11 disposals and two effective tackles. Billy struggled to get into the game, but it’s been a long year for first year players. He’s been challenged from a loading point of view and it can be a bit of a burnout time of the year for first year players. His effort was there, but he didn’t have a great day.

Dean Terlich: Terls had 25 possessions and two effective tackles. He made a couple of costly mistakes, which ended up as opposition goals. Dean took a couple of really courageous marks coming back with the flight of the ball. We’re really encouraging Terls to get a more consistent balance between his offense and defence, but his effort was good on the day. Like a lot of other players, we needed a bit more out of him.

Jimmy Toumpas: Toump didn’t have one of his best performances. He was ill leading up to the match and it didn’t help his preparation. It was a day that Toump would want to forget. We’re hoping that he’ll respond well during the week and his preparation is a lot better than last week, due to illness. He was disappointing unfortunately.

Mitch White: Whitey was really good in patches, but then he lost concentration at times. His communication needed to be better in a few situations. He had 14 possessions and three effective tackles, playing half-back and a little bit forward. Mitch took a couple of strong mark from opposition kicks, but he’s another first year player and it’s been a long year for some of these kids. We’re trying to get them through and keep them as fresh as possible. But he didn’t disgrace himself on the day.

AFL Victoria Development League
Sunday, August 9, Box Hill City Oval, 11am
Box Hill Hawks 15.11 (101) d Casey Scorpions 4.10 (34)

No Melbourne-listed players featured in the Development League