DEVELOPMENT coach Brad Miller reviews the Melbourne-listed players who played in the VFL at the ME Bank Centre (Punt Rd Oval) and the AFL Development League at Avalon Airport Oval (Chirnside Park) on Saturday

VFL: Richmond 15.16 (106) d Casey Scorpions 10.11 (71) 

Sam Blease: Sam played on the wing and also high forward. He had 22 disposals and three tackles. He also fumbled the ball four times. What we liked about Sam’s game was a lot of his possessions, playing as a high half-forward, were damaging. He used his run and speed in our forward half of the ground, which is something he started to show glimpses of last week. He carried that on, particularly in the second half. At times, he can still get caught in transition and there are often times, he can turn his head and pick up a more dangerous player.

Mitch Clisby: Clis played half-back for the majority of the day. He had it 22 times. Mitch had one tackle and one missed tackle, and he also had two fumbles. While he got a fair bit of the ball in defence, Mitch wasn’t very damaging with his disposal this week. He turned it over quite a few times and he was often used as a switch-kick sideways or backwards, which wasn’t advantageous for us on the day.

Michael Evans: Michael had it 15 times. He had two tackles, two missed and four fumbles. He played on the wing and as a high half-forward. He was quite fumbly below his knees and he missed a couple of important tackles. Michael found it really hard to get into the game this week. After kicking a really good goal in the first quarter, by taking the game on with his run, Michael struggled to get into the game. He wasn’t really clean around the contest and I thought towards the end of the third quarter, his body language and frustration showed. After three quarter-time, we addressed it with Michael and in the fourth quarter he started brightly. He got involved in a number of contests and got the ball forward on a number of occasions. We’re going to continue working with Michael on his ability to play his role, in and around the stoppage, then transition away with some real defensive intent, when they win the ball.

Jack Fitzpatrick: He had it 10 times, and had one tackle, zero missed and no fumbles. Jack found himself in the ruck for the majority of the day, where he was competing with a couple of experienced ruckmen in Orren Stephenson and Shaun Hampson. So he had his work cut out for him. Jack competed OK in the ruck contest, but when the ball hit the ground, his follow up was quite poor. His ability to join in on the contest and follow his man defensively wasn’t at the level that’s required. He needs to show more urgency when the ball hits the deck after the ruck contest, so he can have a real impact. There were a couple of times where he used his speed to spread off his opponent offensively, and we saw him take a couple of nice marks, by out positioning his opponent. One was inside 50, where he had a shot on goal in the first quarter and this was really positive. This was an area we’ve been working on with Jack and it was great to see him put it in to practice on game day.

James Harmes: Harmesy had it 16 times. He had zero tackles and four missed tackles. He also had two fumbles. Harmesy had a quiet day this week. He played a little bit of inside mid, forward and half-back. It was a week where James found himself in a number of different positions, but on the day, he struggled to have any significant impact in any of those roles. Four missed tackles is an area that really needs to be improved. It’s something that he’s aware of and he’s been working on. Being a young player, he still has plenty to learn, in terms of structure and how to play your role effectively in a variety of different positions. We threw him around this week, so we could add strings to his bow and further his development as a player.

Jay Kennedy-Harris: Jay played wing and high half-forward. He had a really solid game last week and I thought Jay backed it up this week, by playing his role well. He had five tackles, missed two and had zero fumbles, so that was a highlight of Jay’s game. I thought he was really clean around traffic. Jay often gained an advantage for us, which was really great to see on the day. He had a tendency to want to always play on after taking a mark or gaining a free kick, which is something we will address this week, as there are times he needs to be more composed and allow the play to unfold first. He kicked a really nice goal in the last quarter, just through repeat efforts and pressure in the forward line. We thought he played his role for the second week in a row.

Max King: Max was only on for three minutes. He started at centre half-back on Liam McBean and hurt his medial ligament, so he had very little impact.

Viv Michie: Viv played inside mid and forward. He had it 19 times and he had zero tackles, zero missed tackles and zero fumbles. Viv’s ball-winning ability isn’t being questioned – he’s really good in and around traffic. The area of Viv’s game that’s letting him down at the moment is his defensive accountability and his transition away from a stoppage or a contest. His man often anticipates a turnover and spreads much harder and it’s an area we’re working closely with Viv. He’s well aware of it, but he’s making no real signs of improvement at this stage, so we’re going to continue working really closely with him.

Daniel Nicholson: Nicho played half-back and inside mid. He had it 20 times, laying three tackles, no missed tackles and three fumbles. Nicho’s run really stood out on the day and he used his dash off the half-back line really well. However, he often ran himself into trouble. The simpler Nicho can keep his game, the better he is. He needs to continue to work on his decision-making and using the simple option, this way he avoids running himself into trouble and turning the ball over.

Aidan Riley: Aidan played midfield and a little bit forward. He had 25 disposals and laid seven tackles and missed one tackle. He had no fumbles for the game, which was a real highlight. He was really clean around the contest and often used his speed and power to break away from traffic. Aidan was able to use his kick a lot more this week, which is something he’s been working on. He was handballing a little too much earlier in the season and on the weekend he got the balance right. It was a really solid game and he played his role well.

James Strauss: James had it 18 times. He had zero tackles and one missed. He also fumbled the ball once. It was really good to see Straussy in the last quarter use his leg speed, run off half-back and kick a goal. It is something that has been missing from his game this year, but it was great to see it come out again on the weekend. There are still some times when he trails his man too easily and he’s not there to defend. When he gives himself a chance to spoil by being right up on his man, he did really well. It’s an area we’ve got to work very closely with James. When he’s concentrating and right up on his man, he can be quite dangerous as a half-back, but when he doesn’t his man often has an impact and often links the chain for them to go inside 50. 

AFL Victoria Development League: Casey Scorpions 11.8 (74) d Werribee 8.13 (61) 

Maia Westrupp: Maia’s athleticism allows him to impact games, when he chooses to use it. If Maia decides to join in on a contest, often he has the speed and agility to get himself out of traffic and make a composed decision. But when he doesn’t, through either being too fatigued or having a fear of making a mistake, I think that sometimes inhibits him from joining in on a contest. That’s when he can be really quiet in games and not get near the footy. At the moment, when he decides to help – whether it’s a tackle or to put some defensive pressure on, or to impact a contest and win the ball – we’ve found that he has some real athleticism and some speed that can be useful at senior VFL level over the next couple of weeks.