DEVELOPMENT coach Brad Miller reviews the Melbourne-listed players who played in the VFL at Casey Fields on Saturday
WE PLAYED against Frankston on a fairly heavy track at Casey Fields. It was really disappointing on the day to go down by six points, after being in a winning position – 16 points up at the nine-minute mark of the last quarter. We find when our guys do what is expected and play their roles, we’re right in games and are playing some really good footy. Our first quarter was probably the best quarter of our year. However, it falls away dramatically, when guys don’t play their role and we get scored against heavily.
VFL: Frankston 13.10 (88) d Casey Scorpions 12.10 (82)
Dom Barry: Dom played wing and half-forward. He had eight disposals, three tackles, three missed tackles and one fumble. We’re finding with Dom’s game at the moment that his running ability is allowing him to get to a lot of contests throughout the game however he’s not having significant impact when he gets there. The next step for Dom is that we need him to be able to impact the contest by winning the ball or making a tackle. Missing three tackles is something we also need to address. When he does get the ball, he’s often going at 100 per cent efficiency, so we want to get the ball in his hands more often.
Mitch Clisby: Mitch played on the wing and had stints at half-back. He had 28 disposals, two tackles, one missed tackle and zero fumbles. Again, we found Clis attracting a lot of the ball, across the wing and half-back line. However, from those 28 disposals he went at 75 per cent efficiency, which is an area that he’ll continue to work on. When Clis keeps it simple and uses the easy, predictable option, it’s advantageous for the way that we move the ball. It makes it easier for his teammates and for himself.
Jack Fitzpatrick: Jack played key forward and in the ruck. He had 19 disposals, 10 marks, two tackles, zero missed tackles and zero fumbles. It was great to see Jack play the way a key forward is expected to play. He led strongly at the ball and had solid work rate as a forward and as a ruck. His follow-up work after the ruck contest was good again this week. However, the area that let Jack’s game down on the day was his goalkicking accuracy. He kicked 1.3. He could’ve really impacted the game, if he had have kicked straight. But he is in good form.
Max Gawn: Max played ruck and forward again. He had 23 disposals, took 13 marks, kicked four goals, had five tackles, one missed tackle and one fumble. Max was again extremely dominant on the day. He had complete ascendency in the ruck. The area that was most pleasing for Max this week was his ability to take marks around the ground and up forward. He attacked the ball in the air and took the ball at the highest point on a number of occasions, which made it really hard to defend him. His ability to go forward and kick four goals was really pleasing for Max. Out of his 23 disposals, he also went at 95 per cent efficiency, so he was really damaging on the day.
Alex Georgiou: Alex played as a key defender. He had 10 disposals, three tackles, zero missed and zero fumbles. Alex got Frankston’s best forward, as he has got the opposition’s best forward for a number of weeks now. We thought he had his colours lowered on the day. His first half wasn’t at the level required, giving away a couple of careless free kicks and not being anywhere near physical enough on his opponent. We thought he responded well in the second half and made some slight adjustments to his starting positions and it allowed him to compete. Alex is at his best, when he makes beating his man his number one priority – and the rest of his game seems to follow.
James Harmes: James played mid and high forward. He had 21 disposals, one tackle, zero missed tackles and one fumble. We’re finding with James at the moment – when he gives himself a chance to compete in a contest, by starting in the right position – he’s often winning those contests. When James drifts out of the game, it’s when he goes away from what’s working and he gives his opponent too much space around the stoppage. If he continues to keep it simple and start man on man, he’s giving himself a chance to play well. It’s not a lack of effort from James – it’s more of a concentration thing. We’ll continue to work with him in this area.
Matt Jones: Matty played on the wing and as a midfielder. He had 35 disposals, five tackles, zero missed tackles and three fumbles. We found Matty had a slower start than he would’ve expected, adjusting to the pace and style of the game. However, his input significantly lifted after quarter-time and he started to involve himself more often in the contest. We found the defensive side of his game was a little bit off this week and he often let his man get into dangerous spots by tracking the ball, instead of realising it was a time to defend first.
Viv Michie: Viv played inside mid and a little bit half-forward. He had 24 disposals, seven tackles, one missed tackle and three fumbles. Viv wasn’t as prolific as he was the previous week, however he still impacted the game. We’re finding Viv in a similar boat to James Harmes – when he gives himself a chance to halve the contest with his starting position, he often wins it. His transition has been a real focus over the last month or so, and he has improved – you can see it’s at the forefront of his mind. There are still times he lets himself down in this area, but we’ll continue to work with him and hopefully he’ll continue to improve. He had seven tackles and this has been an area he has also been focusing on and it is pleasing to see he’s backed that up again.
Daniel Nicholson: Daniel played half-back and a little bit on the wing. He had 39 disposals, eight tackles, two missed tackles and zero fumbles. Nicho won a lot of the ball and used his run and carry at times to the team’s advantage. Laying eight tackles and missing zero is a really pleasing aspect of Daniel’s game – he rarely misses a tackle, which is great. This week he went at 82 per cent efficiency and we found the reason for this was because he often chose the easy, safe option, going sideways or backwards, causing us to often overuse the ball in the back half.
Christian Salem: Christian played high forward and inside mid. He had 22 disposals, four tackles, zero missed tackles and one fumble. Christian’s game on the weekend was brought down a lot by his disposal efficiency – he went at 68 per cent. It wasn’t at the level we’ve come to expect from him. He wins his ball well around the contest and gets involved in the right times, however we really need him to tidy this area up, as it’s a strength of his and what makes him a good player.
James Strauss: James played half-back and wing. He had 35 disposals, three tackles, zero missed tackles and zero fumbles. Along with Max Gawn, Straussy was one of our most influential players on the day. He went at 94 per cent efficiency and often used his run and carry to break the lines. Straussy really influenced the game in this area. His defensive stuff was much better this week, as he has been focusing on it and we have seen improvement. James can still lose concentration at times and allow his man a metre, but he’ll continue to work on this. It’s great to see his improvement over the last three weeks. He’s in good form.
Maia Westrupp: Maia played down back. He had seven disposals, three tackles, zero missed tackles and one fumble. Maia’s had a good taste of senior VFL footy over the last two weeks and now knows what is required to make the step up to this level. His ball use was at a very good level, even though he didn’t get a lot of the ball – he often used it well. The areas we’re trying to teach Maia at the moment are his starting positions as a defender and his ability to spoil and close contests. He’s trailing his man to lead up and mark and he’s well aware that that’s not at the required level at the moment. We’ll keep trying to teach him the game in how to read the flow of play effectively, so he can put himself in a better position to spoil and defend his man.
AFL Victoria Development League: Frankston 10.13 (73) d 7.15 (57)
No Melbourne-listed players featured in the AFL Victoria Development League this round
