RUCKMAN on the rise Max Heath has stamped his dominance once again at VFL level, named Casey's best against ladder leaders Geelong.

VFL Senior Coach Rhett McLennan shared his thoughts on the Melbourne-listed Demons.

Max Heath (32 hit-outs, 20 disposals, seven tackles, five marks)

"Moose was excellent, his effort in the ruck was very good. He definitely won his position and was our best player on the day. He never gave up. I think he's actually only touching the surface of how good he can be. We've identified some definite moments in the game where he can get even more involved. So if you think about how much impact he had in the game and think that there's lots more to actually to gain out of his output and strength and size, then it's pretty scary about his potential."

Luker Kentfield (Eight disposals, three goals, eight disposals, four marks)

"Luker’s first half was awesome to kick three goals, but even just his effort was a marked improvement over the last couple of weeks. I thought he jumped for the ball across the ground really well and competed better. He looked more mobile and dangerous when the footy was in his area and his attitude to bounce to the next contest was very much improved, so hopefully he’ll continue that form all the way to the end of the year."

Christian Salem (21 disposals, one goal)

"Salo spent three quarters up forward and then the third quarter went across half back and was really solid with the footy. He probably didn't stand out but did his part and played some important roles with ball in hand to get the possession chains going. He’ll be better for the run."

Aidan Johnson (18 disposals, 16 kicks, six marks)

"AJ’s performance was what you expect from AJ - all effort. He played in defense for the game which is a new role for him. He was probably a bit overexuberant at times and gave away some free kicks. He needed to play with a little bit more poise at times as well but there's no doubt that on a fair few occasions he saved our bacon and saved some goals with his sheer effort."

Ricky Mentha Jnr (17 disposals, four marks, five tackles)

"Ricky was solid without being brilliant. He's put together some really good footy and probably had a quieter game but his stuff across halfback was pretty good. He's reading the footy off the boot really well and defending better. It was a little bit of a stronger team this week, so he bounced off some of the tackles that he's been laying in the last couple of weeks, but his intent was still pretty good. He was pretty quiet when he went forward though, when he swapped with Salo."

Jake Melksham (16 disposals, 1 goal three behinds, seven marks)

"Melky was really good. His work rate was excellent and he moved up the ground a lot more this week than he has previously in VFL games. He kicked one goal three but set up a couple as well. He delivered the footy inside 50 pretty well apart from the last quarter."

Xavier Taylor (17 disposals, seven marks, three tackles)

"He showed his strengths in regards to his intercept marking. He also showed his power and he's getting better at the offensive side of his game - when to run and where to run to. Once he gets the ball, especially down back, he's still learning about when and where he needs to go. He can get fixated on things you can't control like umpiring decisions and if he can get that out of his game and just worry about the things that he can control, he'll get markedly better."

Riley Onley (13 disposals, four marks, seven tackles)

"Riley's tackling was really good, and he showed a bit more physicality. His want also to defend and rip back and be hard to play against when the ball goes past him needs to improve. He's shown at times that he's got the strength and he's got the power when he runs forward, he probably can take a little bit more on and be more confident with ball in hand so he has more effectiveness when he does get the footy and play with a bit more ruthlessness."

Max Mapley (Nine disposals, three marks, eight hitouts)

"Max showed some good stuff hitting up across half forward. He actually showed that he can be a really good link man between the mids and the forwards especially in the second quarter where he had some really good looks when the ball was probably moving in more of a predictable pattern. His stuff in the ruck was okay without being awesome. He's having moments where you can actually see there's plenty of potential in him although he probably didn't have as much of an impact in this game against a better outfit and opposition."

Tom Matthews (Nine disposals, two tackles)

"Tommy Matthews was really quiet. He got lost around the stoppages a bit. He still ran hard throughout the game, but just finding places to actually get the footy and have more impact is some of the stuff that we're actually working with Tommy on, so we'll keep chipping away."

Kalani White (Five disposals, one mark, one behind)

"Kalani was pretty quiet. We've had some moments where we've seen some progress in his efforts and physicality but we didn't see that enough this week. He just needs to focus on working with the development coaches and acting on some of the stuff that we're speaking about during the week."

Oscar Berry (Eight disposals, two marks)

"It was a tough day for Oscar as well. He played on some smart young footballers that probably showed him up just in regards to craft. He probably needs to show a little bit more want to defend when the ball goes past him. I thought his offensive patterns were good and he understands where to get to when we win the footy. It's just when we lose the footy, how hard does he want to compete to go back."