VFL - Rd 1, Sandringham vs Frankston

[joffaboy]

JB

When you find out Ben missed with a calf.... You will do what?

You know he's just trolling you, right?

Read that he was omitted. Calf sounds like an excuse to me

[BigMart]

Fair enough... He was omitted

And played in the VFL seconds?!

[joffaboy]

Fair enough... He was omitted

And played in the VFL seconds?!

No he didn't, different McEvoy.

How did Hawks go against Freo without your hero?

Amazing you laud an opposition player but can support a Saints player.

Who are the clubs laughing at the McEvoy trade BM?

You stated that at trade time.

Care to back up your post?

Hmmm thought not.

[bergholt]

JB

When you find out Ben missed with a calf.... You will do what?

You know he's just trolling you, right?

Read that he was omitted. Calf sounds like an excuse to me

I think that's unlikely. All of the media says calf:

http://www.triplem.com.au/sydney/sport/ ... thdrawals/
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/2238 ... t-dockers/

etc etc

Not sure you're going to come up on the right side of this one, JB.

[Dave McNamara]

At the game today and didn't think Billings looked that small. The guy is quality, pure quality. He knows what he's going to do before he gets it. Has the football mechanics in the brain. Loved it.

I'm with you, millar, for an 18 yo (19 in August, I think) Billings has pretty reasonable upper body definition. With the bursitis in his knee last year restricting the amount of running he could do, he looks to have spent time in the gym working on his upper body. Now that he's over the bursitis no doubt the emphasis will be on developing his running and tank.

But, this kid will be elevated very soon - probably this week. They played him as the sub in round 1, since then he's played 2 games good enough at VFL to warrant elevation just on pure football talent. First, he knows where to go - it's innate in such natural footballers. Second, where he gets there, he can get it, including in traffic. Third, once he's got it, he can find, or engineer, enough time and space to dispose of it. Fourth, he doesn't just dispose of it, he makes the maximum out of the opportunity presented or made.

Today's game was a VFL game for men - small, particularly narrow, open ground on the bay on a windy day. Jack couldn't get near it in the 1st half. Choppy flow to the game, lots of stoppages, low possession game with lots of ineffective disposals. He worked his way into the game in the 3rd, as the game opened up a bit. The last 1/4 was a grab of those 4 things listed above that he has in abundance. So, in a game that finished up with low overall possession numbers, he finishes up around the top of those numbers, hardly wastes one of 'em and kicks 5 - all without being able to get near it for a half.

I watched a couple of patches in replay. Once he entered the picture you could almost see his mind ticking over. "Hmmm, might be a chance here.....nup....what about here?....not quite..rats...I'll try over here...closer, closer, where's it going....there it is.....come on baby, come to Jack...got ya...cue quiet celebration". (Edit: Classic stuff.)

He has the connection in his head. He's a way off being aerobically fit enough to play full midfield rotations at senior level. But, he can do damage up forward. With his way of finding it, and his ball use, a season or two playing predominantly forward could still be mighty productive. As the West showed tonight, we can get enough of it to get, and keep it, in the front half, but we lack the incisive vision and ball use to provide productive scoring output from the effort. Jack's got all that, and then some.

Play him. Look after him, but play him. He'll produce.

Great assessments you blokes. Thank you.

[kosifantutti]

Read that he was omitted. Calf sounds like an excuse to me

I think that's unlikely. All of the media says calf:

http://www.triplem.com.au/sydney/sport/ ... thdrawals/
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/2238 ... t-dockers/

etc etc

Not sure you're going to come up on the right side of this one, JB.

Triplem? Yahoo? What would they know?
Go straight to the source.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/teams
JB speaks the truth.

[saintbrat]

Thanks for the reviews Truezebras reporters
http://www.truezebras.com/saints-in-vfl-round-1/

[Old Mate]

Thanks for the reviews Truezebras reporters
http://www.truezebras.com/saints-in-vfl-round-1/

I'm hoping to see Shenton in Saints colours soon and he may get that opportunity with Gilbert's injury which looks to be longterm. Weller looks a likely candidate for an upgrade as well, going off his writeup and early season form.

Sippos' writeup, or lack of writeup intrigues me. I don't want to look to much into it but....doesn't look good.

[stkildathunda]

Thanks for the reviews Truezebras reporters
http://www.truezebras.com/saints-in-vfl-round-1/

I'm hoping to see Shenton in Saints colours soon and he may get that opportunity with Gilbert's injury which looks to be longterm. Weller looks a likely candidate for an upgrade as well, going off his writeup and early season form.

Sippos' writeup, or lack of writeup intrigues me. I don't want to look to much into it but....doesn't look good.

Shenton front runner to be upgraded IMO. He just dominates off half back, it's about time coaches realized this. We've been saying it for a long time now.

As for Siposs... As they say if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all.... What was concerning about him is he had 11 touches or something to half time... And finished with 13. He just disappeared and when he did get it he just banged it on boot and blazed away to no one. From where I was he also is always afraid to go in and get the ball, always waits off the pack lookingn for cheap pass. Can't see him breaking into Saints team this year at this rate, so many others are ahead of him now.

[Old Mate]

Thanks for the reviews Truezebras reporters
http://www.truezebras.com/saints-in-vfl-round-1/

I'm hoping to see Shenton in Saints colours soon and he may get that opportunity with Gilbert's injury which looks to be longterm. Weller looks a likely candidate for an upgrade as well, going off his writeup and early season form.

Sippos' writeup, or lack of writeup intrigues me. I don't want to look to much into it but....doesn't look good.

Shenton front runner to be upgraded IMO. He just dominates off half back, it's about time coaches realized this. We've been saying it for a long time now.

As for Siposs... As they say if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all.... What was concerning about him is he had 11 touches or something to half time... And finished with 13. He just disappeared and when he did get it he just banged it on boot and blazed away to no one. From where I was he also is always afraid to go in and get the ball, always waits off the pack lookingn for cheap pass. Can't see him breaking into Saints team this year at this rate, so many others are ahead of him now.

I'd love to see Shenton given a chance, by the sounds of it it would be well deserved. With Gilbert, Gwilt, Fisher and Dempster in the twilight of their careers (certainly the latter two) we could do a lot worse than promote Shenton to the main list in this years draft.

On Sippos, you pretty much confirmed my initial thoughts. His form has really lapsed since he was signed to a longterm contract.

[bergholt]

Shenton front runner to be upgraded IMO. He just dominates off half back, it's about time coaches realized this. We've been saying it for a long time now.

The only problem is that he played one AFL game and looked buggered after running around for a quarter. At that point he really didn't seem to have an AFL standard motor. Not sure if that's improved since then?

[FQF]

Shenton front runner to be upgraded IMO. He just dominates off half back, it's about time coaches realized this. We've been saying it for a long time now.

The only problem is that he played one AFL game and looked buggered after running around for a quarter. At that point he really didn't seem to have an AFL standard motor. Not sure if that's improved since then?

Maybe he was nervous, running around too much and a little flustered. Players need an opportunity to settle. Hopefully he gets his so at least we can make an educated call.

[stinger]

Shenton front runner to be upgraded IMO. He just dominates off half back, it's about time coaches realized this. We've been saying it for a long time now.

The only problem is that he played one AFL game and looked buggered after running around for a quarter. At that point he really didn't seem to have an AFL standard motor. Not sure if that's improved since then?

Maybe he was nervous, running around too much and a little flustered. Players need an opportunity to settle. Hopefully he gets his so at least we can make an educated call.

he's paul hudsons pet...huddo will look after him.....will get a call up sometime during the year....monty for it....

[gringo]

Shenton front runner to be upgraded IMO. He just dominates off half back, it's about time coaches realized this. We've been saying it for a long time now.

The only problem is that he played one AFL game and looked buggered after running around for a quarter. At that point he really didn't seem to have an AFL standard motor. Not sure if that's improved since then?

Robert harvey look buggered quite a lot. Lucky he didn't get to play one quarter of footy only.

[saintbrat]

http://www.foxsportspulse.com/assoc_pag ... D=29026625

[stinger]

Stats from https://twitter.com/TrueZebras:

Jack Billings 21 disposals, 6 marks, 3 tackles, 5 goals
Cam Shenton 24 disposals, 9 marks, 4 tackles
Adam Cockie 17 disposals
Josh Bruce 23 disposals, 9 marks
Seb Ross 18 disposals, 3 marks, 3 tackles
Myke Cook 19 disposals, 5 marks, 5 tackles


I saw most of the game on TV, here's a quick run-through of the players.

Munro: Looks tough if limited skills, did a good job on Taylor in the last.
Bennett: Medium size and willing but not the most agile, could be a handy forward for Sandy.
Cook: Not his best game but solid as always.
Flanagan: Didn't see heaps of him but looks a good size, tough enough for VFL too.
Ong: Bit of a livewire, still skinny but willing to go in and has solid skills.
Le Grice: Forced to go into the ruck a couple of times, didn't see much of him apart from that.
Cockie: Good as always, should win the B&F by a mile unless Billings pips him for it.
Shakallis: Handy bloke to have in the back pocket, limited with the footy but good defensive work.

Simpkin: Really good, looked very solid in defence and popped up all round the ground. Even if not quite good enough for AFL he's a very good VFL player.
Milera: In everything in the first half and faded in the second. Always looks dangerous, deserves another chance in the AFL.
Dennis-Lane: Very reliable small forward, always pops up with a few goals. But not good enough for AFL.
Lee: Good game, contested pretty well and got on the end of some nice passes. Kicked 4 straight.
Weller: Thereabouts in the midfield, looks tough but skills aren't great. Doesn't look quite an AFL player for mine.
Shenton: Very good game from him, really solid across half back and pretty creative as well. A couple of stupid mistakes kicking out from full back. Probably not AFL standard but very good here.
Bruce: Really consistent in defence, a couple of brain fades but went hard all day and was reasonable with the footy as well. Might see him at AFL level before long.
Minchington: Quite game though his defensive pressure was pretty good. Looks unlikely to get to AFL level.
Roberton: Easy to criticise on today's performance, pretty lackadaisical. Obviously has class but needs to get his head right.
Murdoch: Barely sighted.
Siposs: Lots of it in the first half but quieter in the second. Not sure what his position is. Missed a couple of reasonably easy goals. Probably needs another year of development to really become the midfielder they want him to be.
Billings: Quiet in the first half, unstoppable in the last quarter. Great disposal efficiency and just looks like a footballer. Needs a year or two on the weights to really hit his straps but obviously has the tools.
Ross: Got near it a lot, disposal was up and down but I haven't given up on him yet.
Markworth: Quiet, though looked classy when he could find the footy.
Holmes: A long way from it but he'll be better for the run. Was still trying hard in the last quarter so he's got the workrate.

as against huddo's assessments...


Tom Simpkin
He played down back and we gave him the job on Lourey. He’s done it in the past and he did it again on Saturday, keeping him to one behind. Tom was fantastic and his spoiling was excellent.

Terry Milera
Terry got his hands on it a bit on the weekend. He had five shots on goal and looked dangerous, he could have easily kicked a bag but just didn’t finish on a couple of occasions.

Trent Dennis-Lane
Trent ended up kicking three goals, one from a set shot and the other two from open play. Defensively he applied so good pressure, chasing out of the forward line and he had quite a sound game.

Tom Lee
I was pleased for him because in the previous fortnight, he was competing well and playing his role in the structure, but not getting reward in the goals column. But on Saturday Tom kicked four goals and showed really good leading patterns. He also spent some time in the ruck and didn’t look out of place – he was quite competitive in this position.

Maverick Weller
I thought Mav was our best on ground against Frankston. We asked him to play a tagging role on their skipper and he did that for over three quarters. Then we had the scoring end and he generated some really important contested ball for us going forward. He played an all-round really good game and finished with eight clearances.

Cameron Shenton
He kicked our first goal as a back-flanker and also picked up more possessions than any one of our other players on the day. His confidence is really good at the moment and he looks really good in defence.

Josh Bruce
He got back and dropped off his opponent at the right times and read the play really well. Josh also used the ball really well, as he did last week. He only had one goal kicked on him.

Darren Minchington
The great thing about Minchy’s game this week was his defensive efforts – he had six tackles. He applied some really important chase-down tackles and got some turnovers for us.

Dylan Roberton
Dylan came back for Sandy and he worked his way into the game and started use the ball quite well coming out of defence. He predominantly played across half-back and played his role well.

Brodie Murdoch
Brodie started off at half-back and also spent some time on the wing. Like last week, he got better as the game went on and won some important contested ball late in the game. You will start seeing the best of Brodie in future weeks and hopefully he can start to push for senior selection.
Arryn Siposs
Sippo played up forward and won a lot of ball between the arcs, playing as a link-up type player. He’s a beautiful long kick and finished with one behind, so we’d like him to impact games more closer to goal – because that’s where he is most dangerous.

Jack Billings
Jack had an excellent last quarter obviously with four goals. The best thing was that he won his own ball and finished off really well when he had the opportunity to do so. I had a crack at him earlier in the game for flying for a mark against two or three other tall players. Then later in the game he stayed down, the ball landed in his arms and he kicked the goal. He’s very coachable, Jack.

He’s getting better each week and is learning the defensive side of the game all the time.

Seb Ross
Seb won his fair share of the ball. He had four or five clearances and spent the afternoon winning the ball on the inside in the midfield – although he did push forward a couple of times. We’ll keep working on his run and spread but his work-rate and pressure can never be questioned. He was good again.

Daniel Markworth
Marky finished with 13 possessions and was great when he found space. Because he’s so quick, he exploits any space really well. But on the small ground he couldn’t find that space as easily on Saturday. So adapting to the size of the grounds is the key for him. But he’s still coming back from injury, so he will get better and better every game.

Jason Holmes
It was his first ever official footy game. He had four tackles and never shirked a contest. He also caused a couple of intercepts from the opposition. But the most pleasing part about his game was his tap-work. He has an excellent leap and he will get better every week. We are still working on his marks and kicking, but he has great endeavour.

VFL Development team:

Blake Acres
Blake had a stellar game in his first game back from injury. He had 23 possessions, 10 tackles and 10 clearances and played inside nearly all day. He has a long and penetrating kick and was overall really impressive, he had a ripper game.

Spencer White
I only got to see the first half because of my own coaching commitments. But he led up hard and created a contest up forward. He was part of a good win and needs to keep working hard.
Exclusive to saints.com.au

[BigMart]

Now Paul what did you really think of Spencer's game?

Agree on Weller..... Superb
Behind closed doors... He'd be a bit harder on Arryn, Terry and Daniel

And something is up with Roberton?

[plugger66]

Now Paul what did you really think of Spencer's game?

Agree on Weller..... Superb
Behind closed doors... He'd be a bit harder on Arryn, Terry and Daniel

And something is up with Roberton?

Well he was out enjoying himself saturday night. Thanks coach.

[stkildathunda]

And something is up with Roberton?

Injured, was clear as day watching him. Was limping pretty bad whenever he came to bench. so say ankle still giving him issues. Not sure why they are playing him doesnt look right.

[BigMart]

I wonder?!

A smartarse comment to try and bait a response?

Are you still that predictable

Boring!!!!!!!

[FQF]

Apparently the ground they played on was rather small? Hopefully Markworth won't have those issues at AFL venues.

[BigMart]

He played really well at Frankston just two weeks ago

Perhaps because of that... The Dolphins put a little bit of work into his Wing... Or just that Taylor had a good day and opened him up a bit?

[saintbrat]

from the oppositions view
http://www.foxsportspulse.com/club_info ... D=29025023

[bergholt]

Maverick Weller
I thought Mav was our best on ground against Frankston. We asked him to play a tagging role on their skipper and he did that for over three quarters. Then we had the scoring end and he generated some really important contested ball for us going forward. He played an all-round really good game and finished with eight clearances.

I completely failed to pick up his tagging role on Kitchin from the TV coverage. Like other inside midfielders it can be pretty hard to follow them on TV, so I tend to underrate them, but obviously they were happy with him. Unfortunately two of the best on Saturday are rookies - not sure how Weller or Shenton are going to find their way into the side in the near future.

[dragit]

He played really well at Frankston just two weeks ago

Perhaps because of that... The Dolphins put a little bit of work into his Wing... Or just that Taylor had a good day and opened him up a bit?

Are we talking about Markworth?
Taylor was good, but he wasn't playing on Daniel consistently.