Reserves Wrap
Aaron Cornelius kicked eight goals in the Lions Reserves' 88-point win
While Harding was obviously pleased his team could overcome a quarter time deficit and pile on eight unanswered goals in the second term, he noted that there was still plenty of room for improvement.
βWe didnβt play our best footy, especially early,β Harding told lions.com.au.
βI think our execution going forward could have been a lot better. Our effectiveness inside 50 wasnβt great. Some of our kicks went short of our targets, and others went over their heads.
βWe still went inside 50m 62 times, but I think we could have done a lot more.β
One of the players who didnβt seem too affected by the delivery was Aaron Cornelius who bagged a season-high eight goals in a dominant display up forward.
βAaron had a mixed bag in terms of how he scored his goals which was pleasing,β Harding said.
βHe had a good work-rate, led strongly and gave us a target, and even kicked a couple from stoppages. He probably couldβve kicked some more if weβd been more effective and delivered the ball to him better.β
Despite Corneliusβ eight-goal haul, it was Patrick Karnezis who earned best-on-ground honours with another productive display in the centre.
βPatty had 20-odd touches in the first half, a dozen of which came in the first quarter,β Harding said.
βHe really got us going early and helped keep us in the game. He won the ball at clearances β I think he finished with seven for the match β had 31 disposals, five inside 50s and kicked two goals.β
The match also signalled the return of Callum Bartlett, who had missed the previous five weeks with a cheekbone fracture.
βCal got his hands on the ball and was good in and around the stoppages.
βIt was a good hitout for him to get a bit of junk out of his system, which is always nice after a bit of a lay-off. Hopefully he gets back to the form he showed before the injury pretty quickly.β
With Simon Black and Brent Staker commanding much of the NEAFL-related news in the past month, little has been said about Jesse OβBrienβs promising return from groin surgery.
OβBrien spent a considerable period of the off-season in rehab, but seems to have finally gotten some continuity in his football with four consecutive reserves games.
βI reckon Jesseβs first three games were very, very good β in particular his work around the ball and tackling,β Harding said.
βHe still got 26-odd touches and laid five tackles on the weekend, but I didnβt see that customary breaking out from stoppages. He got most of his possessions in close, so his long running wasnβt as evident.β