Brisbane Reserves Coach Shane Woewodin gives lions.com.au his appraisal of each of the listed Lions who played against Southport on Saturday.

Reserves Match Report: V Southport

Nick RobertsonWe had him planned for wing and a bit of half back throughout the day, but because of the loss of a couple of inside mids we had to play Nick a little more inside on the weekend. We’re working really hard on his ground level stuff, it was a little bit inconsistent but he certainly improved in areas throughout the day. The wet conditions made it a little bit harder, but his hardness inside and his tackle pressure (was good). He certainly got a good run under his belt.
Eric Hipwood

Eric played key forward and pinch hit in the ruck. He’s going to be a really valuable acquisition for us this year as a young forward. Being able to jump at the footy and really launch at it. He took a couple of great inside 50 marks. He’ll create a few headaches for a few opponents this year with his ability to be good in offense. We’re working really hard with Eric’s defensive game at the moment to help him as a key.

Reuben William

Reuben played as a high forward. His smash in pressure and tackle pressure around the contest was fantastic. He’s still learning the role as a first year player, but adds a lot of bite and speed for us around our half forward line.

Michael Close

First game in almost 12 months coming back from his knee reco. He contributed really well, he impacted aerially for us, took about four or five marks. He’s got some work to do on his goal kicking. It was good to get him back into the frame of playing footy again and he certainly had an impact. Looking forward to bigger things in the next few weeks from him.

Claye Beams

First game back for a long time also coming back from injury. He was up and about early, particularly in the first quarter he won a lot of the ball and gave us a lot of offensive drive. He got tagged after quarter time, but used the ball really well focusing a lot on his ground level cover in the back half. He’ll build his game time now as he plays more footy.

Hugh Beasley

Hugh played key back. He had to play a little bit undersized over the weekend against some of Southport’s bigger type forwards. He’s working on his flow and his offense at the moment in his game – the ability to get the ball in his hands pretty quickly. He was solid around contests, used the ball pretty well and had some good offensive drive. He’s working pretty hard on his stoppage positioning and being able to outperform his opponents.

Billy Evans

Played as an inside mid and pushed forward at times to rest deep for us. He’s working on his high speed running and his ability to get out of congestion. He found a bit of the ball in a shortened game. He had 22 (disposals) for the day, he was solid inside. He probably could have had a few more if he didn’t get stripped a few of the times, but a solid first game from Bill.

Matt Hammelmann

Matty played as a key forward and pinch hit in the ruck when Westy had a rest. He didn’t get a lot of the ball. He’s working hard on his aerial contests and how he impacts the ball in the air. He made a couple of forward 50 tackles and hit the scoreboard with his pressure in the forward half. Any key forward that can do that is invaluable. He’ll continue to build on.

Trent West

Westy’s first game for a while coming back from knee soreness and a 2015 knee injury. He looked to be up and about and looked like he was running freely. He impacted on stoppages for us with his size and strength, particularly around the ground and looked like he was jumping well at centre square bounce too. He’ll be handy, particularly putting pressure on Stef (Martin) in the coming weeks for the ones.

Liam Dawson

Dawso played off half back, he took about three or four marks from opposition on the weekend, which is a strength of Liam’s – and then to flow the ball pretty quickly. He’s still working on locating his opponents when the footy leaves his area defensively, rather than get caught ball watching, it’s what he’s doing next. Those little gaps there he is looking to improve on but overall a solid first game for the year.

Darcy Gardiner

Dizzy returned after an extended lay off with shoulder surgery over the pre-season. He didn’t get beaten a lot, he gave away one fifty metre penalty but it was a solid first game back for Dizz. A bit more game time and he’ll be certainly putting pressure on the defenders in the ones.

Josh Clayton

Josh played as a high forward with Reuben William. He started the game really well. He kicked the first goal through his smash in pressure and ability to intercept that got us up and about early. We want him to focus more on ground balls inside 50 and his ability to get in and out of the congestion. A big focus going forward for these high forwards is the ability to get their high speed and GPS running up and apply tackling pressure in the forward 50. Josh will be focusing on that in the next few weeks.