First of all from a team performance it was really exciting for the group to come away with the four points. We played pretty well considering the conditions and ground size. We probably weren’t able to execute some of our offensive stuff that we want to be able to do – again because it’s a lot smaller and tighter but four points is four points. It was a good win. It’s just good to be able to have that feeling around the group after some really competitive efforts.

Jackson Paine

Paine skippered the side again. A real terrific leader for us down back – he again led our disposals and took another nine marks. I think he had about 5 or 6 mocks and some key spoils for us. He stopped a couple of really strong offensive moves from GWS. Terrific leadership down there.

Nick Robertson

Nick played consistently well again. The second week now as a defender – a new role. This is just to help him add another string to his bow in his development as a younger player. He was playing off half-back – we thought he was probably the best player on ground as a coaching group. Just his ability to win the ball, win the contest, and again stop some offensive movement from GWS and really smash back with some intent and stop a couple of goals which was a great result. He missed a couple of kicks but all in all a great performance. That’s two in a row for Nick giving his some hope for senior selection.

Josh Clayton

Probably his best game for the Club, we thought. His contested footy numbers outweighed his uncontested numbers. It’s a big focus he’s been working on. He’s still got some tidy ups to work on with his kicking – in terms of just more quick kicks and that awareness of how much time you’ve got but certainly to go with his 28, five tackles, six clearances, four tackles. It was a great result for Josh, playing as an inside mid too. He’s certainly developing his game and playing against some bigger bodies.

Claye Beams

A solid contribution from Claye. He played outside and a little bit inside in the second half – just to get him more involved in the game and get some seniority around our midfield. He played pretty strongly and got forward a couple of times, ran his patterns really well. He missed a few kicks – a bit unlike Claye, generally with his ball use has been pretty good. Again, he won plenty of it. Good handball receive options. He was able to go forward and hit the scoreboard –  a good balance in his game.

Liam Dawson

Liam played as an inside mid – a new role. He was going to probably start forward. We didn’t tell him until the day before about the new role with Benny Keays going out. 24 disposals, 9 tackles – that’s two weeks in a role he’s had 9 tackles. It’s part of his game we’ve been focussing on with him. He had six clearances, pushed inside 50. He didn’t hit the scoreboard as much this week as a mid. He probably ran out of gas as the game wore on, but as a first up opportunity as a mid, he was really good.

Billy Evans

Billy won some more ball this week – he played as an inside mid with Clayto, Beamsy and Liam. He was probably going head-to-head with Kennedy all day or the majority of it. It was a good balanced game from Bill. He wasn’t outstanding but a solid display on the day, three clearances, three tackles. His contested footy numbers were a little bit lower than normal but it was good to see his handball receives up on previous weeks.

Josh Walker

Josh was given a new role against the Giants. We actually moved him back as a defender. The reasoning behind that was; we still know what he can do as a forward, but certainly with Rog being crook and with big Jase Clarke (retired) going down earlier in the year, I know he had some opportunities at Geelong playing as a defender but he went back and kicked a goal as a defender. He took 6 marks, 2 of which were contested. He was really solid down there. He didn’t get beaten in the contest all day, he used the footy coming out really well and really gave Jackson and Sammy Skinner another option. A good display from Walks. It certainly helps his development and coming into senior selection again.

Archie Smith

Started slow, particularly in the first half. 15 of his 18 were contested possessions. He really started to get going in the second half, particularly with his follow-up work and his clearance work. He had 6 tackles for Arch, the second highest for the team for the day which was a great result. He had 18 disposals which was great to see, he got on the move more in the second half which we want him to do. Only one mark for the day but something to work on in the coming weeks.

Michael Close

Probably his best game for the Club, particularly this year. Coming off a knee reconstruction he is just starting to find his feet again after 8 or 9 weeks off earlier in the year. He was our most influential forward. He took 12 marks, 5 of those contested. He had a good balance with 5 tackles, hit the scoreboard and kicked 2.1. The really pleasing thing was his engage and separate, he was on the move and made his defender defend him was a highlight. His workrate was up, his GPS numbers were good for a key forward. It’d be really good to see Michael finish off the year strongly and continue that good form and get some real confidence off what he can do coming off two serious injuries.

Sam Skinner

A key-defender only getting better. It was a typical display, he’s only getting stronger. He had the job on Stewart who was eventually moved at half time to back. He did a great job on a really good player for GWS. He took 10 marks, 2 of those contested. He was not beaten in the contest all day. To a lot of marks from opposition and worked hard. He hit the scoreboard too as a defender. Coming back off injury he is only getting better week to week. He loves the contest and again along with Walks and Painey the two key-defenders, he’s doing a great job for us.

Trent West

Started forward and played a bit of part-time ruck with Arch. 11 disposals, it was good to see that he was a lot more up and going getting around the ground this week. Three marks and not as many clearances this week. He hit the scoreboard with a couple of behinds. He took a couple of clunks. He should’ve had two goals as a key forward resting down there. But all in all it was a great contribution in around the ground with Archie and his ability to do his tap work. The positive sign was Trent getting around the ground and getting on the spread. Players just didn’t use him enough, particularly just kicking balls at his feet.

Jono Freeman

Again, key forward. He started OK, Jono. Took a couple of good clunks early. Dropped a couple also and then probably just faded out the second half of the game. We’ll get Jono playing higher up the ground in the next few weeks. He’s coming back from his foot injury, so a move further up will be good to get some confidence in him, get some ball in hands. As I said, he took a couple of really good marks on the weekend. We’re hoping to see a bit more of that from Jono in the coming weeks. There were a couple of really good second and third efforts at ground level which was his go. Just trying to bust a pack, pick it up and go through with it. There are some positive signs there also for Jono.

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