I agree with those who have picked out Hewett as the outstanding player yesterday. A strong pre-season to add a little strength and improve his endurance and he could certainly come in and make an impact next year.
I thought the team took a quarter to work out how to move the ball into the forward line without a proper target to aim at - with Membrey not there and Nankervis not quite presenting as he has earlier in the year. BJ was the one who realised they need to do things a little differently and started using his pace to break through the half forward line. There were a few occasions where he tried to do the difficult rather than the straightforward, and his work rate has room for improvement, but, along with Hewett, he stood out as being a class above most of the rest.
Biggs was another to have a good game. He was very effective bringing the ball out of defence and lively on the wings. My main criticism of his game (and this has been the case for most of his time at the club) is that when he delivers the ball forward he rarely seems to even try to pick out a target. It seems like he thinks his job is just to kick the ball into the 50m arc and then it is up to the forwards to be in the right place. it's one thing to try and hit a target and miss but I don't think he generally even looks.
Marsh did some good things but, as with most weeks, he didn't do enough of them to suggest he's close to senior footy. Robinson looks like he's at the end of a longish season. He worked hard but not to the same effect as earlier in the year when there wasn't much to choose between him and Lloyd. Lockyer is still to do anything that says to me he is destined for senior footy.
LRT looked like he can't wait for the season to come to an end so he can retire with the honour he has earned. And while I respect ROK's desire to seek another club so he can extend a career, I am not sure he's still got another season in him. He doesn't stand out at this level as being the class above that he should.
I think Mitchell just played the first half. Did some good stuff but also looked like he was feeling the effects of his most recent injury lay-off.
Jackson Kelly looks like he knows where to run, and his skills look reasonable. He's also not scared to get in and tackle when he needs to be, but he is tiny. I mean tiny. I wouldn't like to hazard a guess as to his height but he's certainly a far bit shorter than his father. He is also skinny as a twig. I know PK was skinny when he first arrived at the club but I can't believe he was quite that slight. And while JK looked reasonably quite, he didn't display the express speed of Dad. My guess is he's probably never going to be quite big enough for AFL, but then his father was told that. Benny McGlynn was told that. Kieran Jack was told that. So who knows, in a year or three.
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