VFL Games 2026

[rickmat]

I disagree, Green had a good game against North and is improving with every opportunity he gets. Brisbane use 2 rucks so Green will be needed to support Grundy.

[lwjoyner]

surprised they did not add at least green to side. got beeat in the ruck in last weeks game. ladhams missing is a problem here.

[dejavoodoo44]

The team for tomorrow's Elimination Final against Port Melbourne. Which takes place in Melbourne at 12.35pm. McLean and Melican come in, for a couple of current academy players in Meaney and Morahan. And on on academy players, there’s two former ones in the Port Melbourne side: Max Rider and Ned Hawkins.

B: R. Andrew (20), P. Snell (41), L. Melican (43)
HB: N. Bowman (23), A. Norris (46), J. Harrison (65)
C: J. Tidemann (57), C. Warner (37), C. Peters (53)
HF: M. Rosas Jnr (10), H. Cameron (69), O. Clifton (72)
F: K. Gibbs (70), J. Phillipou (18), H. McLean (2)
R: T. Ryan (64), J. Sutton (54), M. Mellis (50)
INT: B. Pignatelli (62), L. Giacometti (51), N. Andreacchio (67), J. Longmire (56), K. Harbour (66)
23rd Player: H. Cameron (69)
EMG: W. Morahan (55), O. Davis (68), C. Blackwell-Smith (60)

IN: H. McLean, L. Melican
OUT: H. Meaney (unavailable), W. Morahan (omitted)

[dejavoodoo44]

Meany, Clifton, Monrahan, Norris, Pignatelli (and the absent Medved) all played in this year’s academy side (though a couple of them as overagers).

Giacometti, Andrecchio, Ryan, Cameron, Harrison and Gibbs are all fairly recent graduates from the academy. It’s possible Ive missed a couple as that’s just off the top of my head.

Isaac Luke and James O’Loughlin and Conrad Blackwell-Smith are all academy players who’ve turned out in previous games for our VFL team this year.

Tidemann is the only one that you missed.

[liz]

I know that pignatelli , medved and moraham are accademy players. But were any of the other player who played well like sutton giacometti and harrison prevous mmbers of the acadamey

Meany, Clifton, Monrahan, Norris, Pignatelli (and the absent Medved) all played in this year’s academy side (though a couple of them as overagers).

Giacometti, Andrecchio, Ryan, Cameron, Harrison and Gibbs are all fairly recent graduates from the academy. It’s possible Ive missed a couple as that’s just off the top of my head.

Isaac Luke and James O’Loughlin and Conrad Blackwell-Smith are all academy players who’ve turned out in previous games for our VFL team this year.

[lwjoyner]

I know that pignatelli , medved and moraham are accademy players. But were any of the other player who played well like sutton giacometti and harrison prevous mmbers of the acadamey

[liz]

Perhaps even Armartey could be given a run on limited minutes, but also like Kyle and Datolli. I am not sure of the rules for eligibility, but it could be good for their development

Isn't Joel still a few weeks away from possible return?

There are no restrictions on eligibility for the VFL team while the AFL team remains alive in the finals. They could run Errol, Charlie and Brodie through the side if they wanted, though that would clearly be taking the piss and lose a lot of goodwill. Rowie is a slightly different case, given there is valid reason for wanting to get more game time into him, while Green may well be on limited minutes in the AFL side.

I expect Jesse will get a good workout tomorrow in the absence of Isaac and Chad. He'll probably get more game time than he otherwise would. So I imagine a week's break before finals would do him good. Similarly Kyle's going to have to take up some of the Lizard/Bice slack.

[BRS328]

That was two and a half hours of much needed feel good moments. Every single one of our young (U18 & U19) academy players looked at home, while the recent (but still young) academy graduates were solid contributors. Harrison was much cleaner with his disposal than he can sometimes be, I don't think I've seen Andrecchio play a better game, while Giacometti was also clean.

That's the best game I've seen Bowman play. He was clean and purposeful. It wasn't Snell's best game but that's more a reflection of some of his previous performances, rather than a comment on his game today. Andrew was also focused and disciplined. Warner's first quarter was tremendous. He was solid after that, though maybe reverted to too many long kicks without a target in mind. Jevan came to life in the third quarter. Rosas was probably the one who disappointed a little, particularly as he shaped as the most likely to be called upon into the senior team if we need to add a troop or two over the next few weeks.

Mostly I loved the camaraderie and the tackling pressure. And that - if I'm not mistaken - Malceski had them take just a modicum of pace off the game compared to their normal kamikaze style, which, I think, helped the less experienced players use the ball cleanly.

Delivery into the forward line was probably the weakest part of the game. We had a lot of passages of clean, breakaway movement through the middle only to turn the ball over with that last kick lacking direction. With Ryan playing almost a lone hand as the tall target - not withstanding some impressive contests from Pignatelli - maybe that wasn't surprising. Hopefully McLean will be available for next week's game. I wonder if they'll also run a handful of players from tomorrow's AFL side through the VFL side next week. Green is an obvious one because the VFL side would benefit from being more competitive in the ruck and because he's not playing a huge amount of game time in tandem with Grundy. Maybe Rowbottom could get a run if they want to get more minutes into his legs.

Perhaps even Armartey could be given a run on limited minutes, but also like Kyle and Datolli. I am not sure of the rules for eligibility, but it could be good for their development

[Dow]

I really did enjoy watching the reserves game today. Both sides down on troops significantly, but both gave a good crack, and it was an enjoyable, open game of footy. Well done to the ressies and all the top ups who were magnificent!

it was and it's very hard i find much to be happy about with the swans at the moment

[Kafka's Ghost]

Top effort by the ressies today. Finally something to bring a smile to the face and a number of very likely prospects to look forward to.

[mcs]

I really did enjoy watching the reserves game today. Both sides down on troops significantly, but both gave a good crack, and it was an enjoyable, open game of footy. Well done to the ressies and all the top ups who were magnificent!

[liz]

Yeah, forgot to mention Sutton. I did in my half-time post but his performance warranted being renamed at the end.

I know there was talk of Mellis being a chance in the MSD but, to me, Sutton looks like the member of our VFL roster who could make it at AFL level. He's just so composed and clean and as we have seen, not just today, he knows where the goals are.

I hadn't realised we won the tackle count by that much. It felt to me as if Frankston's pressure wasn't too bad. I don't think we were generously rewarded for all that tackling. The umpires were very generous to the ball carrier in determining what constituted prior opportunity (for both sides, to be fair) while we had two frees paid against us for what I thought were clearly legal tackles of an opponent in possession but where the umpire deciding the opponent was being held.

[dejavoodoo44]

That was two and a half hours of much needed feel good moments. Every single one of our young (U18 & U19) academy players looked at home, while the recent (but still young) academy graduates were solid contributors. Harrison was much cleaner with his disposal than he can sometimes be, I don't think I've seen Andrecchio play a better game, while Giacometti was also clean.

That's the best game I've seen Bowman play. He was clean and purposeful. It wasn't Snell's best game but that's more a reflection of some of his previous performances, rather than a comment on his game today. Andrew was also focused and disciplined. Warner's first quarter was tremendous. He was solid after than, though maybe reverted to too many long kicks without a target in mind. Jevan came to life in the third quarter. Rosas was probably the one who disappointed a little, particularly as he shaped as the most likely to be called upon into the senior team if we need to add a troop or two over the next few weeks.

Mostly I loved the camaraderie and the tackling pressure. And that - if I'm not mistaken - Malceski had them take just a modicum of pace off the game compared to their normal kamikaze style which, I think, helped the less experienced players use the ball cleanly.

Delivery into the forward line was probably the weakest part of the game. We had a lot of passages of clean, breakaway movement through the middle only to turn the ball over with that last kick lacking direction. With Ryan playing almost a lone hand as the tall target - not withstanding some impressive contests from Pignatelli - maybe that wasn't surprising. Hopefully McLean will be available for next week's game. I wonder if they'll also run a handful of players from tomorrow's AFL side through the VFL side next week. Green is an obvious one because the VFL side would benefit from being more competitive in the ruck and because he's not playing a huge amount of game time in tandem with Grundy. Maybe Rowbottom could get a run if they want to get more minutes into his legs.

Agree, but I'll just add that Sutton was excellent and he certainly put scoreboard pressure on Frankston, when the game was still to be won. I also found the tackling pressure the most enjoyable aspect of the game. We won the tackle count 57-28, but it was more than that. Frankston barely seemed to have a possession that wasn't under pressure and so many of them were handballs that hit the deck or scrubbed kicks that rarely went to their advantage. Hopefully the side can put in a similar performance next week.

[crackedactor 01]

Excellent effort to increase our lead, after Frankston looked to be making a comeback. I'm enjoying Frankston players being set upon, pretty well every time they get the ball.

Warner looks very motivated. Sutton has been excellent. Harrison looks to be enjoying his chance as an inside mid. Giacometti has had some nice touches. Bowman and Snell have been pretty assured in defence. Actually, everyone has done some good things.

A bit of good news on a miserable week. What a first half by Jake Sutton. 4 goals and 16 disposals.Don't know much about him, but I am a fan already.

[liz]

That was two and a half hours of much needed feel good moments. Every single one of our young (U18 & U19) academy players looked at home, while the recent (but still young) academy graduates were solid contributors. Harrison was much cleaner with his disposal than he can sometimes be, I don't think I've seen Andrecchio play a better game, while Giacometti was also clean.

That's the best game I've seen Bowman play. He was clean and purposeful. It wasn't Snell's best game but that's more a reflection of some of his previous performances, rather than a comment on his game today. Andrew was also focused and disciplined. Warner's first quarter was tremendous. He was solid after that, though maybe reverted to too many long kicks without a target in mind. Jevan came to life in the third quarter. Rosas was probably the one who disappointed a little, particularly as he shaped as the most likely to be called upon into the senior team if we need to add a troop or two over the next few weeks.

Mostly I loved the camaraderie and the tackling pressure. And that - if I'm not mistaken - Malceski had them take just a modicum of pace off the game compared to their normal kamikaze style, which, I think, helped the less experienced players use the ball cleanly.

Delivery into the forward line was probably the weakest part of the game. We had a lot of passages of clean, breakaway movement through the middle only to turn the ball over with that last kick lacking direction. With Ryan playing almost a lone hand as the tall target - not withstanding some impressive contests from Pignatelli - maybe that wasn't surprising. Hopefully McLean will be available for next week's game. I wonder if they'll also run a handful of players from tomorrow's AFL side through the VFL side next week. Green is an obvious one because the VFL side would benefit from being more competitive in the ruck and because he's not playing a huge amount of game time in tandem with Grundy. Maybe Rowbottom could get a run if they want to get more minutes into his legs.