JACK Viney has earned strong praise from his midfield coach Ben Mathews, who says the young Demon’s recent form has been outstanding.
Viney, who collected a career-best 31 disposals against St Kilda at the MCG last Sunday and held star Saint Jack Steven to 16 touches, has claimed some key scalps this year. Mathews couldn’t speak highly enough of Viney’s performances in recent times.
“Jack’s been in great form. He’s knocked over a lot of really good quality players,” he told Dee TV.
“Jack Steven, we feel is a really good quality player, and he’s played some excellent football. For Jack [Viney] to find the football himself and restrict Jack Steven was an excellent team role.
“He keeps putting runs on the board, Jack [Viney] and he keeps knocking over some really good players and I’m sure at some point, maybe the opposition will worry a little bit more about him.
“For the time being, our team is really valuing what he’s putting out week in, week out.”
Mathews said it took great skill to be able to shut down key opponents, as well as winning high disposals.
“It is really hard, because opposition players are really trying to get their good players in the game and they’re blocking for them and niggling for them,” he said.
“To keep the concentration up and the intensity around the footy – we know Jack’s very good at that. But it’s very difficult at times, when someone is trying to knock him at a stoppage or step on your toes to put you off your game.
“It’s testament to his resilience and he’s really ruthless in that role, and he wants to be known as that type of player and I think that’s showing in his football.”
Reflecting on Melbourne’s 37-point loss to St Kilda, Mathews said it was a frustrating match to analyse.
“It’s always tough those reviews, when you walk away from the game and you’re not happy about what you’ve put out on the field,” he said.
“[It was] the disappointment of not carrying out the instruction and the game plan we’d set up to play against the Saints.
“In saying that, they were very good and they put a lot of pressure on us around the footy and they deserved their win.”
Looking ahead to Saturday’s clash against Collingwood at the MCG, Mathews said the Demons were determined to produce “a really strong contest”.
“We want to bounce back from last week and it’s a lot about us, as much as it is about the Pies,” he said.
“We feel like they’ve been playing some good football, Collingwood. We’re going to have to match them around the contest, be strong in the tackle and put our head over the footy.
“We try and move the ball efficiently and it doesn’t always come off at times, but we want to take some risks with the ball in hand as well. It’ll come back to how we perform around the contest, how we tackle and how we put pressure on the opposition. Ultimately, that’ll decide the outcome of the game.”
