Casey coach Brad Gotch gives his player review of the Scorpions’ Round Eleven victory over Werribee.
Addam Maric: I rated Addam as good. He had 21 possessions, and was really steady over the four quarters. He causes a bit of havoc to the opposition when he works up the ground, and he scoots around, because he’s quick. He works from about 50 metres to the back of the square, and he gets it there, and he can set up - he sets the ball up pretty well. He pumped the ball inside 50 a few times as well. The only problem with a player like that is that he doesn’t get forward to kick goals. I’ve been trying to get him to get that balance. For some reason he just gets into that mode of staying in the middle of the ground, because he’s getting the ball, but we want to see him kicking a few goals. At half time I said I thought he needed to put a bit of pressure on, and I think his second half from a pressure perspective was really good with chases and a couple of tackles - he got a bit of intensity happening. He was an emergency, so he’s been pretty solid - he wouldn’t be the worst to get an opportunity, so we’ll keep the fingers crossed for him.
Michael Newton: Michael was very good. He’s a good player - we’ve had him out for a few weeks, and he’s just so good at our level. He plays forward, takes a mark, kicks a goal or two, and then fits in with that structure. I put him in the ruck on the weekend as well, and he had a big impact there. And, what he’s really good at is reading the play and playing like a bit of an old-fashioned ruckman at times, when he gets behind, takes a few marks, and uses the ball well. So I was really pleased with his game - he makes a big impact.
Colin Sylvia: Col was really pleasing. He had a steady game - he had 21 possessions, and kicked three goals three, and did a bit of work on the ball as well. It was really pleasing to see him play like that after a bit of a lay-off, and that was the whole point of bringing him back - just to see whether he could add something. He was really good, and took eight marks as well, in contested situations, so it was a fantastic effort. You would think that will hold him in good stead for this week.
Rohan Bail: Rohan played probably the best game I’ve seen him play for Casey. He’s only played a couple, and he’s had a horrendous year. He had the confidence that he showed against Collingwood earlier this season, and I was most impressed. He did his cheek in late May, so he’s been out for five weeks with his cheek, and before that he had only played a couple of games on and off for about a month. So, in two months, he’d hardly played footy. So, he came out and he was one touching the ball, getting around blokes, running, getting our first goal - which was so important, because we were struggling and he took it from the centre of the ground, took two bounces and kicked it on the run - so it will be interesting to see how he pulls up after that. We’ll be tempted to rush him in, I think.
Cale Morton: Cale came back with a really good attitude, and I thought he had a big impact on the game. We put him into the back line in the second half, and he just had that ability to take a few marks, and get across the front of packs, and read the play with that long kick in to set it up. His effort was great, and he was competitive and used the ball really well. The only disappointing thing was that early on he had a couple of chances at two set shots - I think he missed two set shots at goal. But he got into some good positions, so he would be really pleased with that effort. He took it in the right spirit, and he seemed to really enjoy his game.
Daniel Bell: I rated Daniel as having a good game. He worked really hard in and around the stoppages. The centre was a bit muddy, so it made it hard. It’s a centre cricket wicket, and it just chopped up. It’s really hard to get your footing and have much impact from an efficiency point of view. But he just kept bullocking away, and the only disappointing thing was when he got into a couple of positions where he could really have hurt the opposition forward of centre, and he just needed to finish off with either a kick or a handball, which let him down a bit. Otherwise, he worked really hard again.
Matthew Warnock: Matthew was pretty solid. He played deep back at times, and then he got dragged up a bit. We had him down for sixteen touches, so he actually got involved in the game more than I’ve seen him at senior level. He also had a couple of run and bounces, and he looked like he was trying to make the most of his opportunity down there to build on his game rather than just be a dour defender. He looked like he tried to involve himself in the game, and that was good.
Liam Jurrah: Liam really struggled early. He didn’t get a touch in the first quarter, and he didn’t look like he could read the play. He looked shellshocked. So I went up to him at quarter time and told him to just attack the footy and not think too much about where he was lining up. Within about ten minutes, he turned the game. He took a big mark, and set up another one, and kicked a few goals, and set up one for Aussie, and took a few good marks. He ran down this guy running out of our defence and created a really good goal for us. It was really sensational, and lifted the whole team. He probably ran out of a little bit of puff in the last quarter, because he had to spend a bit more time out there. We lost a few players, so Liam didn’t get much of a break in the second half. I was really pleased, and rated him as very good.
Brad Miller: Brad was good again. He’s a good player at that level. He probably missed a few shots at goal, which would have been disappointing for him. He took seven marks, so he’s a good target, but he only kicked one goal. So, he’d be disappointed with that. Two or three of his chances were quite close - say 35 metres - and one was a bit further out, probably fifty. But he is a great target.
Jack Fitzpatrick: Jack started in the ruck, because we didn’t have Spencer, and Johnno missed this week because of the one week suspension from the game against Williamstown. Jack’s lionhearted - he’s a beauty. I thought he did really well - competed hard, and started really well. I think he had eight possessions in the first half, but then probably tired badly in the second half because of the amount of work. He was still boxing on in the stoppages and the contests, but just didn’t get much of the ball around the ground like he was earlier.
James Strauss: Just before half-time, Straussy got a knock on the knee. He was going all right, too - he’d had six possessions to half-time, playing in the back line. But then he came off and didn’t take any further part. We’ll have to keep an eye on that one.
Addam Maric: I rated Addam as good. He had 21 possessions, and was really steady over the four quarters. He causes a bit of havoc to the opposition when he works up the ground, and he scoots around, because he’s quick. He works from about 50 metres to the back of the square, and he gets it there, and he can set up - he sets the ball up pretty well. He pumped the ball inside 50 a few times as well. The only problem with a player like that is that he doesn’t get forward to kick goals. I’ve been trying to get him to get that balance. For some reason he just gets into that mode of staying in the middle of the ground, because he’s getting the ball, but we want to see him kicking a few goals. At half time I said I thought he needed to put a bit of pressure on, and I think his second half from a pressure perspective was really good with chases and a couple of tackles - he got a bit of intensity happening. He was an emergency, so he’s been pretty solid - he wouldn’t be the worst to get an opportunity, so we’ll keep the fingers crossed for him.
Michael Newton: Michael was very good. He’s a good player - we’ve had him out for a few weeks, and he’s just so good at our level. He plays forward, takes a mark, kicks a goal or two, and then fits in with that structure. I put him in the ruck on the weekend as well, and he had a big impact there. And, what he’s really good at is reading the play and playing like a bit of an old-fashioned ruckman at times, when he gets behind, takes a few marks, and uses the ball well. So I was really pleased with his game - he makes a big impact.
Colin Sylvia: Col was really pleasing. He had a steady game - he had 21 possessions, and kicked three goals three, and did a bit of work on the ball as well. It was really pleasing to see him play like that after a bit of a lay-off, and that was the whole point of bringing him back - just to see whether he could add something. He was really good, and took eight marks as well, in contested situations, so it was a fantastic effort. You would think that will hold him in good stead for this week.
Rohan Bail: Rohan played probably the best game I’ve seen him play for Casey. He’s only played a couple, and he’s had a horrendous year. He had the confidence that he showed against Collingwood earlier this season, and I was most impressed. He did his cheek in late May, so he’s been out for five weeks with his cheek, and before that he had only played a couple of games on and off for about a month. So, in two months, he’d hardly played footy. So, he came out and he was one touching the ball, getting around blokes, running, getting our first goal - which was so important, because we were struggling and he took it from the centre of the ground, took two bounces and kicked it on the run - so it will be interesting to see how he pulls up after that. We’ll be tempted to rush him in, I think.
Cale Morton: Cale came back with a really good attitude, and I thought he had a big impact on the game. We put him into the back line in the second half, and he just had that ability to take a few marks, and get across the front of packs, and read the play with that long kick in to set it up. His effort was great, and he was competitive and used the ball really well. The only disappointing thing was that early on he had a couple of chances at two set shots - I think he missed two set shots at goal. But he got into some good positions, so he would be really pleased with that effort. He took it in the right spirit, and he seemed to really enjoy his game.
Daniel Bell: I rated Daniel as having a good game. He worked really hard in and around the stoppages. The centre was a bit muddy, so it made it hard. It’s a centre cricket wicket, and it just chopped up. It’s really hard to get your footing and have much impact from an efficiency point of view. But he just kept bullocking away, and the only disappointing thing was when he got into a couple of positions where he could really have hurt the opposition forward of centre, and he just needed to finish off with either a kick or a handball, which let him down a bit. Otherwise, he worked really hard again.
Matthew Warnock: Matthew was pretty solid. He played deep back at times, and then he got dragged up a bit. We had him down for sixteen touches, so he actually got involved in the game more than I’ve seen him at senior level. He also had a couple of run and bounces, and he looked like he was trying to make the most of his opportunity down there to build on his game rather than just be a dour defender. He looked like he tried to involve himself in the game, and that was good.
Liam Jurrah: Liam really struggled early. He didn’t get a touch in the first quarter, and he didn’t look like he could read the play. He looked shellshocked. So I went up to him at quarter time and told him to just attack the footy and not think too much about where he was lining up. Within about ten minutes, he turned the game. He took a big mark, and set up another one, and kicked a few goals, and set up one for Aussie, and took a few good marks. He ran down this guy running out of our defence and created a really good goal for us. It was really sensational, and lifted the whole team. He probably ran out of a little bit of puff in the last quarter, because he had to spend a bit more time out there. We lost a few players, so Liam didn’t get much of a break in the second half. I was really pleased, and rated him as very good.
Brad Miller: Brad was good again. He’s a good player at that level. He probably missed a few shots at goal, which would have been disappointing for him. He took seven marks, so he’s a good target, but he only kicked one goal. So, he’d be disappointed with that. Two or three of his chances were quite close - say 35 metres - and one was a bit further out, probably fifty. But he is a great target.
Jack Fitzpatrick: Jack started in the ruck, because we didn’t have Spencer, and Johnno missed this week because of the one week suspension from the game against Williamstown. Jack’s lionhearted - he’s a beauty. I thought he did really well - competed hard, and started really well. I think he had eight possessions in the first half, but then probably tired badly in the second half because of the amount of work. He was still boxing on in the stoppages and the contests, but just didn’t get much of the ball around the ground like he was earlier.
James Strauss: Just before half-time, Straussy got a knock on the knee. He was going all right, too - he’d had six possessions to half-time, playing in the back line. But then he came off and didn’t take any further part. We’ll have to keep an eye on that one.
Austin Wonaeamirri: Aussie did a couple of things, but he’s still probably not as lively as we’d expect of him. Then, early in the third quarter, he got a knock on the shoulder, and he came off and didn’t take any further part, either. He was probably fair - he kicked one goal, but we know how much more capability he’s got. Hopefully he’s not too bad and the shoulder won’t keep him out for too long.
Reserves
Reserves
Luke Tapscott: Luke came in for his first game, and he looks really likely. He had a good impact on the game, and played about 70 to 75 per cent of game time. He’s a hard fellow around the footy, and he’s got good skills and a strong body, playing half forward and on the ball.
Sam Blease: Sam only played a half, kicked a couple of goals, made a couple of those trademark runs, so he would be pleased, and he looked unhindered.
Stefan Martin: Stef was put back into the reserves because he was coming back from an injury, he was probably a bit sore and looked a litlle rusty but it was good to get some much-needed game time into him.
Sam Blease: Sam only played a half, kicked a couple of goals, made a couple of those trademark runs, so he would be pleased, and he looked unhindered.
Stefan Martin: Stef was put back into the reserves because he was coming back from an injury, he was probably a bit sore and looked a litlle rusty but it was good to get some much-needed game time into him.
