CASEY coach Justin Plapp reviews the Melbourne-listed players who played in the VFL

VFL

Saturday, July 4, Casey Fields, 2 pm

Casey Scorpions 14.9 (93) d Geelong 6.9 (45)

“We felt that we put our best four quarter performance for the year. Our numbers from a stats point of view and the key indicators that we’re trying to reach most weeks were very good. We tackled at 84 per cent and had 108 tackles, which is a monster amount, when we average 60 to 80 tackles a game. It was an outstanding effort. It was a really strong reflection on the way we played the game. We played the style of footy that we encourage our players to play. We were really compliant for four quarters. It was well advertised that Geelong had four of five players come back from their senior team at late notice and we were asked to comply with that. We felt it was a really strong challenge with AFL players Jimmy Bartel, Jordan Murdoch, Jake Kolodjashnij and Dawson Simpson coming back into the senior side at late notice. It was a real credit to the players, because it didn’t distract from the task at hand. When guys like Jimmy Bartel play in the VFL, it can be overawing for our players, particularly some young players. But the way we played our roles was a real credit to them. Overall, it was a terrific effort.” – Justin Plapp

Jack Fitzpatrick: Fitzy was one of our key defenders. He marked the opposition ball six or seven times. He had four effective tackles and 18 disposals, and was one of our most influential players on the day. He played his role exactly the way we want him to play. His two games at VFL level have been at a very high standard.

James Harmes: I felt it was Harmesy’s best performance for the year. He had 26 possessions, 12 effective tackles, which is a huge amount and one of the biggest we’ve had for the year, from any one particular player. He played inside mid and used his size and power. His contested footy and his extraction from the contest was at a really high level. He jumped at the ball and took a couple of really strong contested marks. He’s developing his football each week and keeps improving, so things are looking pretty bright for Harmesy. He’s one of our rookies, so he’s going to have to keep on grinding out performances, but I was really pleased for him, because he’s working really hard at his game.

Jayden Hunt: Hunty played his first senior VFL game for the year and was terrific. He had 11 disposals and kicked 3.1. We played him as a high half-forward role and he had four effective tackles. It was probably his best performance at the club. He’s had some challenges over the journey and two weeks ago, he broke his jaw and had surgery. He missed the North Ballarat game and then we had the bye and then he played again, so it’s a real credit to the young man. I reckon it’s a real point in his career, where he can walk away from the game and really know that the reason why he was drafted was what he showed on the weekend. We were really, really pleased for Hunty.

Mark Jamar: I felt Mark was one of our best players – if not our best on the day. He dominated the ruck and I felt he had a really good duel with Dawson Simpson. He went forward and kicked a goal and provided us with some strong around the ground stuff as well. He had 13 possessions, four tackles and marked the ball really strongly at times. He also kicked a goal. Mark was really influential in giving our midfielders first use. He’s been pretty solid for a number of weeks now.

Max King: Kingy was good for a big fella. He wasn’t really efficient in front of goal – he missed three goals and kicked three behinds for the day. He had 11 possessions and four effective tackles. From a ruck/forward player, his second and third efforts were a real highlight. He negated numerous contests, where he had to bring ball to ground. If he kicked straight, he probably would’ve hit the scoreboard more than he did. He certainly played the role of our key position players. He’s done it pretty tough this year and had to grind out performances, but he’s holding his own at VFL level at the moment.

Oscar McDonald: Oscar bounced back really manfully after his performance against North Ballarat. I thought he lowered his colours – like a lot of our players – against North Ballarat, but he was really solid one-on-one and defended well against Geelong. We’ve been working really hard with him and one of his focus areas is his body work. His performance on the weekend was what we needed and he continues to develop.

Jordie McKenzie: Macca was super on the weekend. He played wing/half-back and had 10 effective tackles. He ended up having 26 possessions, so he was really influential. His hardness and his defensive work around the football were at a really high level. He won and created numerous critical contests. We were really pleased with his effort on the weekend.

Viv Michie: Viv was super. He was one of our better players on the weekend. He had 28 possessions, four effective tackles and provided a lot of inside work. His outside work linked us forward – and it was as good as I’ve seen him at VFL level this year. It was a really, really high quality game from Viv.

Ben Newton: Benny had 16 possessions and kicked two goals, which were both from forward 50 stoppages and were really classy. He ended up having 11 effective tackles and he played midfield/wing. His past month, he missed a couple of weeks through a pretty bad concussion and only played half a game, so he’s missed a bit of football in the past month. It was good to see him have a full game under his belt and play his role. His work around the footy, from a tackling and closing out point of view was really good.

Dean Terlich: Terls played his role on the weekend. He had 18 possessions, four tackles and tackled at 100 per cent, which is something we focus on. He played in that small defender role and kept his opponent in check, but made a couple of costly turnovers. But from a defensive point of view and role point of view, he did what was required.

AFL Victoria Development League

Saturday, July 4, Trevor Barker Beach Oval, 9.30 am

Sandringham 9.12 (66) d Casey Scorpions 4.13 (37)

No Melbourne-listed players featured in the Development League