Macca’s player pre-season critique by guernsey number, 31- 47

Matthew Dick – “Having joined us from Sydney via free agency, Matthew has impressed as a big-bodied athletic defender, so he should bring some real stability to the backs. He’s got some development to do with his football, but we’re hoping he’ll come on nicely.
 
Nicholas Graham – “Nick’s been one of the pre-season standouts. He’s got his running game going a lot more this pre-season and that’s good for him because it holds him in good stead for the year.
 
Andrejs Everitt – “Andrejs has come through an uninterrupted pre-season. We saw how well he went in the early part of the season, but he hurt his knee late. We haven’t seen any side-effects from the pcl, which is great, so it’s onwards and upwards for Andrejs.

Bradley Walsh – Brad is another rookie-listed player who needs an opportunity if someone is placed onto the long-term injury list. He’s been travelling well, he’s well-developed physically given that he is a young guy and he also has leadership skills.”
 
Edward Curnow – “Ed is always a standout in pre-season because he’s such an outstanding athlete.”
 
Cameron Wood – “Cameron’s pre-season’s been solid. Obviously he got his chance last year being elevated from the rookie list as well and as a nominated rookie this year he can play senior footy without anyone having to create space through injury.”
 
Tom Fields – “A Queenslander who has played for South Adelaide for the past couple of years. He’s a big left-foot kick who’s been playing deep back for South Adelaide. Another rookie, he’s been showing some really good form in the pre-season games. He’s got a fantastic kick on him.”
 
Ciaran Byrne – “In only his second year of football, he has been a clear standout through the pre-season. Another rookie, I wouldn’t be surprised if he got some senior games under his belt this year. He’s a real athlete, his skills are pretty good too and he’s started to learn more about the game through the pre-season period.
 
Dale Thomas – “We’ve all been really pleased with Dale throughout the period. We’re looking forward to seeing him regain his form of a couple of years ago.”

Young Irishman Ciaran Byrne has been a standout on the track during the pre-season. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)
 
Michael Jamison – “Michael has come through a good pre-season and completed a solid 2014 without it being a stand-out year. He was obviously rewarded with the vice-captaincy and his leadership has been fantastic through the pre-season and we’re looking forward to seeing that develop further with his on-field responsibility.”
 
Levi Casboult – “Levi’s looking fit, he’s a good athlete Levi, and we’re looking forward to seeing him get better and better. Obviously improving his goalkicking is Levi’s aim.”
 
Zach Tuohy – “Zach, by his standards, probably had a down year last year. 2013 was a good year for him, 2014 not so much. I think that with a new child coming along he got less sleep than he would have liked. He wouldn’t admit that, but fatherly duties might have had an impact. But he too has had a terrific pre-season and hopefully he can regain that 2013 form for 2015.”
 
Simon White – “Simon has come through a good pre-season, having made his mark. Simon’s beauty is that he can also push forward and he’s just a super person.”
 
Andrew Carrazzo – “Obviously in the twilight of his career, Andrew had some calf issues through 2014 which kept him out for big chunks of the season which was really unfortunate for him. He experienced calf tightness at various times through the pre-season but he’s fine now and ready to go. We’ll see him in action on Friday and throughout the NAB Challenge.”
 
David Ellard – “David unfortunately hurt his calf last Thursday in the intra-club trial game. It wasn’t as bad as first thought, which is good, and he’ll be out for around four weeks, building up for Round One.”
 
Fraser Russell – “Our category B rookie who’s come from a background in athletics, Fraser hasn’t played footy for some time. We got him over last year and had him playing four or five games with Northern Blues just to give him a taste. His pre-season has been slightly interrupted as his body’s got used to the rigours of AFL football. In athletics you run in a straight line whereas in football you run hither and thither.”