Northern Blues coach Josh Fraser reviews the performances of every Carlton-listed player in Northern's 75-point win over the AFL Academy in a friendly match at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

7. Dylan Buckley
Stats: 17 disposals, 7 marks, 11 uncontested possessions
From the coach: ‘Bucks’ is defending really well at the moment. He was hard at it on the day with his positioning to get a result in a number of one-on-one contests, and he made good decisions with the ball.


Dylan Buckley puts on the afterburners against the AFL Academy. (Photo: Tim Murdoch)

14. Liam Jones
Stats: 15 disposals, 9 marks (3 contested), 4 inside 50s
From the coach: He’s playing a slightly different role for us at the moment as a defender, where he’s attacking the contest with real ferocity and giving us defensive stability. He’s adding another string to his bow.

15. Andrew Phillips
Stats: 8 disposals, 4 marks, 1 goal, 30 hitouts
From the coach: It was a really strong performance from ‘Flip’, where he gave us first use through the middle of the ground. His follow-up and work around the ground continues to grow after a long layoff. He’s tracking well. 


Andrew Phillips continues to build after a long injury layoff. (Photo: Tim Murdoch)

19. Harry McKay
Stats: 12 disposals, 8 marks, 3 inside 50s, 2 goals
From the coach: Harry had a lot of opportunity to impact the game, he just needs to finish his good work by clunking marks because he’s getting into good positions. He continues to present and work really hard. We feel there’s a big game around the corner.

25. Sam Kerridge
Stats: 40 disposals, 9 marks, 10 clearances, 1 goal
From the coach: He ran all day, providing us with real grunt around the contest and great spread with and without the ball. He put together a really strong performance and was one of our better performers on the day.


Sam Kerridge had a game-high 40 possessions against the AFL Academy. (Photo: Tim Murdoch)

26. Alex Silvagni
Stats: 17 disposals, 11 marks, 4 tackles
From the coach: Alex was enormous as a senior figure in our back-line, setting up other defenders and playing the system really well. His contest was aggressive as always and he used the ball out of our back half well.

31. Patrick Kerr
Stats: 11 disposals, 4 marks, 3 inside 50s
From the coach: He keeps working really hard on his game. We think he’s going to be an exciting player for us. He battled hard as a forward and working back towards goal. He’ll continue to develop. 

34. Jesse Glass-McCasker
Stats: 8 disposals, 5 marks, 2 goals
From the coach: We used him in a couple of different roles, and he kicked his first two goals for the club. He’s working hard on his craft as a defender and we’re really pleased with some of his improvement in that area, while he’s a good size and showed some good signs up forward.

47. Ciaran Sheehan
Stats: 14 disposals, 5 marks, 1 goal
From the coach: ‘Gussy’ was really strong again, defending with real speed and urgency while his disposal was great. It was another good game from him.

48. Kristian Jaksch
Stats: 24 disposals (22 kicks), 13 marks (4 inside 50), 3 goals
From the coach: We used him at both ends to continue to give him flexibility. As a forward, worked in conjunction with McKay and Kerr, both up the ground and back towards goal. As a defender, he provided stability and was strong in the contest.

49. Dennis Armfield
Stats: 15 disposals, 5 tackles (4 inside 50), 2 inside 50s
From the coach: Purely from a leadership perspective, he was enormous and energised the playing group. He put on some great pressure in our forward half and played a strong team game.


Dennis Armfield provided a boost of energy for the Northern Blues. (Photo: Tim Murdoch)

51. Billie Smedts
Stats: 22 disposals, 6 inside 50s, 1 goal
From the coach: Billie played a number of roles and used his running capacity both offensively and defensively. He used the ball really well and continues to address areas of his game he wants to work on. It was a step in the right direction. 


Billie Smedts was one of the standouts on Saturday. (Photo: Tim Murdoch)

55. Liam Sumner
Stats: 7 disposals
From the coach: Liam was in and out of the game. He showed flashes of AFL-standard running and pressure. He didn’t finish the game, he was a little bit sore. While he was on the ground he showed good signs, but the next step is putting it together for longer. 

56. Andrew Gallucci
Stats: 19 disposals (12 contested), 4 goals
From the coach: He was terrific as a small forward. His speed and work rate was a feature, and importantly along with his pressure he managed to hit the scoreboard as a small forward. The expectation is that he continues this run of form. 

60. David Cuningham
Stats: 25 disposals, 6 marks, 4 clearances, 5 inside 50s

From the coach: I thought he was really strong around the stoppages. He won his own ball and ran really hard. He continues to grow, and it was an important game from him for his development. 


David Cuningham worked hard against the AFL Academy. (Photo: Tim Murdoch)

62. Blaine Boekhorst
Stats: 23 disposals, 10 marks, 5 inside 50s, 1 goal
From the coach: His running has him impacting the game. He played mainly on the wing and used the ball okay. There are things which need fine-tuning but I thought it was a strong game.

67. Cameron Polson
Stats: 28 disposals, 6 clearances, 4 tackles, 1 goal
From the coach: Really impressive from a first-year player: his work-rate from contest to contest and into space was great, while he used the ball well. Around the stoppages, he won his own footy and the last two weeks have been encouraging.


Cameron Polson won best-on-ground honours for his performance on Saturday. (Photo: Tim Murdoch)

80. Matthew Korcheck
Stats: 2 disposals, 13 hitouts
From the coach: Big Korcheck was good in the ruck, and he took a really strong mark up forward. He’ll keep splitting his time between the two positions. He continues to show glimpses.