DEVELOPMENT coach Daniel O'Keefe took on the role of reserves coach at the weekend in the scratch match against Melbourne.

The former Geelong Falcons premiership coach had his first taste on Saturday, when 14 players played the entirety of the 70-minute contest in a valuable chance to gain match fitness and put their hands up for selection.

This is what O'Keefe made of their individual performances. 

4. Lochie O'Brien

Lochie O’Brien found a lot of the ball and played across a wing and also through the midfield as well. It was good to see him get a lot of the ball on a ground where there was space: we expected him to run really well and he did that.

13. Liam Stocker

’Stock’ was good. He went through the midfield for the majority of the day: he probably played more midfield minutes than anyone. He had quite a few strong clearances and some examples of some manic pressure on the inside, which was good.

29. Cameron Polson

Polson also spent some time in the midfield which was great for him, he’s predominantly a defender. Some of his work through the midfield was good and he also went back and defended pretty well, adding his run and carry to his game.

31. Tom Williamson

‘Willo’ was one of our better players. He found a lot of the ball and used it reasonably well, which was great along with his dash. He’s one that has improved a lot over the summer and has put a solid amount of work in. It was great for him to get through the game: he played half back and shot through the wing, while he also got some midfield minutes in the last quarter.

33. Sam Ramsay

We’ve moved Sam to a back pocket or a back flank and he played that for the majority of the day. He went through the midfield at times, but he’s still learning his craft as a defender. It was a great learning for him: he found the ball and naturally uses it really well.

34. Sam Philp

Sam Philp was fantastic as well with his pressure — I think he had the most tackles of anyone on the ground. He had seven tackles which, in a 14-on-14 game with less game time, is not bad going for someone who was focussing on his forward pressure. He was really good.

36. Josh Honey

As a first-year player, his good is as good as anyone. He’s got some weapons that others don’t and he showed that at times. The extra space on the ground helped that: he was fantastic. He played a combination of midfield and forward.

37. Ben Silvagni

Ben played a bit of everywhere: we started him forward. Our early planning was to change our talls around a bit but he competed well up forward, so we kept him there for the first half. He enjoyed it and competed well. When he had to go, he went.

38. Finbar O’Dwyer

Finbar played predominantly down back, spent a bit of time up forward and he had to spent a bit of time in the ruck as well: we’re a bit short with no ‘Kreuz’ or Tommy De Koning available. Fin has trained a lot as a forward so there were some learnings for him.

39. Fraser Phillips

Fraser Phillips popped up: he hasn’t spent much time in the midfield but he had to do that on the weekend, given the circumstances of the game. He moved forward and kicked the first two goals of the game, and they were classy finishes.

44. Matt Owies

He was our leading goalkicker on the day with three goals. There were some examples of some really nice finishes, both in the first and last quarters. He’s working on his pressure and made five tackles in a shortened game, which is a good return for a small forward.

45. Hugh Goddard

Hugh was asked to do a bit, he played predominantly down back against Sam Weideman and Mitch Brown who obviously have a fair bit of AFL experience. He went into the ruck and played a little bit up forward as well.

46. Matthew Cottrell

‘Cotts’ was good: he played wing and midfield, with a bit across half back. There were some pieces of vision where his run and carry was there, overlapping with handball and taking it through half back. He did that on numerous occasions, he ran really well.

47. Callum Moore

He was probably our best player on the ground. We played him as an undersized ruckman but he sniffs an opportunity, which is what we’re after: we love that ownership from our players. He competed really well against a ruckman who had him for height, and his burst of speed out of congestion is eye-catching. He’s led the way for this group.