DEVELOPMENT coach Daniel O'Keefe analyses the individual performances of the 14 Blues who featured in Saturday's reserves scratch match against Essendon.

4. Lochie O’Brien

Lochie was great. We get what we expect from him when he runs the way he does. He played midfield and sort of a half-forward role, because we played this game with no wings.

It allowed him to run some of those wing patterns that he normally does. Some of his stuff inside was good, he’s still learning that craft. He used the ball exceptionally well too, as he does normally.

7. Matthew Kennedy

It’s probably the second week in a row where I think he’s been the most influential player on the ground. He found the most amount of footy out of anyone and competed really hard. He ran back with the flight a couple of times which was inspirational to the rest of the group. The beauty of him is he just gets back up and goes.

The best thing about his game at the moment is his break and his run: it’s improved out of sight over the last 12 months. His ability to now make the ground big and get on the end of it with a couple of goals has been really good.

12. Tom De Koning

Tom definitely grew from last week, with his ability to run and jump. He played against Andrew Phillips, obviously the ex-Carlton boy. He knew a little bit about him and they had a really good battle in the ruck and it was great to see him compete. He competed in the air a lot more this time which was great and brought the ball down to his forwards and mids.

13. Liam Stocker

‘Stock’ was good, he played mainly in the midfield for the majority of the day and partly deep forward as well. He competed really hard and he’s tackling well: his ground balls and ability to stand up in tackles and drive is what is setting him apart from some others at the moment, which is exciting. Defensively, we’re working on a couple of things but overall he’s going pretty well.

25. Zac Fisher

‘Fish’ was great. He has obviously come off an extended break but it’s like he didn’t lose much at all. When ‘Fish’ is going really well, his feet are going and that’s certainly what he brought: the lateral step and the fast feet to get out of the contest. He was able to compete really well in the contest and I think he had a game-high for tackles, which was eight. He was fantastic throughout the day, he finished a really nice couple of goals and some repeat efforts to set up some others.

His triple tackle will find his way into the review: that team aspect is what we loved. The follow up is everyone got around him, in a way welcoming him back off that one effort.

29. Cameron Polson

When we won the footy or turned the footy over, Cam was dynamic for us. Some of his explosive efforts off the half-back line were electric and he used the ball really well, which set us up going forward with ball in hand. Defensively he was pretty good too, so he had a really good all-round game.

33. Sam Ramsay

Ramsay played with Polson as a half-backer as well and he’s starting to get in the game more when it’s our ball, which is terrific. He uses the ball so well and is still learning the defensive craft, which will keep growing each week, as it already has in the last few. We’re pleased with how he’s going.

36. Josh Honey

Honey played half a game, so in effect it was 40 minutes. In that time, he absolutely blew up the GPS: I think he had the second most amount of sprints but only played half the time. That just shows what we can get from him, which is really exciting moving forward. His ability to break away from a contest and then get on the second or third chain is exceptional. He’s an exciting prospect.

37. Ben Silvagni

Ben is stringing together some impressive games at the moment. Some of his one-on-one contested stuff, particularly in the air, has been fantastic. He either wins them or halves them for his teammates to clean up. He’s going really well and is using the ball pretty well too.

38. Finbar O’Dwyer

Fin played as a defender again. At times, the defenders were up against it because we only had four defenders and three of them were key position players. It made it tough to find the right match-ups but Fin and the boys adjusted really well. They positioned themselves well together and working well together.

44. Matthew Owies

Matty kicked 1.2, so he’s getting shots on goal and that’s the pleasing thing. His ability to rip out the back to advantage space has been dangerous, we’ve been able to get the ball to him and it’s been hard to defend from an opposition point-of-view. He’s having little hits through the midfield and he’s learning a lot, I’m enjoying seeing his growth in that area.

45. Hugh Goddard

Hugh was one of the better players on the day again: he was just solid. That’s the best word to describe him — there was nothing flashy about his game, but he rarely got beaten and took the simple option while using the ball well. He showed some really good leadership.

46. Matthew Cottrell

‘Cotts’ is building, he’s playing some really good footy at the moment. His ability to run and carry, he played a similar role to Lochie O’Brien as a half forward and inside mid because we didn’t have wings. He actually got up the ground as a forward and helped out our defence. In a way, he replicated the wing role and did it really well, keeping his space and providing an option on the outside. He’s a delight to have in our group.

47. Callum Moore

Cal was great: what we get from ‘Moorey’ is exactly what we expect every week and he continues to bring his compete elements, particularly in the air. He was the back-up ruck for Tom De Koning but what he gave us in the air was exceptional as a forward. His ability to spoil and tap it down to a small waiting on the ground for the crumb was fantastic, he’s a really good thinker.

He’s providing a great option and he really is a leader in this group. He’s been at a successful club and has brought a lot of those insights and experience to this group, and he loves to share which is wonderful.