DEVELOPMENT coach Daniel O'Keefe analyses the performance of the 16 Blues who featured in the reserves scratch match on the weekend, as well as providing his thoughts on the game and the weeks ahead. 

2. Paddy Dow

It was his second run back and he showed some explosive speed, clean ground balls and evasiveness in the contest. He used the ball reasonably well moving forward also. It was good for him to get through, it’s about building him back up.

4. Lochie O’Brien

Lochie worked into the game and finished off really well, particularly in the last 10 or 15 minutes. He was probably one of our better players come the end of the game: he had some good efforts where he was defending a couple of players at one time and he competed well all day.

12. Tom De Koning

Tom was one of if not the best player on the ground for us. What was exciting was his follow up: once the ball hit the ground, he chased it up and hunted the opponent but also got the footy in his hand as well. What he did towards the end of the game was he drifted forward and got on the end of a couple of goals, kicking two late goals which was a good way to top it off.

16. Darcy Lang

Darcy has been great for us: the variety in his game helps us move the ball. We played him through the midfield and forward but we also sent him down back as well and when we’re generating the ball moving forward, he’s one that helps us change angles and straighten us up a little bit.

25. Zac Fisher

‘Fish’ played half forward and midfield: he played his role pretty well in the midfield. Again, he got a couple of nice clearances to move the ball forward. He probably didn’t get forward and finish off his work as much as what he has done in the past with the seniors, but I’m sure that’ll come. He’s still conditioning into the game but he’s definitely better for the run.

26. Harrison Macreadie

‘Creads’ was good. He’s sort of playing that quarterback style of role and playing it quite well. The ability to play small and tall keeps it really versatile for us as a group. Moving forward, he might have to play a bit more as a key position defender because of a couple of outs that we may have but he’s certainly up to that task.

29. Cameron Polson

‘Pols’ showed his dynamic speed off of the half-back line again. His overlap run and ball use was quite nice as well. He had a number of good compete efforts which was good, he’s building nicely.

33. Sam Ramsay

Ramsay played across half forward, on the wing and a bit in the midfield as well. As he did that, he got in the game particularly as a winger. He tackled pretty well and he’s still got some growth areas which we’re working on with Sam.

34. Sam Philp

‘Philpy’ was good. He probably didn’t get as much of the ball as he normally has but off the back of that, he used it really well and he doesn’t do too much wrong. His pressure was good again and that’s what we expect from Sam every time he plays, particularly through the midfield and across half forward.

36. Josh Honey

Honey was good, he showcased his dynamic speed again which was great. His ability to get out the back with his wheels is exciting: he didn’t hit the scoreboard much himself but he certainly creates enough space and drags opponents with him to create room for everyone else. He had a pretty good game again.

37. Ben Silvagni

Benny was good, he competed pretty well in the air. He had to go to Tom McDonald for the majority of the game so he stood up against a very good AFL player. It was a good learning for him, and it’s a credit to Ben’s character that he went off with a shoulder injury but got it strapped up and came straight back on.

38. Finbar O’Dwyer

Finbar competed well again, he’s been playing on some pretty good forwards down there. He had Mitch Brown for a little bit and found himself on McDonald at stages, or he also spent time on small players with zip like Charlie Spargo. He’s learning so much and he’s starting to put it together. We finished with him up forward to provide a contest for us and he certainly did that, plus he finished with a goal on his birthday as well.

39. Fraser Phillips

Fraser got a head knock just after half time so it’ll be a really easy week for him this week in Perth. He was a little bit dazed so we’ll have to assess how he pulls up.

44. Matthew Owies

Owies played a good game, a smart game: his leading patterns were really good and he’s a bit of a general in the front half for us. He kicked a goal but he provided lots of pressure for us as well which was great.

45. Hugh Goddard

He started on McDonald but about 10 minutes in, he hurt his hamstring a little bit so we’ll have to assess him.

46. Matthew Cottrell

‘Cotts’ was really good. He didn’t get a lot of the footy this time around but we don’t expect that if you’re doing your job well, and he’s doing exactly that. He’s playing really good footy off of half back. We know he can play on the wing but when he’s back there, he generates a lot of one-on-one contests and he’s doing that really well. He’s a bit like a wet glove at the moment by sticking to his opponent. He’s getting his job done.

DOK’s take on the game

We started okay and we finished really well. There were probably some 10-minute hits in the middle of the game which we took a lot of learning from and we can go from. There’s still plenty to like when we’re playing to our strengths and with this group, we’re still learning along the way which is the exciting thing.

What's next?

My understanding at the moment is that we won’t have a game this weekend. It’s a bit different in terms of governance over here which is fine, we expected it. I don’t think there’ll be any reserves games played when they’re in quarantine. We’ll have a good training hitout on Friday and get ready for the following week against whatever opposition we face.