DEVELOPMENT coach Daniel O'Keefe analyses the performance of the 12 Blues who featured in the reserves scratch match on the weekend.

2. Paddy Dow

Paddy was exceptional. This was his third game back now: his first game was excellent, his second game wasn’t as good as his first but then his last game on the weekend just gone he was back to his best. He was showing what his strengths are — his contest work was outstanding. He had 12 clearances which was enormous on the day, particularly considering we had an Essendon ruckman and another Essendon on-baller. He showed his ability to drive through tackles with his leg strength was outstanding.

16. Darcy Lang

Darcy was excellent on the weekend. Of his 26 disposals, 18 of those were kicks and 17 of those hit the target: his use by foot was really good. Going back to his leadership, he played all over the ground: he played in a forward-mid rotation at the start and then we put him down back where he set us up. We’re working on a little bit of defensive awareness with him but he makes others better.

28. David Cuningham

Dave worked into the game. He was a bit slow to start with but when he balanced up the stoppages, held outside and worked to dangerous positions, he was extremely exciting coming out the front of the contest. He had more inside 50s than anyone else on the ground. He probably didn’t use the ball as well as he has in the past, but it was nice to get him out there and finish off the game extremely well.

29. Cameron Polson

He’s building a really nice stretch of form now, which is what we’re all about: it’s about a body of work and not just one game. ‘Pols’ is in some great form and showing great consistency. His offensive run was outstanding, and he’s got a bit of change of direction and he’s quite dynamic. He has shown he’s got the foot skills to complement it. What we’ve loved is when he’s been under pressure lately with his feet, he’s been able to find his man and get control of the game that way.

33. Sam Ramsay

Sam Ramsay played wing for the majority of the day while spending time up forward in the last quarter. His ability to get back and help defensively was strong and his ability to press the opposition and force them to make decisions was really good. He missed a few tackles which is something we’re working on: he’s getting himself in positions to impact, but he’s just got to finish off that work. His goal in the last quarter came from a great rundown tackle which shows some really good reward for effort in that area: that one was a crunching, legal tackle and it’s what we like to see.

34. Sam Philp

‘Philpy’ played on the wing for the entire afternoon, which is good since we haven’t really had wings in the past few weeks. For him to get used to running those patterns again was really good for him. He probably got caught coming into the contest a few times and lost some on the width on the ground where some experienced players like Tory Dickson didn’t. As always, his press, his ability to make tackles and his work-rate were outstanding, which is what we love about him.

36. Josh Honey

Josh Honey showed his speed and burst again: he got out the back with his speed and aggression, particularly off of turnover. He looked really dangerous for us and he kicked a goal. We’re still just working on those pressure acts and we’d love him to make more tackles for us as a pressure forward.

38. Finbar O’Dwyer

It was a really good opportunity for Finbar to get back in and play a defensive role. The Bulldogs had a really experienced forward line, with guys like Lloyd, Schache, Dickson and Bailey Dale. Finbar’s ability to take an outlet was strong, shutting down an opposition target, and by foot he was really good too and he kept it simple while moving the ball forward. We’re still talking to him about owning a man and owning space and balancing those decisions.

39. Fraser Phillips

Fraser Phillips worked into the game really well. He got involved with his ability to make the ground big and break to wide spaces which created good leading patterns for us to use the ball through. We’re still working on some of his defensive outlets on transition but apart from that, he had good day: he kicked a goal but also missed a couple that he’d normally kick.

44. Matthew Owies

He’s impressing each week, Matty. He’s really receptive in the way he’s learning from coaches and learning from each game he plays. He’s eager to be better and he’s doing that every week. His pressure was the best pressure game I’ve seen him play, and possibly the best pressure game of anyone from our reserves team this year. He’s made that a focus of his last few weeks: he laid eight tackles and missed a couple more, so if there’s any room for improvement it’s finishing off that good work. To cap it off, he kicked another three goals which he’s done a fair few times this year.

45. Hugh Goddard

Hugh played on Josh Schache and he kept him quiet for the majority of the afternoon, it was another solid performance from him. He was coming up against a forward line with plenty of experience and he managed to stand up well, while his ability to intercept mark was good too. We wanted him to come forward a bit more and pressure the opposition so we can force them to make some decisions.

47. Callum Moore

Cal Moore actually went back this week. It was a combination of Essendon having a ruckman who hasn’t had a lot of minutes there, and it was a good opportunity for us to see Cal down there as we had quite a few forwards. We know he’s got electric speed so for him to take the game on from back there with his legs was what we were after: he kicked the first goal with some overlap through the middle of the ground and he slotted it from 50. He was very aggressive as a defender which worked for us going forward, but it was a bit of his downfall as well since he struggled to get back onto his man when we turned the ball over. It was a good learning for him.