CARLTON Reserves have their second win in the books, after taking down Essendon at Windy Hill on the weekend. 

Nine AFL-listed players featured in the VFL this weekend and this is how Senior Coach Daniel O'Keefe saw their performances. 

4. Lochie O’Brien 
Stats: 18 disposals, one goal

His defensive runs are fantastic to support defenders, he had some reward from it when he won the ball back there as well and helped us set up the play moving forward. We love his aggressive patterns at the moment, it starts off the back of some really sharp reaction times where he gets the jump on his opponent running forward towards our goal. His kicking was a highlight of his game, he’s not just making really sound decisions with ball but his execution to hit 35 to 40 metre passes through the corridor is so hard to defend: It really helps us set up scoring chains. He’s getting himself in a position to defend really hard, but one thing we’d love to see him making sure we hit bodies or drive through rather than taking the ball or tackling with our arms. He’s getting himself in really good positions to do so he can train that this week and execute it next weekend. 

7. Matt Kennedy 
Stats: 16 disposals, four tackles

Matt played 50 minutes, so a quarter and a half. He had to rush off to the senior game, there was a chance he might be able to pull on the boots for the AFL game. In a short period of time, he was able to put on 16 possessions before half time, so clearly he was the most dominant ball winner on the ground from both teams up until that stage. His reaction and his feet were fantastic, and particularly in the second quarter where he got most of his ball, he had a great impact. His ability to number off and provide tackle contests as well was super. He needs to work on his confidence in taking out an opponent in the back of the contest and a little bit of stoppage balance which was evident in the first quarter. He had a couple of shots on goal, unfortunately missed, but if you can finish with a few goals and 16 disposals in 50 minutes of footy, it’s a pretty high impact game. 

12. Tom De Koning
Stats: 31 hit-outs, 13 disposals, one goal. 

It was wonderful to see big Tommy De Koning back out there. We planned to manage his time in his first game back for a while and his time was managed really well which got him nearly through the whole game with some rests in between. He was the dominant ruckman on the day, there’s no doubt about that. He had over 30 hit-outs and had centre bounce dominance where he could really provide a show for his athleticism. A couple times he took the ball out of the ruck which is really nice to see and again, it shows the signs of a dominant ruck. He flew really high into aerial contests as well and was able to bring the ball to ground which is what we expect from him to get the job done. He had a couple of shots on goal too which is nice, he probably could’ve ended up with four or five goals with a bit more accuracy. He also gave off a great handball to Toby Wooller who was sitting in the goal square so he could’ve easily kicked that, but it was an outstanding effort. It was much about just ticking the box for Tom, getting him through the game again but he can work on judging the flight of the ball in the air, getting back to his best where he’s plucking those big ones and jumping over the packs and some kicking efficiency as well. Those are simple things that we know he’s good at and will come back in no time. 

24. Nic Newman 
Stats: 23 disposals, two tackles

'Newy' was excellent. He had managed time but got through that really well and pulled up well too. His leadership stood out, his ability to help organise the rest of the players and defenders behind the ball once the ball left was outstanding and it clearly had an impact on our whole team defence off the back of his leadership and direction. He found himself and others in plus one positions, so having a spare defender behind for support and he positioned himself really well, getting himself and others in the game. His kicking decision making and execution was at a high level. Nic hasn’t played for 12 months so there’s going to be things to work on, and he overcommitted to a few tackles where he could tackle from the side but got in front and they out-stepped him. It wasn’t a big deal, happened a few times but it was something that he can go and work on at training this week and rectify. 

29. Corey Durdin
Stats: Six disposals, five tackles, one goal. 

Corey played predominantly as a small forward but he did find himself at times in centre bounces and as a midfielder at times. He didn’t get his hands on the ball a whole lot but we’re all for promoting players strengths and making sure they at least bring that on any given day. He had six tackles and brought his manic pressure again and his primary role as a pressure forward is to do exactly that and apply tackle pressure, so it’s a big tick in that regard. How he’s going to get more ball in hand and therefore have more impact moving forward is working on his reaction, both offensively and defensively and some spread from stoppages when he does need to go into the midfield: There’s no doubt that’s going to help him moving forward. 

31. Tom Williamson
Stats: 16 disposals, one tackle. 

Tom probably started the game a bit shaky. He gave away a free kick early in the game before the first bounce and I think it was disappointing and Tom was disappointed by that, but that’s something he needs to work on, managing his aggression and using it in the right manner when it’s needed. What was really good in Tom’s game was when the ball was in the air, his ability to roll off opponents and own the space and support aerially was fantastic. His ability to spoil and smash the ball was a highlight of his game. He was involved in a lot of our round plays where we switched the ball in the back half which was great, and that was a really effective ball mode for us. A little bit of composure stuff for Tom was something he’s going to continue to work on, it’s more about knowing when to hold the ball and when we can surge it with some territory towards the boundary where it’s easy to defend, rather than the corridor. 

33. Sam Ramsay 
Stats: 17 disposals, two tackles. 

Sam Ramsay is going really well for us at the moment, he’s playing as an on-baller for half the game then also swapping between the wing and forward role as well. His ability to set up his coverage and sweep roles at stoppages is something that he’s continuing to bring every week. We love how he’s owned the back, it allows him to either tackle, which he brought again, five or six tackles, but it also allows him to get on the loose balls and follow up and get handball receives moving forward. We love his reaction to get there and support his teammates. Sam continues to work on being clean with his hands but also his defensive reaction. We’re focusing on getting more involved working back and covering off opposition players which will then impact them moving the ball but also get him more involved in the game. 

36. Josh Honey 
Stats: 10 disposals, four tackles, two goals.

He’s bringing a consistent theme with his physicality while playing high half-forward. We love him to play big, robust and powerful and the AFL players saw some clips of him during the week and they had so much energy around them seeing how physical Josh was with the opposition. When he’s getting numbers of five or six tackles a game now and he’s hitting this hard, that’s a real worry for opposition defenders and midfielders. We just want him to continue bringing. Sometimes he’s hitting so hard he’s over-running tackles so we just have to make sure he works on that.

43. Will Setterfield
Stats: 26 disposals, six tackles, one goal. 

He continued his really good form with his inside contest work and stoppages this weekend. His starting points really helped him win the contest but also provided tackle pressure again. He’s continuing to absorb the pressure now and know when to hold the ball in and when he can drive through and dish it out. He’s starting to get involved in a lot of our scoring chains as well so he’s been really damaging not just defensively, but also moving the ball forward. We just need to work on a little bit of numbering off, in the first quarter it could have got him more involved in the game and laid a few more tackles just by scanning the opposition and jumping off the back really quickly. He had a few free kicks against, so his discipline is another thing, but it’s really easy for Will to fix that. He was fantastic over the day and we thought he was outstanding.