It was a tough outing for the Carlton Reserves on the weekend when it came up against a rampaging Box Hill.

Here's what Daniel O'Keefe made of the performances from the AFL-listed players.

4. Lochie O’Brien 
Stats: 23 disposals, six marks.

His running was sensational: he had six inside 50s and five rebounds so it shows you he’s covering both ends of the ground really well. Defensively, he was one of our better players that supported our outlets and took out the opposition outlets. His ability to get back and help out the defensive group was really strong. Something to work on with Lochie from the weekend's game was a little bit of ball security in terms of making sure he knows when to hold the ball in or when to dish it out. Overall, it was a pretty sound game from Lochie.

5. Sam Petrevski-Seton
Stats: 13 disposals, 11 tackles.

For one of the better kicks at the Club, ‘Samo’ had four kicks, which isn’t ideal and not playing to his strengths. We reviewed his game based on his running patterns and ultimately how he gets the ball in his hands more often and even some of his handball decisions probably could have been kick decisions. We want him kicking the footy because it not only brings him into the game, it brings everyone else into the game and that’s something that ‘Samo’ will be really clear for this weekend. His stoppage starting points were really strong and his tackle pressure was at an all-time high: I think he had the most tackles for the day, which was sensational. 

7. Matt Kennedy 
Stats: 28 disposals, 13 marks, three tackles.

Matt was probably our best player on the ground again. He is really comfortable and consistently strong at this level which is great for our team. He’s fantastic for our stoppages, he had eight clearances for the game which was the game-high. He’s so strong in the contest, his tackle pressure and his two-way running really helps us out both ways, which is great. His ability defensively wasn’t his best in terms of numbering off the opposition when we didn’t have the ball and just being defensively aware of where they are but it’s something he can work on this weekend. 

16. Jack Carroll
Stats: Six disposals, one tackle.

He broke the ground really well, he made it really big and effectively created space for his teammates to work in, which is great. He played both midfield and half forward, but I guess overall it wasn’t his best day, just in terms of being a bit fumbly and holding his ball security, which he’ll work on. Also his defensive awareness, tackle pressure and numbering off his opponents is an area of growth for Jack. 

17. Brodie Kemp 
Stats: 18 disposals, eight marks, one tackle. 

I guess the shining light that came out of a pretty dismal day for the Reserves side was Brodie Kemp. His ability, not only to get through and tick the box, but to show enough with his drive through contests, even though he got caught holding the ball a few times, it was just great to see his confidence and his strength to get through some tackles. His burst from the contest was really great in terms of making the ground really wide and he used the ball quite well with those short inside kicks, he helped set our ball movement up.

It’s his first game back, so we didn’t expect too much and we’ll work on some growth with him during the week, but when the ball was in the air, just some of his aerial techniques is something that will no doubt help him smash or spoil or taking the mark and that’s something he’ll work on moving forward. 

26. Luke Parks 
Stats: 12 disposals, eight marks, six tackles. 

Luke Parks was probably our most influential player on the ground, similar to Matt Kennedy. His ability to support his teammates and roll off his own and make some brave decisions that way, taking intercept marks or spoils, were really impactful for our defensive group. He’s starting to learn our defensive system where we can be aggressive with his positioning and own the right space behind the ball. His ability to take the easy option and take it quickly was great, his kicking efficiency was great as well.

His decision making in the air: ideally if there’s a big contest there, we don’t need him rolling off and even though it’s a strength of his, it’s more about playing the percentages, so does he need to defend his man or roll off into a big pack? We’d rather him stay down in that regard so that’s something that he will continue to work on. When he has open space in a vulnerable position in a one-on-one with his opponent, we're looking at how he can continue to own the dangerous space but also defend the lead-up and put himself in the best position to do that. A couple of times, Box Hill’s big guys took advantage of that loose defence. 

31. Tom Williamson
Stats: 24 disposals, seven marks, two tackles. 

He was probably better watching the vision than watching live, his behind-the-ball defensive efforts were really sound. He owns the most dangerous space which gets him in the game and gives him the ability to intercept, jump over the top and spoil. With ball in hand, he ran really hard forward and he took the game on with his kicking decisions as well and execution.

We just need to make sure when the ball hits the ground from a marking contest that he needs to be sharper in getting back to where his opponent is. He leaked one goal from this urgency but also when he runs forward, making sure he gets back to his opponent really quickly, because the ball moves back faster than someone running, so he needs to make sure his reaction is really sharp. 

32. Jack Newnes
Stats: 21 disposals, eight marks, four tackles. 

Jack was really tough all day: he competed really hard and had a great attitude in the contest. As much as that was a strength, it was ultimately a downfall for him in the end because he had five free kicks against him but none for. A lot of those were off the back of going in too hard and catching a couple of guys high, so the intent was there but just a bit of technique stuff and polish is something to work on.

He’ll continue to work on his leading craft and patterns as well and that will only help him moving forward and get him more of the ball, because he did play forward this game as well. We know he can play wing at AFL level, so we’re just trying to see what else we can find with Jack. His ability to kick the ball really well, particularly in our front half, was something a lot of other players couldn’t get done on the day, so he certainly gave us that. 

33. Sam Ramsay
Stats: 23 disposals, five marks, three tackles. 

Sam played wing and on ball. His reaction against his opposition was really strong, he got back defensively and got back to beat them towards our goal and he ran his patterns really well. Something he’s been good at in the past, which is owning the space at stoppages and dictating his opponents, probably dropped off a bit on the weekend. He’s one of our better kicks at the Club and his kicking efficiency was quite low, so there were a few kicks that he’d usually hit that he missed on the weekend. He played the last quarter down back and we’ll look to play him across half back in the coming weeks as well. 

36. Josh Honey 
Stats: 11 disposals, six tackles, two goals. 

I think it was one of Josh’s better games, not from a statistical point of view but from understanding our running patterns. He’s continuing to bring his physical pressure and coming to the ball carrier’s speed has been super. It was no doubt one of his better games for us. I think he’s put himself into positions to have greater impact but we’re just working on his touch for ground balls and a bit of marking too: that bit a bit of polish for Josh would’ve capped off a nice game.