SAM Petresvki-Seton put together an impressive game in the VFL against Port Melbourne on the weekend. 

Petrevski-Seton gathered 25 disposals, nine clearances and a game-high eight tackles. 

While the classy 23 year old is known for his clearance work and clean hands, Daniel O’Keefe was particularly impressed with his defensive game on Saturday. 

“We’ve had a real focus this week on our contest, that’s not just ground balls but also tackles and [Samo] had eight tackles on the weekend which again was a game high and he’s done similar things in the scrimmages prior as well,” O’Keefe said. 

“His ground ball again, he had a game high ground balls for us once the ball hit the ground and his ability to get the loose ball was really quick.” 

Petrevski-Seton spent his time rotating through the midfield and forward line, with O’Keefe noting his ability to spread the ball among teammates as an important asset to the side. 

“Samo played midfield and a little bit forward so he and Marc Murphy basically managed that and swapped when they needed a spell and he was great,” he said. 

“His ability to bring his other teammates into the game is one of his best assets for us as a group.

“His use by foot and his use by hands was great, but also his aerial impact and his ability to roll off opponents and leap up and take some intercept marks was really good for us.” 

O’Keefe noted that Petrevski-Seton’s weapon is his ball movement by foot, explaining that a focus for him has been getting Petrevski-Seton to trust his kick and use it more to his advantage. 

“When he’s at his best, he’s very efficient and he’s making really good and quick decisions by foot and that’s what we expect and hope for ‘Samo’ all the time,” he said. 

“When he’s moving the ball forward rather than backwards or laterally is when we’re at our best as a team, so that’s what we’re encouraging ‘Samo’ to keep doing.”

While O’Keefe was happy with Petrevski-Seton’s defensive work, he noted that there is always room for improvement when striving to be the best. 

“Like every player, we’re continuing to keep striving to be better and some of the things that Samo is working on is his defensive transition, not just about getting back to support, which he’s actually doing ok, it’s more about when he gets back there, how can he support our defence and find an opposition outlet a little bit quicker than what he’s doing at the moment?” he said. 

“Once we improve that area of his game, it’s getting close to seeing ‘Samo’ at his absolute best.”