A MIX of Carlton's AFL and VFL-listed talent as well as senior players from North Melbourne combined in a reserves scratch match against Box Hill on Sunday. 

Daniel O'Keefe analyses the performances of the nine AFL-listed players who participated in the practice match. 

4. Lochie O’Brien 
Stats: 21 disposals, nine marks, five inside 50s. 

Lochie again worked really hard: his ability to get back and support the defence was really good but balanced that out with getting forward on the open side. He started the game really well in terms of his connection kicks and set our forwards up to have shots on goal with some really piercing, low penetrating kicks. We just talked about his balance around the contest and his ability to reset that bit quicker so he can get set up and put himself in the contest. 

16. Jack Carroll
Stats: 21 disposals, nine marks, three tackles, two goals. 

We see him as a midfielder but he ended up playing and being more dangerous in the forward on the day, which was really good in terms of adding a string to his bow. He took a couple of nice contested marks deep in our forward line which resulted in a shot on a goal and he kicked a nice snap goal from one of them. His stoppage work is still an asset to his game but also something he’s continuing to work on as well: how to find better space versus his opponent but he’s starting to do that really well.

We love Jack when he puts himself in the contest, so part of that is having the defensive awareness to jump on an opposition defender and take them out while he can’t influence the play. It just gives him the ability to get back into the contest quicker and also continuing to work on his first gives when he sees them.

17. Brodie Kemp 
Stats: 12 disposals, four rebound 50s, three tackles. 

He played half back and played on a couple of taller players again, which was nice, but he also found himself roaming back and supporting against some of the smaller opposition players too. His reaction was really good when we got the ball, with his ability to break and get on the around plays or the switch plays was great. He got used a fair bit and executed really well by foot: it was one of his better kicking games so far.

He’s still finding his feet, not with his defensive craft, because that’s been strong in terms of growth, but more about locating quicker. Once the ball leaves his area, it's a matter of how can he get himself back into the play and take out opposition players when the ball comes back. 

25. Zac Fisher 
Stats: 19 disposals, five tackles, three clearances. 

Fisher returned to playing footy this weekend which was really good to see. He played half in the midfield and half in the forward line, which is a good thing when you’re coming back to footy. Some of his sweep and cover roles were really sound from centre bounces in particular where he’d hold his position really well and give defensive cover, but also react really fast with his feet to be able to jump on the loose balls or the handball receives and get the ball moving forward.

His reaction is a strength of his game: when he’s at his best is when we see that come into fruition and he tackled (five for the day) quite well also. We looked at Zac’s game and we’ve seen some areas where he can grow. He's really good when he’s around the contest and the ball but he got a bit wide from a field positioning point of view, which took him out of the play a little bit. With his skill level, we want him in the game a lot more than he was. 

26. Luke Parks
Stats: Six disposals, three marks, two rebound 50s. 

It probably wasn’t a game for him down back where he found a lot of the ball where Kemp and Ramsay did. His defensive nuance is really starting to grow and you can see that. He’s been working really hard on the balance between the strength of his where he comes over as a third man to support his teammates but also when not to go as well, becoming more dangerous on the ground.

His ability to seal for teammates and take an opposition player from the marking contests was superb on the weekend, that was a highlight of his game. He’s still continuing to work on some craft with his defending, lead-ups in particular, but we are seeing some really good growth there already. 

29. Corey Durdin
Stats: 10 disposals, six tackles, one goal. 

Corey played forward as per normal: he put on some really good manic pressure. His second half was certainly the better of the two, he laid five of his six tackles in the second half and he ended up having five scoring shots as well.

We’re starting to see some of his craft work, particularly as a small forward, coming into games which is really good. The fact that he had five scoring shots but kicked three behinds and only one goal was something he needs to work on: we know he can kick goals and kick accurately but a little bit of polish would be perfect.

33. Sam Ramsay
Stats: 31 disposals, six inside 50s, five rebound 50s.

This was one of the better kicking games I’ve seen in the VFL this year. I think he had over 20 kicks and he went at around 85 percent efficiency and some of those kicks were under a lot of pressure, so his ability to find choice possession and keep control was outstanding. He competed quite well defensively when the ball was on the ground: it was just when the ball moved away that he just started to track the contest a little bit, so we just want to make sure his defensive mindset is really strong, particularly when he can’t influence the play. Then he can get himself into more contests moving forward, which is what we want: we want the ball in his hands, he showed how well he can do that. 

36. Josh Honey
Stats: 13 disposals, eight marks, three goals. 

Honey played forward for the majority of the day but he also is starting to find himself in centre bounces too. He’s starting to learn the craft there and is doing quite well in the centre-bounce structure. His ability to get back off the fall of the ball and put himself in contests is really good. He’s positioning himself better in terms of getting into compete situations around the ground from stoppages.

He needs a bit of polish in his finishing, both on goal - he missed a couple of easier shots that we’d normally see him kick - and some of his field kicking as well, when it comes to making better decisions and his execution off the back of that. 

46. Matt Cottrell
Stats: 21 disposals, four inside 50s, four rebound 50s, two goals. 

I thought he was our best player on the day and had a great attitude in regards to being the medical sub the previous day and then playing a whole game the next day with us. He played on the wing and he also found himself as a high half forward for about 20 percent of the game.

He still used his prowess and his ability to get up the ground, then rip back towards our goal and really challenge his direct opponent. That resulted in some good shots on goal: he kicked two goals and put some really good pressure on from his aggressive running patterns forward.