VFL Practice Match - Bendigo vs. Coburg
Bendigo 15.15 (105)
Richmond 2.11 (23)
Goals: Carlisle 4, Daniher 3, Lovett-Murray, Neagle 2, Hurley, Silverlock, Shinners, Margliani 1
By Bargey
You will have to bear with me as I’ve been up since 3pm yesterday and I’m running out of gas.
Senior players in attendance included
Gumbleton, Watson, Fletcher, Dempsay, Davey, Welsh & Winderlich
1 Jay NEAGLE – Did most of his work from about 40m out from goal up to the wings. Chased hard and laid some bone crunching tackles. Snagged a couple. Probably played 3/4 of the game time. Looked quite fit.
7 Leroy JETTA – Didn’t play the last after hurting his thumb, probably just a sprain or jarred, looked fine after the game. Got a bit of it in the first half, very good defensive pressure early on.
11 David ZAHARAKIS – Roamed around the half forward line and up into the middle. Got a bit of it and played like a much more mature player. Foot skills were impressive.
13 Anthony LONG – Got himself in very good spots, played across half back and was always there to support his teammates when they won a contested ball. Played a very Dempsay like style of footy, read the ball very well. WILL BE A PLAYER.
18 Michael HURLEY – Seemed to delight in taking every opportunity to rough up the opposition (legally), laid heaps of bumps, was very aggressive, did a Reimers on Judd style move after being tackled one time. Took a few grabs, kicked a goal, setup both of Carlisle’s 3rd quarter goals.
22 Jake CARLISLE – As I said earlier got in dangerous positions when we bought the ball forward, took a couple of strong overhead 1 on 1 grabs (but be aware this wasn’t against Matthew Scarlett). Will need a few years in the gym to bulk up, but seems to have good footy smarts and finished well in very windy conditions.
24 John WILLIAMS # – Mature game across the half back line, didn’t stand out or get a ton of the ball but didn’t make mistakes either.
28 Darcy DANIHER – 3 goals, quite a few marks, and won a couple of one on one contests on the ground. Seemed to find a lot of space in the forward line, was unmanned a few times, Caracellaesque. Drifted out of it after half time, but the ball wasn’t in our forward line much in the last quarter.
34 Kyle HARDINGHAM – Attacks the ball front on, doesn’t mind backing himself when jumping for a mark or trying to break the line. Made a couple of blews but did some very exciting things too. Also seemed to be an onfield leader of the backline, very vocal.
35 Taite SILVERLOCK # – Didn’t get a whole lot of it, but did get in and under a fair bit. Didn’t blow me away, don’t remember him stuffing up much either.
36 Tyson SLATTERY – Really put his body on the line a lot, won some tough free kicks by putting his head over the ball. Dean Polo called him a faggot and then tried to get very up close and personal with him. What’s that make you Dean? Liked the way he backed himself to take his opponents on, and used the ball well under pressure.
38 Jarrod ATKINSON – Seen one Atko game seen em all, a lot of run, a lot of carry, a lot of backing himself in. Pretty good game, got a fair bit of it.
41 Michael QUINN # – This guy really runs a lot. I mean a lot. A bit like watching Benny Hill. Also like Benny Hill, probably runs in circles a bit too much. But he didn’t seem to get tackled much, it’s like his opponents don’t know what he’s gonna do next because he doesn’t know what he’s gonna do next. Got a lot of it, used the ball well except when under extreme body pressure.
42 Nathan LOVETT-MURRAY – Nice game from Natrat, didn’t star, but kicked a couple of nice goals, played very unselfish footy trying to setup teammates when he could have had some long shots at goal, and did a couple of superb tackles that were rewarded.
43 Bachar HOULI – Got lots of it, didn’t turn it over more than a couple of times. Sorry Topdon, played really well. Ended up with a big arse bandage on his head. Almost looked like a Turban.
44 Thomas BELLCHAMBERS – Solid game, a couple of nice grabs, though didn’t do all that much after half time other than present up forward. Our rucks killed theirs, but to be honest their rucks were SHIT.
45 Stewart CRAMERI # – Probably the only one who didn’t impress me in some way. Had probably 15 touches, and attacked the ball fiercely, but his decision making and disposal were fairly poor.
46 Christian BOCK # – Actually did really well in the around the ground ball ups & throw ins against a more solidly built opponent, got his hand to the ball first almost every time. I’m really impressed with his handling of the ball down low, for a big man it’s excellent. Also seems to have quick hands and a pretty good footy brain. It’s gonna take awhile to get his body there, but I think he could be a very good player one day.
47 Marcus MARIGLIANI ## – This guy really impressed me, hit hard, tackled hard, ran hard. Used the ball very long and direct, and was often the one there running past to recieve the handball when a teammate marked it. Close to BOG.
John Williams appeared to cramp (possible altitude sickness) after going for an unbelievable speccy in the last 10 minutes. So unbelievable in fact, that he didn’t come close to marking it.
Tyson Slattery looked to have a bit of a gimpy leg after copping a very crude tackle towards the end of the game. Don’t think he came off though so probably a corky at worst.
Leroy’s thumb has already been mentioned.
Bargey is suffering from dehydration, sunburn & exhaustion, but should be able to get on the IV of vodka tonight and get himself up for the game tomorrow at Visy Park.
Also, as of today, I am jumping on the Jason Laycock Bandwagon. This in itself, is more unbelievable than John Williams’ speccy attempt.
You can find out what the hash marks mean on the essendonfc website.