Kamp did a good job and should keep his spot. Marchbank needs game time, preferably in the VFL. When he is fit and confident, we can reconsider the issue.
Voting is as usual: you have 15 votes to award pretty much as you will, with the following provisos: [1] 15 votes in total, no more, no less. [2] No more than 10 votes for any one player (even Sam Walsh or Patrick Cripps) [3] Three players at least must get a mention. [4] A grade for the game, A+ (what I want to see) to F-.
Rob Monahan didn't do a lot, but he had a nice kick to goal from distance. he was better after half time, but Comben dominated down there, taking 13 marks. Considering how raw Monahan was, I am willing to give him time.
Jack Lefroy from the VFL boys did a great job as a small forward: 7 possessions for 3 brilliant goals. Considering that we had no Cahill out there (who gives leadership to our forward line), he can be pleased with himself.
Our forwards really lacked leadership. Gill didn't do a lot, but looked dangerous, until he went off injured, leaving Monahan as our primary forward target. That didn't work. Moir didn't do much in the first half, but was a lot more dangerous in the second half. He could easily had had 3 goals but for the bounce of the ball.
With so many holes in the line up, we were in front early in the last quarter. North kicked the last 4 goals to win, exploiting our inexperience.
Of the VFL lads, Maher looked very rusty, but he's had 2 serious injuries in a row, so it is no surprise he was a bit off the pace. Will White looked promising. Some nice skills. He'll be better for the run. Tom Phillips always looked to be under pressure. Not his best game, I'm sure. Ramshaw and Stevens tried their guts out, but North had a lot more talent in the centre square than we did. Luke Nelson impressed on debut from Coburg. He'll do a job for us regularly. Lachie Young wasn't our worst either. He did a job on his small forward opponents and got some ball.
I'm looking forward to seeing Kristian Ferranato, who was named as an Emergency, Tyson Sruk (not named at all), Hugo Nosiara and Michael Rudd. But, with our VFL list containing few experienced players and our AFL listed players being very raw, it looks like a very long year for the 2's.
Looking at the replay, I was really pleased by Cincotta's game in the middle. He was our only effective mid on the day, although the kids tried hard enough. His long kicking deep into the forward 50 would have been brilliant if there had been a target to hit and his ability to tackle and smother in the middle was pleasing. I can't say that all of Pitto's kicks were that great, but he clearly had an edge over 2 highly rated kids and used it.
Billy Wilson impressed running out of defence, but he needs a lot of work on how to out-body an opponent: that was a clear weakness in my eyes. His overhead work needs a lot of work. His kicking didn't always hit the target either, but it was his first real game in our colours.
Akuei and Lemmey didn't impress me. The North forwards took big marks, and our defenders were not stopping them. Both of them need a lot more work on how to outbody an opponent. They need to be watching what Weitering does and initiating body contact.
Binns was really good early, but drifted out of the game. he had 17 possessions to half time, and 25 for the game.
