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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: VFL 2026 Rd 15: Carlton vs Richmond at Carlton
Last post by crashlander -[1] We still lack talls. However ...
I was much happier with Matt Duffy and Dane Harvey this week. Between them they kept the Richmond forwards almost possession-less, and unlike last night, they had no help from the weather. Harvey had 14 possessions and 7 marks, while Duffy had 7 possessions and 2 marks, but it was how they defended that pleased me. Duffy also ran much more effectively than he has been in recent weeks. He looks much better as a defender.
And then there was Sam Paea, who took the mark of the day and had 14 possessions and 7 marks as a key forward. Not a huge game, perhaps, but he looked dangerous.
For 3 quarters we didn't move the ball well into the forward line, which helped Richmond's defence no end.
[2] Liam Farrar:
Liam kicked 3 and was within a cm of having 4, all after half time. He has a good pair of hands and kicked straight for a change. I think he would be worth giving a train-on spot. Not that he couldn't do more, but he is a goal kicker.
[3] Ashton Moir:
Ashton has a bit of the early Fev about him; not doing enough of the things when he doesn't have the ball. Well, he moved up-ground a bit and had 18 possessions and 8 marks. But the thing I like was the run down tackle: I don't remember him doing that before. He wasn't close, he worked hard and got the reward. Once Fev realized that, he was reasonable at it. I hope Moir can do the same.
[4] Hudson O'Keefe:
HOK had a very ordinary game as a forward, struggling to get a possession. he had 8 possessions and 2 marks, but gave away a few frees and a 50. Things just didn't go well for him, which is a real worry.
However, his ruck work impressed me more than it has for most of the year. he didn't get a lot of time on ball; we clearly are working on Riley. However, it was his leap that impressed me, something we haven't seen enough of in recent times.
Have we limited his progression by bringing in guys like Reidy? Maybe. But he has always been a ruckman first.
[5] Flynn Riley:
Clearly the best ruckman on the ground, some of his ruckwork was brilliant. We got goals because of his taps. He had 17 possessions, which was better than 18 Richmond players(!) and took a couple of excellent marks.
he must have read my comments from a couple of weeks back, as he has been much more engaged in general play since then.
I think we can afford to bring Riley into the seniors, as we should be getting Reidy back from injury.
[6] Our VFL players stepped up:
During our run of losses, you could easily lay the blame at the feet of our senior players, who didn't do as much as we would hope. But one of the less obvious issues we had was that our VFL cadre were off the game as well. Sammartino fell out of form and then was injured: his last 2 weeks have been like we saw early in the season. Prout wasn't huge, but he is doing his job: he was down as well. Liam Farrar has come in and not kicked straight. Now he is kicking better, our forward structure doesn't look as dysfunctional. Darcy Hogg had probably his worst couple of weeks in our colours, but yesterday he was back to his best. Harvey had been ordinary for a few weeks; he was excellent yesterday. Paea has been a decent inclusion. Tucker: well, he has missed most of the season with injury. His return has given us a much more effective midfield mix.
Cookson and Gresham didn't have a lot of game time, but both did important things at important times.
It is important that our VFL guys make an impression if we are to win with our structural issues, which are much easier to see at VFL level. Hopefully, we can find some key position types in this years draft.