HEAD of development Brett Allison reviews the Melbourne-listed players who played in the VFL and the AFL Development League at Casey Fields on Saturday

VFL: Casey Scorpions 6.8 (44) d Box Hill Hawks 19.15 (129)

Dom Barry: Dom played wing and had eight possessions. He had a negating run-with role on Sam Iles, who has been averaging around 30 possessions per week. Dom did a very, very good job. He was disciplined, stuck to his task and tried to run both ways. Dom also kept his opponent to little to no impact on the day. It was a good effort.

Sam Blease: Sam had 28 possessions. He played wing and half-forward. Sam started the game in positive fashion, during the first quarter. He got a bit of the ball in the second quarter, but he started to take it sideways and backwards, rather than forward. He only had six possessions after the half-time break, so he fell away after half-time. Sam knows the defensive style we play at senior level and it’s an area he needs to continue to work on to press for selection.

Shannon Byrnes: Unfortunately, Shannon hurt his foot and won’t be playing for the rest of the season, and will now be having an operation on his foot. Shannon started on the wing and had two possessions, before he unfortunately left the ground at the seven-minute mark of the first quarter with foot pain. He was unable to continue for the remainder of the match.

Michael Evans: He played a run-with role on Jonathan Simpkin in the midfield. Michael had 23 possessions. While he won a bit of the football, I thought his opponent outpointed him on the day. Michael gets caught ball-watching regularly and loses his opponent. He needs to react quicker when the opposition gains possession, so he has a chance of shutting his man down.

Jack Fitzpatrick: Jack played full-forward and ruck. He had 10 possessions and kicked two goals. Jack took a big, strong contested pack mark in the third quarter and kicked a goal from it. That was the example we were looking for on a consistent basis. Too often, he ran under the flight of the ball and had no impact on the marking contest. And rather than bringing the ball to the front, if he doesn’t mark it, it goes over the back to the opposition’s advantage. Jack needs to work really hard to make sure this doesn’t happen. His third quarter mark showed us he can do it, but he’s got to do it far more often.

Max Gawn: Max played ruck and key forward. He had 24 possessions and 35 hit outs. He did some good things for us around the ground, as a ruckman, and positioned himself well at times. But he can get lost in transition, when the opposition gains possession. He had a good battle with ‘Big Boy’ [Ben] McEvoy in the ruck. But his opponent kicked two goals on Max, as a ruckman, so he probably took the points in the end. We still need to see him taking more marks around the ground. We saw him take some good marks around the ground, but he needs to take more marks inside forward 50, when he’s playing as a forward. He only took one mark as a forward.

Alex Georgiou: Alex played full-back and had 17 possessions. It was Alex’s best game at VFL level this season. He controlled his much bigger opponent all day. Effort and competitiveness are the keys to his game and he brought them with him on the weekend.

James Harmes: James played half-forward, on ball and half-back. He had 13 possessions. James’ biggest area of focus is defensive transition or what he’s doing when the opposition has possession of the ball. At the moment, it’s almost non-existent and it makes it very hard to win possession back off the opposition, if we don’t have all 18 players helping us defend.

Jay Kennedy-Harris: Jay played half-forward and wing. He had 17 possessions and started the game spritely, in the first quarter, playing his role and winning disposals at the fall of the ball. Unfortunately, from quarter-time onwards, he fell away badly and didn’t concentrate on the things that he needs to for him to work his way back into senior contention. He was fumbly and stopped scouting the packs, which is one of his strengths.

Viv Michie: Viv played inside mid and had 30 possessions. He was able to get his hands on the ball during the day and he used it reasonably well for us. But he was part of a midfield that was beaten comprehensively by the opposition. The defensive transition needs to be the major focus that Viv needs to get right to push himself into contention for senior selection.

Daniel Nicholson: Daniel had 25 possessions. He played half-back and on ball. Daniel battled away all day, as he usually does, and kept his opponent under control as a defender. He tried to give us run and drive from the back half. I thought when on ball, he got lost a little bit in defensive transition, but it was another solid game from Nicho. 

James Strauss: James played half-back and had 21 possessions. He used the ball pretty well over the course of the day, but he was too loose on his opponent at times and he doesn’t pay them the respect they deserve. He needs to force as many contests as he can – one to defend and two to help us turn the ball over.

Luke Tapscott: Luke played inside mid and a little bit half-forward. He had 20 possessions. Luke showed plenty of strength and grunt around the stoppage again, but struggled to spread and get any easy possessions. And he struggled to spread and defend his opponent at times as well. We’d probably like to settle Luke at the forward or defensive end of the ground, rather than using him as an onballer, as I think that’s his best chance of working his way into the senior team.

Jimmy Toumpas: Jimmy played half-back and wing. He had 20 possessions. Again, this week, it was probably Jimmy’s ball-handling that let him down over the course of the match. Defensively, he gets caught out ball-watching or not joining in as well. It needs to be a continued focus for Jimmy to work his way back into senior contention.

AFL Victoria Development League: Box Hill Hawks 13.16 (94) d Casey Scorpions 5.9 (39) 

Maia Westrupp: Maia had a bright start to the game as a forward. He got involved early in the first quarter, but as the game changed, so did Maia’s fortunes. With a lack of supply coming into the forward line, Casey was well beaten by their opponents on the day.