St Kilda Development Coach and Sandringham Senior Coach Jake Batchelor runs through each AFL-listed player's performance following this weekend's VFL clash against Footscray.

On the game

It was a tough game for the club, a tough weekend for both sides. With the AFL team having a game this Friday, we had a few players on limited minutes, so it was a good challenge for us to work our way around as a team.

We performed admirably for two and a half quarters but then we switched off and they ramped it up. Six goals in a ten-minute period, that is tough to bounce back from. It was disappointing for us but going forward we were efficient in front of goal, so there are also pleasing things to come out of the game.

Tom Campbell

32 hitouts, 25 disposals, six clearances, one goal

It was a game of Tom Campbell being Tom Campbell. He was a force in the middle of the ground. They challenged him physically, he stood up, and just fought and fought and fought. You need big blokes to play like big blokes, and he did that job for us. 

Leo Connolly

29 disposals, 10 marks 

Leo probably had his best game for the year. Having Ben Paton there helped him free up a bit with the opposition having to focus on both. He’s putting himself in positions where he can win the footy, the next step is just making sure he does that and is a bit sharper with his decision making. It is still a work in progress, but he is coming along. The run-and-drive he gave us, it was good to see.

Ryan Byrnes

26 disposals, 10 clearances, seven tackles, one goal

Byrnsey was one of the guys on limited minutes, but he still managed to have a huge impact. He only played 70 minutes, but he got a heap of the footy and his burst running was immense. He was off during that 10 minute period where we had six booted against us, so we definitely missed him there.

Ben Paton

23 disposals, five tackles, five marks, four clearances

Pato came back and played well. He got a bit of the footy and wasn’t that noticeable which is good if you’re a defender, it means you are doing your job well. He had some good drive for us and did the basics well. It was a good step to getting back into the AFL side.

Jarrod Lienert

20 disposals, four marks 

Lieno came back and put his hand up to go onto Josh Bruce. Despite Brucey having nine scoring shots, Jarrod actually went okay on him, those shots weren’t all on him. There were a couple of times that he probably tried to read the cues too early and they hit up Josh. It’ll be a good learning experience for him, but one on one, he did well. He’s got an awesome long kick which is good for us at times. I’m proud of him for putting his hand up and wanting to take on a strong AFL-standard forward, and he performed admirably on him.

Jack Peris

21 disposals, four clearances, four tackles

Jack went onto the wing in the first half and did what was required of him. We started to get beaten on the inside near the backend, so we popped him in there and he was good. He doesn’t necessarily change the game for us, but boy does he help shift momentum. His run and his drive are great, and it is amazing what effort around the ball can do, in line with your role. The combination of those two is important, and he is starting to do that well. He runs, he chases, he tackles, and he harasses, and he’s so quick. It was another progression for him.

Max Heath

12 disposals, 11 hitouts, four tackles

Heathy was solid. He competed well down the line for us. This was the first week we’ve seen him have a real focus on protecting TC and Chris Carey when the footy is going down the line. It was a good growth area for him – he went in the ruck during the last quarter and competed well. Our ball movement is a work in progress at the moment, but his running patterns are good, and we reckon he’ll start getting some good looks if he keeps that up.

Matthew Allison

12 disposals, six marks

Matty also had one of his better games. He’s never going to be a high-possession player, it’s all about his running and work rate, and that was massive on Sunday. Watching the tape back, it was great to see him challenging the opposition, getting some width and helping us open up the middle of the ground. He started to clunk some good marks for us too, so he’s improving every day.

Cooper Sharman

16 disposals, six marks

Cooper played as a backman this week, 100% game time down in defence, and he looked as though he’s been in that position for about three years. There were a couple of times that he flew like a forward and dropped a couple of marks, but apart from that, he was great. His positioning was good, he had 10 spoils and he fit in well. It is something we’ll look to keep working on.

Ben Long

12 disposals 

Longy was good, he performed his role well. He was another who was on limited game time, so it was a bit stop/start for him. Anytime he looked like was about to build, he ended up being off, so it was tough for him to get some good continuity throughout the game. When he was out there, he went well. His pressure could’ve been a touch better at times, but his break-perimeter stuff was pleasing for us to see. We managed to get him into the stoppage a couple of times, and he looked to impact. He’ll be ready to go if he’s required at the AFL level.

Oscar Adams

Five disposals, three tackles

It was Oscar’s first game back in a little while, so it was good to see him out there. He’s young, he’s raw and he’s learning, and he’s definitely not going to die wondering. If he sees a kick he thinks he can hit, or looking to leave his man to intercept, he’s going for it. It is a great trait to have in a young kid. We can work on a couple of things like composure with footy in hand or assess situations when making decisions, but that is long term thing for all footballers.

Onto next week: Coburg at Piranha Park

It will be another good challenge for us to play our way. They’re going to come out hard against us, and we can’t just be ‘ready’ for that, we have to go back and start the game strongly and get to our brand of contested ball. We can get that back to where it needs to be and make them defend on the weekend. We have to get back to playing our brand of football.