Get the latest insight from Sandringham Senior Coach and St Kilda Development Coach Jake Batchelor following Sandringham's 37-point win over Essendon.

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Jack Bytel

35 disposals, 10 clearances, eight inside-50s, two goals

Bytel came back and won the ball for us a lot, but he was just aggressive and really set the tone for his follow-up work around stoppage. He took the game forward for us when he had his opportunities to win the ball - we didn't move the ball sideways, we were going direct and he was a big part of that. He was tagged slightly in the second half and he rose, especially when we were under pressure. Essendon came back at us that whole third quarter, and he was the one who set the scene for us. He had good leadership and the boys just love playing with him and thrive off his physicality and his presence.  

Max Heath

23 hit-outs, 10 disposals, five goals

Max played probably 30-40 per cent in the ruck and the rest at deep forward. He just competed all day, whether it was in the ruck and his follow-up around the ground or ahead of the ball, he got some good one-on-ones. Moose has done that historically, but he finished his work really well. It was good reward for effort, he's been putting in the work and I think working with TC (Tom Campbell) was a good complement to him. He was the leader of the forward line and it was really pleasing to see. He's still young and a lot of growth for him, especially around what he does after the stoppage, so if we can increase his running capacity but also his smarts of where he runs and getting to 'big-man' spots, that's going to be really crucial for him. It was a good growth game for him.

Tom Campbell

37 hit-outs, 20 disposals, five clearances

Having Tommy Campbell back means Max Heath can play forward, which means Noah Gown can take the second key defender. So the flow-on effect of Tommy is huge, but also his own game... he's picked up where he left off last year. He hasn't played much footy in the last couple of weeks due to being ready for AFL games, but this was a good opportunity for him to come back. He lost a bit of weight over the pre-season and he's running and covering the ground really well and is playing like a big man. Much like Bytel, the boys have mentioned that they're that little bit more confident before the game because they know Tommy's going to be there and he's a good protector.

Cooper Sharman

18 disposals, five marks, four inside-50s

Cooper's played wing two weeks in a row now, and this was a good game for him. It's a smaller ground, so there's more opportunities to get to more contests, but his running patterns were really clear and he helped us behind the ball creating an outnumber, but also equalised inside-50. As a winger, that's 90 per cent of your job, just doing lots of unrewarded running if you're talking selfishly, but in terms of the team, it's so important. There were a couple of little errors where he missed ground-balls that he wanted to have again, but all in all his impact was really pleasing. If we can keep using him as an isolation sort of option for us, he's going to be really handy. It's good for him in his AFL journey to be able to add something to his game.

Jack Peris

13 disposals, five tackles, three goals

Three goals is a great reward, but it was all built off his effort. Five tackles as a small forward is good, but there's no stats for physical pressure and perceived pressure... he just chased and chased and chased. Our backs had a relatively easy day defending because players like Jack were putting on pressure and forcing high, loopy kicks. He wanted to be really quick back on attack and he really equalised well and didn't let his opponent back inside. There's a couple of things around stoppage that Damien Carroll will work on with him this week around positioning, but it's amazing how effort can gets you out of bad spots sometimes. He's a big advocate for that.

Oscar Adams

17 disposals, six rebound-50s, six marks

It was probably one of Oscar's best games. The stats look good, but his aerial presence and decisions in the air to mark it or kill it were really good. That's something he's been on really hard. He showed some good bodywork and defensive positioning. A couple of times we can just get a bit better communication out of him, especially defensively, so that's a work in progress but all in all it was good progression from Oscar in playing to his strengths.

Tom Highmore

15 disposals, five rebound-50s, three marks

Tommy had a good defender's game. There's been a slight change in role in playing a bit more as a key back now and less around getting the ball in his hand and driving it forward - we've got enough players for that. He's put in the work over the last couple of months to work on his defensive craft both in the contest and around the ground. Low numbers for defenders more often than not means they don't have to defend too much and win the ball back, so he's just doing his job. When there's opportunities to win a contest, he did that more often than not. He's improved the defensive part of his game, and as a defender that's your job.

Leo Connolly

18 disposals, three rebound-50s

Leo played as a midfielder this week, same as last week. He was a bit off it last week, but got to work this week with Brendon Goddard and worked on his stoppage craft a little bit, but more so around how we can get his strengths in the front half kicking the ball inside-50 for us. He's got unbelievable foot skills and decision-making and things just open up for him. A smaller ground was probably a good help for him this week in terms of positioning around the ground, but it was a good step forward for him and no doubt something we'll keep looking at moving forward.

James Van Es

Nine disposals, three marks

Big Jim. Similar to Tom and Oscar, there was a big focus on playing as a big bloke. He's huge, he's a great athlete, so we're just making sure the aggression is the number one part of his game at the moment. It's something he can really set the tone very well with. There's a really pleasing piece of footage where Jack Bytel got pushed out of the way and Jimmy came up and stood up for him. He threw (the Essendon player) to the ground twice... not condoning putting him to the ground, but I just love seeing a second-gamer sticking up for someone who's been in the system for five years. He's got a that bit of swagger about him, so we can keep looking forward to that. He's an elite athlete so he can run and jump at the ball really well, but also he's strong at the contest. He's getting it and he'll be a good player in the future, he's just got to keep putting in the work and improving.