St Kilda development coach and Sandringham assistant Paul Hudson dissects the individual performances of the Saints who played in the VFL on the weekend.
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Tom Simpkin9 disposals
Tommy broke his nose in the second quarter and it was a pretty ugly collision. I saw it after he came off and it was pretty bad. He had to go in and get it straightened and he was a bit hampered after that. We started him in the forward line to try and really make a statement but then he went back in defence for the rest of the game. He's tough - that's for sure.
Tom Lee
12 disposals, 1 goal
It was a slight improvement on the week before and we've been working really hard on his marking. He did well in this area on the weekend, attacking the contest with aggression instead of just jumping vertically.
There was one time in the game when he went back and had to play on Ben Warren and showed some really good aggression in the marking contest. I think what he learned just from that one contest, is that he has to take that aggression to his game when he goes forward.
So that was a really good lesson for Tommy. Defensively he gets caught out sometimes but Saturday was a lift from the previous week and you can see he's committed because of his enthusiasm throughout the week.
Darren Minchington
7 disposals
Minchy had a quiet one. The GPS data that we received indicated that he was doing a lot of running however. So I'm going to sit down with him this week and work out where he is running and why he isn't he getting more of the ball.
He did get a corky the week before so his tackling was slightly down on previous weeks. He normally averages about five or six per game.
Dylan Roberton
15 disposals
Dylan is getting on to his left foot more than we'd like where as we would ideally want him using his preferred boot more often than not. I remember Alan Jeans saying to me 'Don't kick it on your left foot when you can kick it on your right.' Dylan probably has more time than what he thinks whenever he gets the ball.
The fact is we've suddenly gone from an experienced back six to Roberton, Simpkin and four Sandringham boys down there. So it's been flipped on its head, but it is making Robbo defend a little bit more. He did take a couple of strong marks and he played his role on Saturday.
Brodie Murdoch
15 disposals
Brodie had a pretty solid game across the board. We played him up forward and then on the ball and he was impressive there too.
He took a couple of really nice and strong marks which was great to see. Brodie also had five tackles and had a shot on goal which he unfortunately missed.
Josh Saunders
21 disposals, 1 goal
Joshy gets a lot of the ball but we would really like to see him take the game on a little bit more and really hurt the opposition. When he's dangerous he's so valuable.
The thing is, he can do just that. He has great pace but on the weekend he was just a little conservative with his ball use. In saying this, he got enough of it and played a good role for us.
Seb Ross
33 disposals, 2 goals
Seb was best on ground I thought. Obviously 33 touches, 6 tackles and two goals is a great return. One of his goals was especially good and he kicked it on his right foot.
I think Sebby has the right attitude and you can see by the way he's playing that he's really pressing for a return to the seniors which is pleasing.
Beau Maister
11 disposals, 2 goals
Beau took eight marks and crashed the pack a few times which was fantastic to see. He really hurt the opposition even when he didn't mark it, simply because he was so aggressive at the ball.
In weeks gone by he's been leading backwards and trying to get the one over the top but this week he lead hard and jumped aggressively at the ball. He could have kicked four goals too, which isn't a bad day for a big bloke when we got defeated the way we did.
Lewis Pierce
5 disposals, 15 hit outs
Lewis was up and about in his first game back and he was quite agile around the ground. He didn't do as well in the pure ruck contest, but he held his own in general play which was pleasing. I sensed his frustration on a couple of occasions when he could have been used in the forward 50 but wasn't. Lewis will only get better from now on.
Daniel Markworth
19 disposals
Marky was more aggressive this week and he went back with the flight a couple of times.
There were a couple of times when there was a loose ball situation and he just went and got it, instead of waiting for someone else to give it to him.
He also had three shots at goal from the wing so he could have easily hurt Werribee on the scoreboard. He just played an all-round better game and stuck to the structures really well.
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Shane Savage11 disposals
Savage got sat on and was tagged. He was open and honest with the fact that he struggled to deal with close attention so in the end it's just a really good learning experience for him.
It wasn't as if he didn't work hard - his GPS was very good, but he just couldn't shake his opponent and I reckon he will be better for it. So as coaches our task is to give him ideas to release himself in the future and we will do this.
Jason Holmes
3 disposals, 27 hit outs
Holmesy had his folks out from the US which was great to see. His tap work was good again and he actually looked like he was timing his leaps better around the ground in aerial contests.
He's had a little bit of a problem with his foot and had a moon boot on after the game but this was just precautionary. It's been a pretty big few months for Jason and he's actually been really durable in his first season of footy. We're pleased with how he's progressing.
VFL DEVELOPMENT TEAM
Joe Baker-Thomas
I only saw three quarters but he was really good in defence. His spoiling and aggression was excellent and there was one time when he could have marked it, but nobody told him, so he just thumped it at least 30 metres out of bounds. It sounded like he punctured the ball it whacked it that hard!
He didn't have a lot of possessions but he had seven or eight spoils and took a big step forwards with the way he plays. It was good signs for him and he will go home on Wednesday after he turned 18 last week and catch up with friends and family.
Stay tuned to SAINTS.com.au this week for a full mid-season VFL wrap-up.
