St Kilda Development Coach and Sandringham Senior Coach Jake Batchelor runs through each Saint who played in the Zebras' Round 11 win over Richmond on Saturday.
Dean Kent
“It was the first game for Kenty after a lay-off with a couple of concussions.
“We started him in most centre bounces to try to get him involved straight away, and he was explosive and clean.
“He played a good half-forward role for us when he wasn’t in the centre bounces and looked as though he hadn’t missed a beat.
“He got through unscathed, and it was really pleasing to see him back out there.”
Darragh Joyce
“Darragh was great for us. He intercepted the ball really well with not only Clav, but the rest of the backline there.
“He’s just so loud, and great at organising the group.
“With Darragh, he sets up the boys really well down there, not only in defence, but when we set ourselves up for attack too.
“He had a good game.”
Jack Lonie
“Lones played his normal role for us, in terms of high half-forward and running hard all day.
"He was great with providing pressure inside our forward 50, and he worked well with our other small forwards.
“We shifted our defensive tactics a little bit this week, and he was really big in implementing that, and leading that with an inexperienced forward group.
“It was obviously disappointing for him to miss out on AFL selection, but his attitude was good, he wins the ball, and he performed well.”
Oscar Clavarino
“Clav had a couple of games at the AFL level, and now he’s brought some good form back to the VFL level.
“He worked well with Darragh, and his leadership is getting better each week. This coming game against Collingwood, he’s going to see some big key forwards playing, so that will be a good challenge for him.
“If we can get a couple more touches into his game and get him to link up and get the ball off his teammates a bit more, rather than having to fight for every ball with intercept possessions, then it’ll round out his game nicely.”
Paul Hunter
“Paul didn’t play against a notable ruckman, so he was dominate in the ruck and did what we expected him to do.”
“He did well in the hit-outs, and his follow-up work was pleasing again, with his tackling and work around the clearances.
“The challenge for him will be when he comes up against a notable ruckman bigger than him as well, and for him to keep generating that output.
“Like Lones, he’s really good at committing both the AFL and VFL listed blokes, and when he’s down at Sandringham, he’s really committed, and his attitude is good.”
Cooper Sharman
“He was pretty good for his first game.
“He’s pretty lively and a natural forward. He knows where space is and how to create it.
“We had him playing up high and on the off-ball side a fair bit, but he played that role really well.
“He impacted with the ball when he had to, and he played his defensive part with his patterns of attack on the ball, and he did the role required of him.
“He’s a great young kid and did pretty well for his first game with a new system, new coaches, new teammates, a new oval, new everything.
“It was pretty pleasing to see and hopefully a good start to a long career for Cooper.”
Matthew Allison
“Matty is progressing well.
“He’s had a couple of weeks where he’s been able to play with Darragh and Clav, and a couple of other experienced defenders at Sandy.
“We’re just keeping it really basic with him, things like getting to the correct side on defence, competing well in the air.
“The more consistent they get, the more we can start to progress the development of his other defensive traits.
“He’s picking it up really quickly, he’s desperate to learn and he’s heading in the right direction.”
Sam Alabakis
“Sal did fairly well in the centre bounces, and he managed to grab 22 hit-outs for the day in his secondary role as a ruckman.
“We were mainly playing him as a key forward, and he didn’t quite get a good grasp on being the long target for us ahead of the ball.
“We’ll continue to create some clarity around his role and what that is, but it’s a learning game for him."
