Phantom
Went to Shepparton for this game to check players before the trial games.
My main focus was on the Bushies players, so apologies if you want a more objective view.
Bushies won by about six goals after breaking away during second and third quarters.
James Martiniello was BOG with 37 touches before going off about ten minutes into last quarter. Had 19 kicks and 13 handballs to 3/4 time, playing in the centre. Very good quick hands in close, paricularly early. Reads the play well and obviously gets to where the ball is most of the time. Teammates seem to have a lot of faith in him judging by the calls when he has the ball. Set up mostly on the defensive side of play, maybe half a kick away.
After the game it was announced that he had been added to the Vic Country squad to replace Muston (see above post). Apparently Leon Higgins was at the game.
Having said all that, I must admit he's the son of a friend who played over 400 O&M and GVFL games as a small rover. James is a lovely humble kid and he and the family are also rabid Tiger fans, so if you see him during the trials talk Tigers.
Drew Barnes (on a wing) from the Bushies was also very good after being named BOG last week. Did a lot of hard running and worked in and under the packs. Used the ball very well both going forward and defending.
Matthew Bekkar (ruck) had a very impressive game. IMO the best big man all day. Has a good focus on the ball in ballups and while not a strong long tap he is prepared to go after it a second time. Good second efforts with a strong marking contest around the ground even when outnumbered in kick-in situations. Not afraid to get down and dirty with fairly good skills below his knees. In general a big strong workhorse in the Stafford mould.
Tim Looby was very good and while some were wrapping him up, I thought he made some bad judgement and skill errors early in the game. Once he settled down I thought he was a lot better.
Alipate Carlile was very good, without being dominant. Showed good judgement on when to punch and when to mark and took some good strong pack marks when in the right spot. Marshalled the defence well and it seemed to be quite a tight knit unit back there with Brad Collins taking 14 marks. They really put on a lot of pressure and switch and run from defense very well.
Marcus Drum was OK but a bit quietish. Although he was solid in the air, at times he worried me that he backed himself too much when behind in the contest.
From the Falcons side I was a bit disappointed as was their coach, who held them on the ground at half time to criticise the skill errors that had let the game slip after an even start.
Maybe I was too one-eyed, but the only ones who caught my attention were McGuane who is a big lump of a kid who took some strong marks on the lead early and Raidme who seemed to worked really hard through the centre early in the game. The rest of the smalls for the Falcons did some good things, paricularly when they had a roll-on in the third quarter, but were too few and too far between. IMO their skills fell apart under the Bushies pressure.
PS Sorry about the one sided report.
Went to Shepparton for this game to check players before the trial games.
My main focus was on the Bushies players, so apologies if you want a more objective view.
Bushies won by about six goals after breaking away during second and third quarters.
James Martiniello was BOG with 37 touches before going off about ten minutes into last quarter. Had 19 kicks and 13 handballs to 3/4 time, playing in the centre. Very good quick hands in close, paricularly early. Reads the play well and obviously gets to where the ball is most of the time. Teammates seem to have a lot of faith in him judging by the calls when he has the ball. Set up mostly on the defensive side of play, maybe half a kick away.
After the game it was announced that he had been added to the Vic Country squad to replace Muston (see above post). Apparently Leon Higgins was at the game.
Having said all that, I must admit he's the son of a friend who played over 400 O&M and GVFL games as a small rover. James is a lovely humble kid and he and the family are also rabid Tiger fans, so if you see him during the trials talk Tigers.
Drew Barnes (on a wing) from the Bushies was also very good after being named BOG last week. Did a lot of hard running and worked in and under the packs. Used the ball very well both going forward and defending.
Matthew Bekkar (ruck) had a very impressive game. IMO the best big man all day. Has a good focus on the ball in ballups and while not a strong long tap he is prepared to go after it a second time. Good second efforts with a strong marking contest around the ground even when outnumbered in kick-in situations. Not afraid to get down and dirty with fairly good skills below his knees. In general a big strong workhorse in the Stafford mould.
Tim Looby was very good and while some were wrapping him up, I thought he made some bad judgement and skill errors early in the game. Once he settled down I thought he was a lot better.
Alipate Carlile was very good, without being dominant. Showed good judgement on when to punch and when to mark and took some good strong pack marks when in the right spot. Marshalled the defence well and it seemed to be quite a tight knit unit back there with Brad Collins taking 14 marks. They really put on a lot of pressure and switch and run from defense very well.
Marcus Drum was OK but a bit quietish. Although he was solid in the air, at times he worried me that he backed himself too much when behind in the contest.
From the Falcons side I was a bit disappointed as was their coach, who held them on the ground at half time to criticise the skill errors that had let the game slip after an even start.
Maybe I was too one-eyed, but the only ones who caught my attention were McGuane who is a big lump of a kid who took some strong marks on the lead early and Raidme who seemed to worked really hard through the centre early in the game. The rest of the smalls for the Falcons did some good things, paricularly when they had a roll-on in the third quarter, but were too few and too far between. IMO their skills fell apart under the Bushies pressure.
PS Sorry about the one sided report.
