Two AAMI Community Series games were played on Friday evening with some standout performances, important injury news and role changes noted.
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Friday, March 1
Geelong v Essendon, GMHBA Stadium, 5.10pm AEDT
Key notes
Tom Stewart 635k DEF: SC: 74 TOG: 68% DE: 88%
Just did Stew things today, even snuck down for a nice sausage roll, nothing out of the ordinary, looks to be the same Tommy Stew we’ve picked as potentially D1-D3 come the end of the year.
Zach Merrett 650k MID: SC: 111 TOG: 83%DE: 88%
Again he looked very nice, racked them up and had a quality game, no issues selecting Merrett at all.
Darcy Parish 604k MID: SC: 124 TOG: 75 % DE: 82%
I’ve been very critical of this blokes DE, but he looked very nice today, was on 50 at QT, loves to rack them up against the Cats, had a very good game.
Nic Martin 492k MID: SC: 109 TOG: 88% DE: 75%
Woweee, my man Nic Martin….Looked incredible off of halfback, the last quarter really let him down though and a huge score went begging, again looked good in his new role and even snuck down and booted two sausage rolls.
Zach Reid 123k DEF: SC: 80 TOG: 92% DE: 93
Maybe not such the dead pick I thought he was, he really impressed me and his marking ability really enabled a decent score alongside racking up more possessions than previously thought to be able to.
Oisin Mullin 153k DEF: SC: 20 TOG: 46% DE: 50%
Don’t think he’s an option, had very limited game time and the DE was poor….
Oli Dempsey 148k FWD: SC: 92 TOG: 85% DE: 80%
Did very well today, kicked a sausage and marked very well, sneaky forward option 100%, was on 46 at HT and improved past that.
Jhye Clark 123k MID: SC: 85 TOG: 69% DE: 87%
Thought he was very good in the midfield today, lowish TOG prevented a good score being a really good score though.
Shaun Mannagh 117k FWD/MID: SC: 42 TOG: 27% DE: 62%
Did very well I thought in limited TOG, probably a sub risk though, will have to wait and see…
Injury news
Jordan Ridley (AF $729k SC $530k DEF) went off with a quad concern at three-quarter time. Dons assistant coach Daniel Giansiracusa said: “He’s got a tight quad. That’ll get scanned during the week, see how that goes… I think he’s a little bit sore, we’ll get it scanned.”
Geelong assistant coach Steven King singled out Ollie Dempsey, Max Holmes and Jhye Clark for praise. He also discussed Mannagh, when he said: “Love what we saw. Crafty, knows what he’s doing in the front half. You can see everytime he’s around the footy, Good things happen. He’s ticked all the boxes at state league level and he shown he can adapt to AFL level.
Port Adelaide v Fremantle, Alberton Oval, 7.30pm ACDT
Key notes
Nat Fyfe 283k FWD/MID: SC: 72 TOG: 75% DE: 65%
Started red hot, really good opening quarter, but then slowed right down as you’d expect. Had multiple FA’s which has taken the score from what has looked like a really good night to a mediocre evening. The DE was also down…
Caleb Serong 621k MID: SC: 95 TOG: 81% DE: 65%
Didn’t use the ball extremely well which probably cost himself a very good score, did well to claw it back though.
Zak Butters 636k MID: SC: 7 TOG: 9% DE: 33%
Off in the first quarter with a sprained ankle apparently, precautionary, but same leg he missed 13 games with…one to watch.
Connor Rozee 601k MID: SC: 113 TOG: 73% DE: 65%
Really looks as if captaincy has elevated his game, went well without Butters on the field and kicked a sausage roll. 7 tackles also has been impressive!
Dan Houston 596k DEF: SC: 109 TOG: 79% DE: 88%
Started VERY slowly, but played extremely well, had 8 marks and showed why he’s a premium selection. 4 tackles also for Dan, which has increased his score.
Jase Burgoyne 179k DEF: SC: 67 TOG: 63% DE: 65%
Sneaky defensive option? Looked nice on the eye this evening, score probably heightened due to the FF’s, really nice game.
Hayden Young 525k DEF: SC: 115 TOG: 75% DE: 69%
Kicked two sausage rolls, DE was not the best tonight but did well to come back, also had 7 tackles. Overall a good game but DE could have been better.
Cooper Simpson 117k MID/FWD: SC: 32 TOG: 78% DE: 58%
May not feature in the beginning of the year, not the worst night but definitely didn’t set the world on fire, DE an issue.
Pat Voss 123k FWD: SC: 75 TOG: 86% DE: 81%
Played exceptionally well, no Amiss or Jackson though, so may not even get a gig. Kicked a sausage roll.
Oscar McDonald 123k DEF: SC: 70 TOG: 89% DE: 100%
Looked good tonight but probably first out when Cox comes back into the side. 7 marks really made his score shoot up.
Jez Sharp 123k MID: SC: 51 TOG: 77%DE: 80%
Sloooooowwww start tonight for Sharp, maybe still struggling with illness….did not find much of it, don’t think he’s as promising as first thought to be. The sausage he kicked definitely helped.
Injury news
Zak Butters (AF $898k SC $636k MID) hurt his ankle early and exited the game. Port coach Ken Hinkley said: “He’s reasonably bullish he’ll be OK, but it’s good timing. We’ve got a week to get him over the incident and then a week to prepare him for the next game. I’d be very surprised if he’s not available for Round 1.”
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