Reserves Coach Shane Woewodin gives lions.com.au his assessment of the weekend’s game against Southport.
We travelled down to Southport to play the Sharks who have been in relatively good form in recent weeks. They kept Aspley goalless last week in trying conditions.
We started the game pretty well in the first 10 minutes - we hit the scoreboard early. The boys felt up and about and looked up and about. There was plenty of energy. They created some enthusiasm amongst themselves. But then they dropped away defensively and just some concentration efforts in the first enabled Southport to control pretty much the majority of the first quarter.
I think that's where the game was won. Southport dominated the remainder of the quarter - 4.6 to our 1.3 and for the rest of the game it was pretty much even. I think they outscored us by six points in the last quarter whereas the middle two it was an even contest.
In terms of a structure point of view I thought we let ourselves down. Over and all the day itself there were more contributors, more intent and the boys felt like they were in the game. It wasn’t until the last 10 minutes where Southport sort of kicked away again.
We were still in the game at three quarter time and missed a shot on the siren. We missed a couple of opportunities early in the last to really put us in within a kick but we weren’t able to capitalise and that's probably where the day was at for us. Our ability to be more effective in our skill execution and a couple of decisions within that. Also our efficiency in front of goal too - 9.15 didn't help. I thought that was the difference with our group.
You can't coach the intent, so at least that was there - that was great. But, our ability to finish off and hurt the opposition when needed was what killed us. It was disappointing to come away with a loss but it's something to build on for the following week.
As I said, there were more contributors, players playing their roles better. We've just got to tidy up the little things.
Lions Academy players Jacob Alison and Jack Rolls returned from their state duties. We won't see them again but at least they were able to come back and represent the jumper for a while. We got another game into Sam Skinner and Michael Close too . It's fantastic just to get these boys back on the park again.
We want to continue to see to see these boys knocking on the door and we want them smashing it down so they can play some senior footy and put heat on the senior team.
Talking points:
Marco Paparone: Marco came back from injury and moved a lot more freely this week and looked like he was covering the ground better. It was good to get his run back. He contributed well in his first game back but whether he needs another week is up to senior selectors.
Rhys Mathieson: Again, Rhys did a lot of good stuff. Rhys' improved his running the previous two weeks which has been his focus - getting his GPS numbers up.
Claye Beams: Only played three quarters before becoming an emergency for the seniors on the weekend. He stakes another claim by bringing his skills. His skills have been pretty good.
Matt Hammelmann: It was really pleasing to see Matty Hammelmann again probably in our top 2-3 for the day. He is really building on three or four really solid, consistent weeks as a key back. I know he's only still a rookie but we're really seeing some improvement in Hamma and he's been able to take on the role and accept it. We know he's a key forward but for a young developing player to learn how to play as a key back and see some real positive results in his game going forward is good to see. He can only get better and continue to put pressure on senior defenders.
Jono Freeman: He came back and played a senior role. He was able to contribute more as a ruckman around the ground and get into more contests giving him an opportunity to get more ball in hand. It was a very different role from him. Didn't expect a helluva lot in terms of ruck contests but his ability to get around the ground and find some footy builded confidence. It was pleasing.
Eric Hipwood: He's been working really hard on his game, particularly in the contest area which I thought was a really good sign. His inclusion in the senior side this week is reward for effort.
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