The NEAFL Lions fell 8-points short of the Southport Sharks at Palm Beach on Saturday.
Read the match report here.
Please find below Coach Shane Woewodin’s appraisal on each of the listed Lions who played against the Sharks.
| James Aish | Aishy came back to us with a great attitude and had a solid performance as an inside-mid on the weekend. He had a lot of attention from the opposition. I found his stoppage work to be really good. He had nine clearances for the day which is a great result for an inside mid, he was composed with the ball. I was really happy with his ball security but also his ability to equalize and get forward and get out of stoppage which has been a room for improvement in the senior midfield. |
| Archie Smith | Archie took another step on the weekend – with his ability to find the ball around the ground. He dominated hit-outs for us. Probably didn’t get full advantage out of his ruck work but it was good to see him take a couple of catches around the ground. He’ll be sorely missed now for 4-6 weeks with a knee injury which is really unfortunate for Archie this time of year. |
| Brent Staker | Stakes was OK – took a couple of catches around the ground for us as a midfielder. Again, we played him as an inside mid, just to get some confidence again and get some running into his game. We felt he didn’t secure the footy enough, and wasn't as imposing around the outer stoppage area as we’d like. |
| Billy Evans | Wasn’t really sighted throughout the day as an inside mid. Probably needs a bit more urgency from him around the ground and a bit more aggression, but is continuing to develop as a rookie. |
| Mitch Golby | Played a half for us before we had to get him off the ground at half time due to being an emergency for the seniors. He’s working really hard Mitch, finding consistent form and is knocking on the door for a senior spot. A discipline issue during the game but generally played his role really well. |
| Nick Robertson | A little rusty throughout the day with ball in hands, but certainly in his intensity in his running and his workrate is outstanding at NEAFL level. He certainly can bring that to a senior team if required. Lost structure a couple of times too which hurt us. |
| Matt Hammelmann | Hopefully was a little bit of a breakout for Matty. A better presence as a tall forward option for us this week - kicked five goals and was probably our best player over the day – had a real impact on the ground. It’s a minimum standard now for Matty and hopefully he can build on that going forward to Redlands this week. |
| Harris Andrews | Played as a key forward/second ruck to Archie. Took 10 marks around the ground. He didn’t go to ground this week, he kept his feet a lot around the contest which was really good. He didn’t look tired at all. He had a real presence as well – didn’t hit the scoreboard but certainly his assistance in the ruck was very good. |
| Liam Dawson | Played a high forward role for us. We’re continuing his education around that role and we really want to see Liam’s running capacity improve and that’s probably why we’re playing him in the high forward role. He didn’t have any impact that we wanted him to on the weekend. |
| Josh Clayton | Pretty solid from Josh. His first half was important for us with his ability to run and get out of stoppage and get forward. He missed two crucial opportunities at goal in the first quarter which he should’ve kicked but again we’ll work on improving that. Probably needs more education about his role as a forward in transition. |
| Darcy Gardiner | Probably one of our best players in the first half on a past AFL player in Jack Anthony. Repelled Southport’s efforts a lot down back, intercept marked really well, was strong in the contest. Just after half time he cramped and we probably lost his influence as a key defender in the second half. Will knock on the door for senior selection with that performance. |
| Jordon Bourke | Probably poor in the first quarter, took some intercept marks, spoiled really well. Again it is about his urgency for a full game and not lapsing in concentration will be his next step if he is to go to another level. |
| Hugh Beasley | Very good in the contest as a first year player. Played a key back role. Made a couple of skills errors throughout the game and lacked composure at times. Certainly took 10 marks as another defender and is growing with each game. Has been very consistent as a first year defender. He was pretty good for us. |
| Josh Watts | Josh was OK in the contest, still got to work hard around stoppages as a small to medium defender about playing on certain players. He is working hard on his tackling, he is OK in offence at the moment using the ball pretty well for us. It’s just how he can be a little more imposing around the contest. |
| Josh McGuinness | Josh is going OK. It was good to see him go forward and kick a goal. He is playing a bit of half back wing at the moment, learning two roles. He was pretty good over the day, probably missed his overlap from half back this week compared to previous but generally a good game. |
| Tom Cutler | Tommy’s been working on his contested ground work stuff, certainly his offence game is going really well. He had a big impact on the game offensively with his handball receives and running off half back. He kicked three goals, was moved into the midfield in the last term where he kicked two of them, just to give us some run around the ground. Will certainly knock for a senior spot during the week given his ability to run off half back. He’s improving every week. |
