In the final VFL practice match before the season proper, the Kangaroos’ two affiliates North Ballarat and Werribee faced off, meaning several players vying for the same positions were matched up.
For rookie Eric Wallace, that meant he faced an almighty task against Daniel Currie.
“They had a really even contest in the ruck, which will be great for Eric’s confidence,” Senior Development Coach Gavin Brown told NMFC.com.au.
“It was a compliment to Eric and the way he has improved his game that he was solid against Daniel, even though his around the ground work still needs to improve.”
Currie worked hard all day, but wasn’t able to gain the edge over his inexperienced opponent.
“I thought he was entitled to be more dominant at stoppages against Eric. When he was forward the entries didn’t help his task,” Development Manager Ben Dyer said.
Joel Tippett took another step forward just days after being promoted from the rookie list, labelled a ‘standout’ for his job in several contests against Majak Daw.
Daw had a strong patch in the third quarter, pulling down several strong marks, but was otherwise quiet.
Kayne Turner (2 goals, 8 disposals) had been lively so far in the pre-season, but met his match on Saturday - Mitch Wilkins.
“His (Wilkins’) responsibility was solely to cut out Kayne and he still managed to get 20 disposals which was an impressive effort,” Brown added.
The Tigers also had their share of winners on the day, perhaps the most noteworthy youngster Mason Wood. After North’s scoring struggles a night earlier, Wood’s 22 disposals couldn’t have come at a better time.
Dyer was a big fan of his game, singling his contested marking and pressure out for special praise.
Tim McGenniss played a defensive role on dangerous forward Robin Nahas and was able to keep him reasonably quiet. Dyer also pointed out his ability to offer Werribee another option to use the ball going forward, but admitted work still needed to be done on his decision-making.
Levi Greenwood was another who came in for praise.
“Levi’s work rate was outstanding on the way to 30 possessions. He won it and inside and managed to link up going forward.”
Liam Anthony and Ben Jacobs both had more than 30 possessions for the Roosters and were the side’s main distributors from the middle.
“Liam had 12 terrific clearances, while Ben was very dynamic around the contest. Both his (Jacobs’) offensive and defensive responsibilities were carried out well,” Brown said.
Max Warren provided plenty of rebound from the Roosters’ defensive half on his way to 20 possessions, while veteran Michael Firrito did similar for Werribee and collected 13 disposals.
Trent Dumont bounced back from a quiet effort against Richmond and was described by Brown as ‘lively in the contest’.
North Ballarat starts its 2014 VFL season on Saturday by travelling to Victoria Park to take on Collingwood. Werribee has one more practice match against Sandringham before its season starts on April 5 against Box Hill.
