Life at North Melbourne has been an education for Ben Jacobs. After coming to the club as a defender from Port, he’s been thrown into the midfield and now forward for North Ballarat with great impact.

His game against Richmond at Punt Road on Saturday was encouraging according to North development manager Ben Dyer.

“It was a pretty positive day for Ben playing a bit of a different role,” Dyer explained.

“He collected 18 disposals and kicked two goals from about four shots in around three quarters of footy.

“He had some minor cramping issues late but overall, it was a good hit-out for him.”

Also trying to add another dimension to his game was Liam Anthony. A proven outside midfielder, the 26-year-old is working hard on the inside during the Roosters’ 52-point win.

A 32-possession match has him ‘heading in the right direction’ according to Dyer.

“He was really aggressive in the contest.

“He had more than 30 touches and racked them up everywhere but of particular significance was his work inside. He was very effective.”

There was also a lot of focus on Leigh Adams (21 disposals) with the mid/forward getting through another game following injury while ruckman Eric Wallace more than held his own against Orren Stephenson.

“Eric did really well against a bona fide AFL ruckman and the stats sheet has him in front on the hit-out count with 33 to 30,” Dyer commented.

“For him to be equal with someone of that stature is a great sign of just how much he’s developed in the position.

“He is starting to get to a lot more contests now and is clearly getting himself into better positions around the ground which is encouraging.”

Max Warren also caught Dyer's eye playing as a small defender and finished the day with 25 touches.

“Maxy linked up play really well for us out of defence and grew in confidence as the game progressed.

“He played a s spare defender at time and his offence improved as the game wore on. It was one of the better games I’ve seen from him so far.”

Mitch Wilkins had some time on a bigger bodied opponent for a quarter – given the task to stop former Roo Aaron Edwards.

“It was a good experience for him to play on a much bigger opponent but we were pretty happy with his hard running and the fact he offered a bit on the offensive side too.”

Trent Dumont struggled to get into the game but managed to collect 20 possessions.

North Ballarat 5.4.34, 12.6.78, 17.10.112, 19.12.126
Richmond 2.4.16, 5.7.37, 6.7.43, 11.8.74