Majak Daw's all-round domination
Football fans witnessed perhaps the first real consistent performance throughout an entire game from Majak Daw on Sunday.
An impact player, the ruckman has been criticised for fading in and out of games at times but in the VFL on Sunday, football fans witnessed perhaps his first real consistent performance throughout an entire game.
It began from the opening bounce when he took the ball out of the ruck, slammed it on his boot and got the ball into Werribee’s forward line.
“Majak started really well in the ruck and was able to maintain it,” North Melbourne development coach John Lamont said.
“I thought at times he dominated and gave our midfielders first use of the ball all day.”
So what was the result of a four-quarter effort from Daw?
The statistics tell the story; 50 hit-outs, 20 possessions, 5 marks, 1 goal.
“It’s no surprise to me that he managed those numbers,” Lamont added after a glance at the stat sheet.
“That was a really good effort from him today.”
Scott West said the significance of the round was obvious.
“It was really important to him (Multicultural Round). He had a word to the boys before the game about what it meant to him, and how honoured he was that it was being recognized. He obviously has his motivations to play, and I thought he was terrific in the ruck today.”
Daw wasn’t alone and despite Casey fielding 15 AFL-listed players, the Tigers were able to blow the game wide open and record a 56-point win.
Jordan Gysberts, playing against some of his former Melbourne team-mates was also solid with 15 touches, while Scott McMahon back from an ankle injury had 16 possessions and a goal. Will Sierakowski notched up 20 disposals in defence.
“I liked Sierra’s game today. I though he was very good and having Scotty McMahon back there with him helped. They worked well together but Sierra had good poise with the footy and generally good positioning,” Lamont commented.
McMahon’s presence also had a good influence on Ayden Kennedy who finished with 12 disposals.
“Ayden was a lot better this week. He played a lot tighter on his opponent and refused to allow any easy hit-ups.
“We’ve been asking him to play more desperately to deny his opponent success and he was better at that today. With ball in hand, there’s no doubt about it, he’s AFL quality. He’s got an AFL kick, he’s AFL size and he’s got AFL speed. He just needs to nail that AFL defensive mindset which is coming.”
Two players struggling for some confidence though are Sam Wright and Kieran Harper and Lamont believes both showed good signs.
Wright, playing on a wing, collected 14 touches and a goal while Harper had 6 possessions, 5 tackles and a goal.
Ben Speight played in the development squad, but Daniel Currie and Tim McGenniss saw no action due to respective foot and calf injuries.