VFL Midfield and Development coach, Xavier Clarke provides a summary of how the Tigers’ players performed in last Saturday’s Round 13 win over Box Hill Hawks at Swinburne Centre, Punt Road Oval.

Corey Ellis

26 disposals, 12 handball receives, five inside-50s and three rebound-50s

“Played midfield for half of the game and went down to half back for the second half. He was pretty dominant for us down there, read the play well and set us up in attack. He’s playing good footy and is really good form at the moment. He’s starting to put his hand up for senior selection.”

Anthony Miles

23 disposals, six clearances and nine handball receives

“Was tagged pretty much all-day, heavily tagged and worked his way through it. Still ended the game with 23 disposals and battled pretty hard with a lot of attention on him. Unfortunately, he finished the game with concussion and will most likely be in-doubt for this weekend.”

Kamdyn McIntosh

23 disposals, one goal and three clearances

“Played his first game in the VFL for a while, played in the midfield in the first half and then played down back in the second half. He certainly showed leadership there and got his hands on the footy at times as well. Just probably didn’t use the ball as well as he probably would have liked, but it’s good to see him still play good footy.”

Shai Bolton

22 disposals, six clearances, six tackles, eight inside-50s and one goal

“Spent the second half in the midfield and played really well. He got his hands on the ball, also finished the game with six tackles, which is pleasing to see. He was exciting around the ball in the midfield in the second half.”

Sam Lloyd

21 disposals, four tackles, six rebound-50s and eight handball receives

“Played across half back for most of the game, especially in the first half. He went into the midfield in the second half, where his skill and decision making, which are certainly a strength of his, stood-out in a game which was pretty contested.”

Connor Menadue

21 disposals, four tackles and eight inside-50s

“Playing good footy at the moment in the VFL and is in good form. Played in between wing roles, half-back and also a little bit of inside mid(fielder). It’s good to see him have consistency in his games.”

Liam Baker

21 disposals, three clearances and five inside-50s

“Has been really good and his form’s been great in the VFL. He’s playing a really good role for us and is in good form and hopefully we start hearing Liam Baker’s name talked about at senior selection.”

Patrick Naish

18 disposals, two goals, three clearances and four inside-50s

“Did some exciting things, broke the lines a few times and kicked two really nice goals and showed his strength when he gets the ball and runs and carries and breaks the lines.”

Noah Balta

17 disposals, four inside-50s, three tackles and three contested marks

“Mixture of mid(field), back and also forward, certainly still learning his craft but he’s an exciting player to watch. One that hopefully, if he continues developing, will be a very good player for us in the future.”

Callum Moore

16 disposals, six marks and two goals

“Was a good forward-50 target for us. He’s in good form and doing all he can to hopefully put his name forward and back up for senior selection. He finished the game with 2.4, which was a pleasing effort for him.”

Ivan Soldo

28 hit-outs, 14 disposals and five clearances

“Carried the ruck work most of the day and battled pretty hard. Had a couple of really good marking contests and got us going in attack.”

Ryan Garthwaite

13 disposals, seven rebound-50s and four marks

“Solid down back as usual, very rarely loses one-on-one contests and finished the game with 11 spoils, which is big.”

Jacob Townsend

12 disposals, five tackles and three inside-50s

“Didn’t get a lot of the footy, but battled hard. A mixture of forward and inside mid(fielder).”

Tyson Stengle

12 disposals, two goals and 10 contested possessions

“A little bit quiet on the numbers (disposals), but still finished the game with 2.2. He’s hard to stop in forward line with his forward craft.”

Callum Coleman-Jones

10 disposals, one goal, and five marks

“A mixture of mid(field) and ruck. He’s still learning his craft in the ruck, but he’s developing really well.”

Ben Miller

Nine disposals, one tackle and one clearance

“Very similar to (Ryan) Garthwaite, he never does too much wrong down back. He defends really well, does what he needs to do and shows really good leadership down back which is really pleasing for a first-year player.”

Steve Morris

17 disposals, eight handball receives and six contested possessions

“Had a couple of weeks off, came back and certainly showed his leadership and the reason why he’s the skipper of the footy club. He led from the front.”

Jake Aarts

17 disposals, two goals and seven handball receives

“Battled hard all-day. His pressure around the ball in our forward-50 is absolutely phenomenal—we love him for that. He works hard and finished the game off with two goals.”

Tom Silvestro

16 disposals, seven handball receives and three rebound-50s

“Battles hard all-day. A player that we absolutely love in our side and the players really respect him for what he does. He plays his role, week-in-week-out and is in good form at the moment. He was also rewarded with a goal.”

Brandon Wood

15 disposals, three tackles and four marks

“Mixture between inside mid(fielder) and forward, he’s a bull for us in there (midfield). He gets his hands on the ball and is hard to stop.”

Dan Coffield

12 disposals, six rebound-50s and five handball receives

“Is starting to find his feet back in the game now, I think it was the third game back for him after a long lay-off with injury. He’s starting to find his feet in our backline.”

Jacob Ballard

11 disposals, seven contested possessions and one goal

“Played midfield, inside mid(fielder), forward and wing. Again, a little bit quieter on disposals, but his leadership, body work and pressure around the contest is invaluable for us. We love having him in the side.”

Connor Riley

Five disposals, two handball receives and one mark

“First game for the club as our 23^rd player. I like what this kid brings, he’s got high work-rate and he’s a strong-bodied player to have around the footy. He positioned himself well at stoppages at times as well. It was pleasing for him to get his first game and hopefully we see him continuing to play VFL.”