Richmond’s VFL coach Tim Clarke provides an exclusive summary of the AFL- listed players who featured in Saturday’s 32 point victory over North Ballarat.
Matt Thomas
30 disposals, 17 contested possessions, 8 clearances, 8 tackles
Played his best games of the year for us, that strings together two really strong games in a row. His decision making with the ball was really crucial for us. He’s now playing AFL-standard footy which is great for us.
Ben Lennon
25 disposals, 9 contested, 3 marks
Played his best game for us on the wing; this was his second or third week playing on the wing. He continues to improve in this area. He got up and down the ground well and used the ball as well as Benny does, we were extremely pleased with his performance.
Matt Dea
23 disposals, 9 contested possessions, 1 goal
Continues to play solid football in the backline, he had plenty of interception marks, and won critical contest for us. A player who is pushing for senior selection.
Matt McDonough
18 disposals, 10 contested possessions, 7 tackles
Only played a half of footy and still had 18 touches. Impacted the game in crucial stoppages and played a high level of AFL footy. Another player pushing for senior selection.
Liam McBean
16 disposals, 6 marks, 4 goals
Worked tirelessly in the ruck for us and gave our midfielders fresh use of the ball. He was able to get forward and kick four goals. It has been a tough couple of weeks for Liam and hopefully he's pushing for senior selection in the coming weeks.
David Astbury
13 disposals, 6 marks, 1 goal
It was good to see David back out to his marking best. We were really pleased with his development, in the last couple of weeks, coming back from injury. It wouldn’t be surprising if he was playing senior footy in the next few weeks.
Reece McKenzie
13 disposals, 6 marks, 1 goal
Had another solid game of footy and continues to compete in the contest, his focus lately has been around the contest and that was shown in his latest game of footy.
Steve Morris
13 disposals, 6 contested possessions
Defensively was outstanding and gave us plenty of run from half-back. He didn’t have the high numbers but the run he provided was invaluable. His hardness and leadership was fantastic all day.
Chris Knights
11 disposals, 4 marks
Only played a half of footy, but played an exciting brand of footy at centre half-forward. He inserted the footy multiple times into our forward half. It was really exciting to have Chris back in the side because of what he brings on and off the field.
Connor Menadue
10 disposals, 5 contested possessions, 3 tackles
Played a different role than usual down back, played a strong defensive game and was strong in critical contest. As a developing player kept finding more and more of the ball which is great from a young player.
Todd Elton
9 disposals, 5 contested possessions
Had a tough defensive match up and did extremely well for three quarters before becoming fatigued due to his first game back after a couple of weeks off due to injury
Sam Lloyd
8 disposals, 6 contested possessions, 1 goal
Only played a half of footy, he had an impact on the game with a goal and played brilliantly in and around the contest.
Jayden Short
8 disposals
Played well as a small forward, but didn’t have a major impact in the game like we usually expect. But as a developing player he will soon become a high-level player. Jayden suffered an injury to his ankle during the game.
Matt Arnot
7 disposals, 2 clearances
Matt played a shutdown role on a small forward from North Ballarat, did exceptionally well and has been really good for us in the last couple if weeks.
- compiled by Nathan Roberts
