VFL and development coach, Craig McRae provides a summary of how the Tigers’ players performed in last Saturday’s Round 18 match against Geelong at GMHBA Stadium.  

Anthony Miles

29 disposals, 10 clearances, one goal, seven inside-50s and eight tackles

“Continues to be a real star at this level. He led from the front. His 15 contested possessions was about six or seven higher than anyone on the ground for us. We love what he does and what he brings every week.”

Callum Coleman-Jones

18 disposals, five tackles, 10 hit-outs, one goal and three clearances

“Played through the ruck and forward. He didn’t really impact the game as a forward, but it’s pleasing to see this young man develop as a future ruckman of this Football Club. He was up against an experienced Zac Smith, he seemed to hold his own for most of the game. He’s showing some real growth in that part of his game.”

Noah Balta

18 disposals, four tackles, one goal and six handball receives

“Continues his good form as a bit of swingman down back and up forward. Every week now you’re seeing all his strengths on display. If he can just tidy up a couple of the concentration things then he looks like he has a real future.”

Patrick Naish

17 disposals, seven handball receives and one tackle

“Played half-back and a bit of wing. He continues to work on the defensive part of his game, we want the ball in his hand and we want him buying into team defence as well. It was an okay performance.”

Corey Ellis

17 disposals, four tackles and eight handball receives

“He had parts of his game that were really good. I thought up until halftime he was one of our best players, but due to circumstances with a couple of injuries he was forced to go down back. This potentially took him away from the ball, but he’s an important player for us, Corey.”

Bachar Houli

15 disposals, seven handball receives and three inside-50s

“Only played the first half, just with his managed minutes, he really impacted offensively. His GPS (numbers) were still one of best while only playing a half. It reflected how hard he worked and potentially how others weren’t working as hard.”

Callum Moore

11 disposals, two goals and two tackles

“Not the highs or impact of the previous week where he was outstanding. Only took two marks and just his positioning forward of the ball and judging the distance of the ground was a challenge for him.”

Ben Miller

10 disposals, three tackles and five rebound-50s

“I thought he was one of our best players. He continued to come forward to defend. Supporting our backline with strong spoils and marking. He lost a couple of critical contests to Wylie Buzza in the first-half but take those out of it and he was probably one of our best players.”

Ryan Garthwaite

Eight disposals, three marks, five tackles and four rebound-50s

“I thought he was one of our best players. He defended really solidly, really hard to play on. He’s such an improved player at this level. A second-year player who looks like he’s been playing for years and he’s just waiting in the wings to play AFL footy.”

Ivan Soldo

Five disposals, 36 hit-outs, three tackles and three clearances

“His work around the stoppage was important for us, neutralising the effect of Zac Smith.”

Shaun Mannagh

20 disposals, two goals, seven tackles and nine handball receives

“Played through the wing and a little bit forward. I thought he was a bit scratchy with ball in hand in the first half, but it was really pleasing that he got his game up and going. Particularly in the second half where he kicked two really nice goals for us. His tackling was a feature.”

Brandon Wood

18 disposals, six tackles, four clearances and nine handball receives

“Only six contested possessions in an area that is usually a strength of his. We’d like to see a little more impact in the game than what he produced on the weekend, but it was a pretty solid performance.”

Jacob Ballard

14 disposals, one goal, three tackles, three clearances and three inside-50s

“I think he’s in great form, kicked a really classy goal for us. His 50^th game for the Richmond VFL team, which makes him now the games record holder for the VFL (Tigers).”

Joel Ernest

13 disposals, four inside-50s and six handball receives

“Played half-back—not too many highs and not too many lows in a pretty solid performance from him. Just defending at ground level is something we’re really working on with Joel, but it was an okay performance.”

Tom Silvestro

12 disposals, seven tackles and seven handball receives

“A really important player for us, played through the midfield and in other parts of the ground. It looks like he’s covering the ground really well for us.”

Steve Morris

11 disposals, two tackles and four handball receives

“Played forward and then went back. He hurt his ankle and looks like he may be in doubt for a couple of weeks. We’ll wait for scans to prove that.”

Jake Aarts

11 disposals, one goal and seven tackles

“Such a terrier. Low possessions, but just his tenacity was unbelievable. He’s a really, really good leader in terms of his competitive nature. We love him in our team. He was one of our best players on the day.”

Daniel Coffield

10 disposals, five marks and two tackles

“Solid defensive day, he supported the backs and was hard to play on. His man didn’t impact the game which we like.”

Brenton Credlin

10 disposals, three marks and four inside-50s

“Played wing and a bit of half-back. He just needs to tidy up a couple parts of his defensive game, but other than that, his aerial power stood out. He certainly played his role.”

Harry Tanner

Nine disposals, two tackles and three inside-50s

“A good role player for us. He didn’t have the impact of last week, but he just needs to lengthen a bit more and get inside-50 to support when the ball hit the ground. It’s something he can focus on this week.”

Blake Grewar

Eight disposals, four tackles and three clearances

“A really quiet day on his standards. Played inside mid(field) and a little bit forward, we just need him hunting the ball and putting pressure on, which we know he’s capable of.”

Charlie Thompson

Eight disposals, six handball receives and two tackles

“His first game for a number of weeks. We played him as a forward where he needs to learn to play if he’s going to fit into our structure. He’ll take a lot of learning out of this game.”

Joel Cusack

Four disposals, four tackles and one mark

“Played as our 23^rd player and he’s another who will learn an enormous amount of this week’s game in terms of how to position forward of the ball for us. Particularly against Geelong.”