Who's knocking on the Door?
With the North Melbourne side functioning as well as it has all season during Friday night’s match against Carlton, the chances of any changes for the upcoming bout against Port Adelaide would be slim - at best.
However that didn’t stop a raft of VFL aligned players putting in solid performances on Saturday in an effort to receive a call up to the senior side.
As far as North’s reserve forwards go, Corey Jones (17 disposals, 7 marks, 4 goals, 3 behinds) again stood out with Josh Smith (15 disposals, 5 marks, 4 goals) also damaging in North Ballarat’s four point win over Williamstown.
Playing at their home ground, Eureka Stadium, the pair kicked 8 goals and had plenty of the ball.
While Aaron Edwards didn’t trouble the scorers, he was prominent around the ground with 17 possessions and 8 marks.
North Melbourne Development Coach John Lamont said Edwards ‘worked extremely hard’ throughout the afternoon.
Meanwhile in Geelong, Nathan O’Keefe and Robbie Tarrant lined up for Werribee. Just when Tarrant looked to be getting into the groove, injury to a team mate meant he had to shift to the backline and plug a hole.
“Taz (Tarrant) was really looking dangerous in the first quarter,” Kangaroos’ Development Coach Jason Lappin told kangaroos.com.au.
“Marty Pask went off with an injury and it meant Robbie had to go back which was disappointing. But he played well down there which was a positive.”
In Werribee’s forward line, O’Keefe (13 possessions) had a tough day with Ryan Gamble getting the better of him.
As far as North’s reserve defenders go, you can’t look past Jamie Macmillan. Playing across half-back and on the wing, the 2009 Kangaroos’ draftee put himself in the best possible position for an AFL debut should the opportunity arise with 23 possessions for Werribee.
It was a trying time for most of the Tigers’ defenders with their opponents remarkably efficient in front of the big sticks. Geelong kicked 19 goals and just four behinds for the day despite wet and slippery conditions.
Alan Obst (1 goal, 12 hit-outs) played at centre half-back in the first half and then moved into the ruck with Majak Daw (20 hit-outs, 7 tackles).
Leigh Harding racked up 23 touches for the North Ballarat Roosters and also played across the half-back line.
Leigh Adams made his intentions to get back into North’s midfield clear during Werribee’s loss. In his first game back since recovering from a hamstring injury, Adams collected 22 touches and enjoyed the run.
“He played about 70 per cent of game time today and really needed the hit-out. Fitness wasn’t an issue at all and we were very pleased with how well he played,” Lappin said.
Ben Speight (15 disposals, 4 tackles) played his best game since coming back from a broken jaw and kicked two important goals - one from the “Gary Ablett junior pocket” at Skilled Stadium.
Matthew Scott was taken to Geelong hospital for observation after suffering from a heavy concussion. He was dumped in an aggressive tackle in the final term and finished with 15 touches.
There was also concern for North Ballarat midfielder Marcus White who copped a nasty cork to the hip in the second quarter.
Gavin Urquhart (18 disposals), Warren Benjamin (16 disposals) and Brayden Norris (11 disposals) all made solid contributions in the Roosters’ win.
Geelong: 19.4.118
Werribee: 12.12.84
North Ballarat: 15.11.101
Williamstown: 14.13.97
