Carlton’s VFL affiliate, the Northern Bullants, have won their sixth game for the year - an impressive 11-point defeat of Geelong on Sunday at Skilled Stadium. Senior coach David Teague shares his thoughts on the match and gives a summary of how some of the senior-listed players performed.
A WIN over the premiers gives you a lot of confidence. Geelong's side is obviously a lot different from last year's, but they play their ground well, down at Geelong.
It's a big oval and our boys had to change their game style a little bit to suit the ground, and they did that and played well.
Geelong got off to a good start and we were then behind for most of the day, but then in the third quarter against the breeze, we caught back up again and put ourselves in a position to win the game.
To the boys' credit, they fought it out and got over the line in the fourth quarter. It was a bit like going to the dentist – we really had to grind it out – so it was a good effort.
The most pleasing thing to come from the win was the work of our forwards. Cain Ackland kicked eight goals, but the forwards generally worked well together. Adam Hartlett and Jake Edwards were very good, and that's pleasing.
Jason Saddington also played really well and was our best player across centre half-back to full-back, and Joey Anderson played on ball and a bit defensively and was really good too.
There were a lot of boys that put their hand up for senior consideration as well, and they will stay in contention.
It was definitely the best game Cain has played in awhile. He played as our tall anchor target, and we kicked the ball long and he marked it. He's playing with a bit of enthusiasm and zip and he's catching the ball well. It was a great effort.
It was great to get another win because we're getting a few together, and also against Geelong who are going to be one of the teams, after struggling earlier in the year, that will fight for a spot in the finals with us and few others.
If we can put a few wins together now, we may be a chance for top four, so we want to win every game we can. This week we've got fourth-placed Port Melbourne.
It's going to be a tough game. Because of the rules, there's going to be a few of the Carlton boys that miss out on a game. As Port is a stand-alone side, we're only allowed to play 12 Carlton-listed players and that includes rookies.
On the weekend we played 15 Carlton guys, so it's only three players that will miss but we're getting a couple back from injury as well, so there will be a few Carlton-listed players playing in the reserves this weekend.
It's another opportunity for us, and it's a chance for some of the younger guys to compete against some older, more physical bodies, which is really good because if they're going to get promoted to AFL level, they're going to come up against some older and bigger opponents.
Port Melbourne lost their first game for the year, and another one earlier to Werribee, but since the first couple of rounds they've been one of the form sides of the competition, so it's going to be really tough.
We're playing out at Preston, at NAB Oval there, which we play pretty well, so hopefully that can help us.
Geelong 6.3 11.4 13.7 15.10 (100)
Northern Bullants 4.0 9.2 13.6 17.9 (111)
GOALS
Geelong: T. Hawkins 7, S. Potter 2, R. Gamble 2, B. Moles, S. Simpson, J. Davenport, A. Donohue
Northern Bullants: C. Ackland 8, A. Hartlett 3, P. Colbert 2, J. Saddington, R. Jackson, J. Edwards, A. Joseph
BEST
Geelong: T. Hawkins, J. Davenport, M. Firman, D. McKenna, B. Moles, J. Byrne
Northern Bullants: J. Saddington, C. Ackland, J. Edwards, D. Davies, A. Hartlett, J. Anderson
