We certainly had a lot of opportunities, probably the marks we dropped inside 50 cost us the game. I think we might have dropped nine inside 50. They were costly but in all other areas of the ground we matched up pretty well.
Jarryd Roughead played up forward. We've had Willo (Mark Williams) there last year where we tried to manufacture goals by hitting lead-up targets all the time. Alastair Clarkson has gone on the record as saying that if we're to win premierships we need some big forwards. We're relying on Roughead to try and give us that option in his second year of footy which is a big ask. But he certainly showed something, especially in the last quarter when he took a couple of really strong grabs. If he'd taken the marks and presented in the first half he probably could have kicked six goals. He was really positive.
Max Bailey played his first game in the ruck. He's already put on five kilograms since he's been on board at the club, so he's now 100kg and 206cm. He out-muscled All-Australian full-back Ben Rutten for a big mark in the full-forward line so that's really pleasing. For him to do that in his first game was exciting. He's going to be a great find for us. Zac Dawson also deserves a mention for playing on (Ian) Perrie and keeping him goalless.
We've got Essendon in Bendigo this Friday night. We'll give the opportunities to a lot of the young guys who've been really consistent throughout the pre-season. We might also rest some of the older types.
Guys like Ben Kane - who had a really bad run with injuries last year and was dropped to the rookie list - he'll get an opportunity through the midfield. Stephen Gilham, who's come from Port Adelaide, we'll give him a chance down back.
We'll elevate a rookie because of some of the long-term injuries - Beau Dowler and Beau Muston. They'll be a spot there and those guys are fighting for that spot. Ben McGlynn, who's been really impressive during the pre-season, will get a go in the midfield.
Our squad will probably be a younger more inexperienced team than a full-strength team but that seems to be the way teams are going in most of these NAB Challenge games.
Of the field, we've moved completely into Waverley now and it's been great. The big bonus is that we've got a full, MCG-size ground that we can train on. When you're doing a lot of your training drills you need to be doing them to the right dimensions. I reckon that's the biggest plus. Sure, the inside is a lot cleaner and a lot more organised than the old Glenferrie stand but the big plus is out on the training ground.
Glenferrie was a bit of a postage stamp so when you're doing a lot of your game-style drills, it's not realistic for your ball pattern and your ball movement. Now that we've got a full-size ground it's a lot more realistic and the players can get a better understanding of how hard they've got to run and how long they've got to kick which is only going to help our skill execution during games.
Probably the only problem so far is that it's been perhaps a little bit windy, which we're not going to have much control over. But as the ground develops and houses go up around the boundary, I think that will keep a bit of the wind out.
