VFL Senior Coach Damian Truslove analyses the performances of the 17 AFL-listed Blues who featured for the Carlton Reserves in Round 7 VFL action.

8. Lachie Fogarty
22 disposals, 10 marks, two goals

‘Fog’ started the game with a bit of time inside as well as at half-forward, before he predominantly played forward in the second half. He had really good defensive patterns and he finished off his work with his skill execution in the front half.

13. Blake Acres
31 disposals, eight marks, two goals

Another really strong performance from Blake. He spent the majority of the game on the wing, before late in the last quarter playing a little bit of time across half-back. He found plenty of the ball and used it well, while his patterns to support our team defence were outstanding.

16. Ben Camporeale
24 disposals, eight inside 50s, one goal

Benny Campo, it was his second game back from his concussion and he found some really good form. He was hard and tough at stoppages, and he continues to improve with his ball use going forward.

25. Liam Reidy
24 disposals, 23 hitouts, 15 clearances

Liam was outstanding on the day. His ruck work and his ability to win territory from stoppages really set the game up for us: I thought his attitude and his aggression set the scene for the whole team.

28. Harry Charleson
21 disposals, six marks, one goal

Harry Charleson is in good form. Playing off half-back, he’s finding plenty of the ball and his defensive positioning is always improving. His offence has been a real feature in the last few weeks: kicking his first VFL goal was nice, a good reward for the work he’s putting in.

30. Jack Ison
19 disposals, seven inside 50s, two goals

Jack had another strong performance, he’s improving his defensive intent and we know how classy he is with ball in hand. It was a strong all-round game: he played higher up the ground as a forward and got involved with our ball movement in the middle of the ground while also helping our defence.

31. Campbell Chesser
19 disposals, eight inside 50s

‘Chess’ played inside mid and wing, and he was our skipper on the day. His leadership was outstanding all day, running hard to outnumber at contests and was good with his ball use.

33. Lewis Young
23 disposals (95 per cent efficiency), 16 marks

It was a strong performance from Lewis, really strong aerially. He helped us get a lot of forward-half turnovers with really strong positioning, while he was really strong overhead and has had much-improved ball use by foot.

36. Cooper Lord
22 disposals, seven marks, one goal

Coop played predominantly in the middle while also spending a little bit of time up forward. He was hard and tough at the contest, his defensive pressure in terms of his tackling was a feature.

37. Jordan Boyd
23 disposals (91 per cent efficiency), six rebound 50s

‘Boydy’ is in really great form, like a number of our players. He gave us a lot of drive off half-back, while his fight in our defensive 50 to put pressure on the opposition was excellent, as was his leadership. We want our boys to play to their strengths, so we encourage him to go for his kicks if he sees an aggressive option that’s available.

39. Talor Byrne
13 disposals, two goals

Talor played forward and I thought he worked really hard up and down the ground with his patterns, which is what he’s been working on. He was really strong with the way he supported both defence and offence, his ability to get after the opposition with pressure was good and he finished off with a couple of exciting goals.

40. Hudson O’Keeffe
Eight disposals, 10 hitouts, one goal

It was a strong performance in the ruck and up forward. He competed hard in the air to get the ball to ground, his follow-up to pressure the opposition and tackle was a real feature of his game. His third-quarter effort [to set up Jack Sammartino’s goal] showed his want to get after the opposition, it was as good as I’ve seen from ‘Huddo’.

41. Matt Duffy
Six disposals

‘Duff’ played across half-back, his ball use has been a feature in recent games: when he gets the ball, he’s using it really well by foot. His defensive positioning and intent continues to grow, the boys enjoy playing with him. There’s been definite improvement there.

43. Ashton Moir
18 disposals, 10 marks, two goals

It was great to see Ashton get back to really strong form on the back of his work rate, playing at half-forward and getting up and down the ground. He also spent a bit of time in the midfield. He ran hard to support defence and on the way back, he got involved with our offence and used it well. We saw some of his special traits when he’s playing with confidence.

45. Flynn Young
14 disposals, one goal

Flynn had a solid game, running up and down the ground. He was another who supported defence really well and got involved in offence on the way back. He played across half-forward and he continues to both hit the scoreboard and use the ball well, he was a good leader on the day.

46. Matthew Cottrell
17 disposals, five marks, five inside 50s

‘Cotts’ played wing and inside mid. We loved his run to support our defence and start our ball movement up from our back half. We know he’s an elite runner which supports the way we want to play, and he played a really selfless role, holding his shape on the ground to help our midfielders. We like him around centre bounce with his power and speed, we might see more of that as time goes on.

47. Wade Derksen
14 disposals, six marks, five goals

That was the game he’s been close to having for a few weeks. He had a really strong aerial presence and presented well at the ball as a forward: he gave our team a lot of energy. Him, ‘Cotts’ and ‘Iso’ were fantastic with limited sleep, coming over from Brisbane the night before as travelling emergencies - the boys got there and had their mind on the job from the very start. They were there to perform: I couldn’t praise them any higher.