The Box Hill Hawks suffered a 25-point loss at the hands of Richmond on Saturday night at Kinetic Stadium.

Box Hill Senior Coach Zane Littlejohn said it was a disappointing result after a slow first half.

“Disappointing result, full credit to Richmond but I think the pleasing thing is we take some great learnings from the game of how we need to play in those situations and our ability to adapt, in the first 10 minutes in particular when Richmond were on top of us," he said. 

Littlejohn summarised the performance of all 13 AFL-listed Hawks below.

Bodie Ryan (25 disposals, eight intercept possessions, five marks)

“Defensively early, not great but the pleasing thing is in the last quarter that was probably the best footy we’ve seen Bodie play. We kicked 2.7 in the last, he really helped generate our score in the last quarter in particular, so 4.11 in the second half and Bodie was a big part of that. A really pleasing game from Bodes but he just needs to start defensively stronger as he was off early.”

Seamus Mitchell (23 disposals, six tackles, six intercept possessions)

“Offensively Shammy was really strong, just defensively as well early, like all our defenders, the whole group were off a bit, just off by a step or two so we need to be better in that scenario, especially early. Shammy’s a good footballer, but you can’t give your opposition a chance because then rather than it being 70/30 in your favour, it becomes a 50/50 or a 60/40 in their favour so we’ve just got to be better in that. Again, I thought in the second half Shammy really sparked us and helped really drive our offence with seven rebound 50s.” 

Ned Reeves (38 hitouts, 20 disposals, six score involvements)

“Arguably our best player on the night, dominant in the ruck, dominant big man, helped us get on top around clearance which we were able to win quite well, helped us win first possession as well. The pleasing thing with Noodle is he’s really been consistent around the ground with his ability to take marks, two contested marks, four intercept marks, great return from your big guy and really drove our standards for us. And again hit the scoreboard which is pleasing, I think that’s two or three weeks in a row he’s been able to hit the scoreboard and be really dominant for us.

Noah Mraz (18 disposals, eight marks, eight intercept possessions)

“Like a lot of the group the first half was disappointing, just basic skill errors from Noah but he’s working really hard with Arryn Siposs in that space. But in the second half he defended the ground really strongly and his effort lifted and his standards lifted, to finish with 17 (disposals) I thought his second half was really pleasing.”

Cody Anderson (One goal, 15 disposals, five clearances)

“So Code transitioned into the midfield this week and played primary midfield and was really tough in there. We know Code’s work rate and effort around the contest is his real strength and was able to provide some great pressure and arguably give us some good clearance numbers through there as well which was pleasing for Codes. He’s finished with the five clearances, nice tough game from him and great effort around pressure and to hit the scoreboard as a midfielder is a great return.”

Sam Frost (15 disposals, five marks, five intercept possessions)

“Frosty’s second half was the Frosty of old that we love to see, his contest, his ability to set us up behind the ball and help us keep the ball in our front end was really pleasing. His first half was probably not at the level he’d expect from himself and not the level that we expect from Frosty, just some defensive actions. But his second half that’s what speaks volumes of the player and leader he is around our footy club, to respond and really adapt and set us up really strongly in the second half. Although he’s not the one kicking the ball in, but his positioning and communication was a big part of why we were able to have 15 scoring shots in the second half.

Will McCabe (14 disposals, six marks, four score involvements)

“Will was able to find a bit more of the footy this week with 14 disposals. He spent a bit of time behind the ball and obviously a bit of time in front of the ball as well which is great for Will and his development. His work rate was a little inconsistent this week but what we know of Will is he’s a tough match up because of his athleticism, his ability to use his speed and then use the ball really well, he’s kicked at 89 percent which is a great return. Six uncontested marks, so his work rate to get used offensively, but now it’s just to continue to bring it both sides of the ball.

Max Ramsden (Two goals, 12 disposals, seven contested possessions)

“Probably arguably our best forward on the night, his work rate and follow up was really pleasing, three scoring shots, a couple of contested marks, couple of marks inside 50, which was really strong from Rama. And then his support of Noodle in the ruck, he’s been great for us in the ruck as well, when Noodle goes off the ground we’re not losing much when Rama’s gone in there. He’s finished with three clearances himself which is great and as I mentioned, two goals one.”

Matt Hill (Nine disposals, four score involvements, two tackles)

“I think we saw some great energy from Hilly again, could’ve finished with a really good night, two shots on goal for two behinds. But his speed and pressure and he’s learning now around the work rate as a forward to help be involved in defence and putting himself in those positions so he can get more of the footy. Hit the scoreboard again, every game this year he’s been able to hit the scoreboard, so really positive progression for Hilly.”

Jasper Scaife (One goal, eight disposals, five tackles)

“Jasper, not a huge influence like last week on the game, I think the pleasing thing from Jasper was we started to see a bit more toughness in his game around when the ball hit the ground. In previous weeks its hit the ground and Jasper has been out of the contest but this week we saw him have more urgency around when the ball hit the ground, and he’d stay involved and pressure and tackle. He’s just got to continue to work on his balance when he wins the ball, balance between the longer option and the shorter option and using the numbers around him so the more he does that then the harder he is to play on.”

Sam Butler (One goal, eight disposals, six tackles)

“A quieter day for Butsy, just didn’t work his way into the game early enough and wasn’t able to have the influence that he would’ve wanted to have and we wanted him to have. Third game back for Butsy, the second and third were harder than the first game but we know Butsy is a quality person and a quality player, and he’ll work his way back in so we expect a really good return from Butsy. Just didn’t work his way in, tried a few different things to get him up around the ball and play him deeper but his work rate just didn’t allow him to stay in and be in the contest.”

Calsher Dear (One goal, six contested possessions, four marks)

“Calsher could’ve had a really nice night, one goal three. Great to see him jumping at the ball, just missed his timing a little bit, which it’s going to take time when he’s only in his second game back but the fact that he’s jumping at the ball. And what we know about Calsher is when the ball hits the ground he’s not out of it, he’s lively, his footwork is elite, he stays involved and he’s able to pressure. So one goal three, if that’s three one or four straight it’s a really solid game from Calsh.”

James Blanck (Six disposals, two intercept possessions, two inside 50s)

“Solid Blancky, defended the game really well. I think Blancky, the more he gets into it, the better he’ll be the more footy he can continue to play for us. But he’s ever reliable, he gets his job done for us and competes really hard, so we were rapt with how he performed and how he defended the ground really tough, really physical, really fierce.  A great return from Blancky again, he’s never going to be a high disposal winner but the way he defends the ground is really important for us and we value it highly.”

A VFL player shout out …

Max Donohue (13 disposals, five marks, two intercept possessions)

“His first game, debuted obviously, played really well through our practice match series and was probably unlucky not to get a game Round 1 but the list and the squeeze we had, he didn’t get picked. But he adapted really well, tough  first game to play out and play a side who were hungry and really fierce and a realy tight ground but I thought he adapted really strongly. So shout out to Maxxy for his first VFL game, just continues to grow our strength with Gippsland Power, he’s another graduate from Gippsland Power. We’ve had great success with them over the years through the Box Hill program, we really value our relationship with both Gippsland and Eastern.”

VFLW Round 3 Results

Goals: Zielinski 2, Embelton 2, Collingwood 2, Stevenson, Price, Matin, Cattle, Baldwin

Disposals: Baldwin 25, Cattle 17, Cariss-Brett 17, Van Berkel 16, Stevenson 16, Embelton 16