Box Hill came from 28 points behind to secure a 19-point victory over the Brisbane Lions, with a host of AFL-listed Hawks putting their best foot forward on the day.
Senior Coach, Zane Littlejohn said he was happy with the result after overcoming a slow start.
“A really pleasing result, a slow start against Brisbane and full credit to them the way they came out, especially off a bye,” he said.
“We lacked a lot of energy early but full credit to the group for how they responded after quarter time, great mentality in that space.”
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Littlejohn reviewed each of the 12 AFL-listed players who appeared in the Round 9 clash and acknowledged two solid contributors from the VFL list.
Sam Butler (One goal, 42 disposals, eight clearances)
“PB game again for Sammy Butler, 42 disposals. He’s had a great return again, eight clearances, five score involvements and hit the scoreboard himself. He was really dominant, his ability to get contest to contest was a highlight. Just really proud and obviously, a great test for him, first game back at Box Hill (City Oval) since his incident, so really proud and he showed great resilience to get back and play the footy he’s playing.”
Seamus Mitchell (One goal, 36 disposals, four intercept possessions)
“PB game for Seamus as well, 36 (disposals), provided a lot of drive off half back in our offence but more importantly, the way he defended and his ability to come forward was really pleasing. He’s in some really good form, he’s has a really good month of footy, we talk about keeping your foot in the door, keep the door ajar so when it opens, you’re ready to step straight through. He’s playing some really solid footy and was able to hit the scoreboard this week as well.”
Henry Hustwaite (35 disposals, 11 clearances, five tackles)
“Back to the Hus we know, had 35 (disposals), 11 clearances, really tough game for Hus around the footy and was able to use his hands and his weapons really well.”
Jai Serong (26 disposals, 12 marks, four intercept possessions)
“More time on the wing this week, played wing and back, he’s running some really nice patterns as a winger, growing into that role. He was able to help generate some offence and had some shots at goal as well which was really pleasing. For him to take the two contested marks and two inside 50 marks, just shows his ability to get up and down the ground and cover the ground terribly strongly.”
Bailey Macdonald (24 disposals, eight marks, six intercept possessions)
“Baz back in the team this week, his run and drive and create from half back was really pleasing, him and Seamus work really well together in sharing that load and how they do it. Like Seamus, Baz’s ability to defended coming forward, especially after quarter time was really strong.”
Max Ramsden (One goal, 19 disposals, 26 hitouts)
“Not Rama’s last fortnight PB, but responded really well but was challenged early by the young Brisbane ruck, and a few frees against but once he adapted, especially after quarter time, really gave us ascendency around the footy and gave the likes of Hus, Butler and Bianco first use and was then able to get on the end of it himself, hit the scoreboard and really challenged the Brisbane ruck around the ground which was really pleasing.”
Bodie Ryan (18 disposals, six intercept possessions, three tackles)
“A slow start for Bodie this week, his first quarter was nearly the worst quarter he’s played for the year, but he’s a young player who was challenged to respond in game and that was really pleasing, and that’s part of his development, these young players aren’t going to play well for every minute of every game for the year so when you’re not playing well how can you get back to making sure you can still contribute to the team. And I thought Bodie managed to do that the more the game went on, still finished with 18 (disposals) but just how he defended wasn’t at his absolute best and what we’ve seen in the past few weeks.”
James Blanck (16 disposals, six marks, six intercept possessions)
“Blancky as well, although really solid and found a bit more of the footy this week, but early in the game just didn’t defend the way we know he could, was just not as tight and not as tough in the contest as what we know Blancky can be. But again, as I mentioned with Bodie, how he responded after quarter time, we saw some real improvement in that area and another great mentality test for him.”
Sam Frost (15 disposals, nine intercept possessions, seven marks)
“Frosty was probably our best defender, in regard to defending the ground all day. He set us up, great leadership, really tough in the contest, we saw some great Frosty moments, diving across boots trying to lay smothers, big contested marks, some really strong 1v1 wins. So great to have Frosty contribute the way he did and the leadership he provides is just amazing for our whole group, our AFL-listed and also our VFL-listed, we’re lucky to have Sam Frost.”
Cody Anderson (One goal, 14 disposals, seven clearances)
“Quieter day for Cody, work rate just wasn’t at the level we’ve seen of him, a little bit lost around contest and stoppage. So he did then go and spend some time forward, which was good for him to be able to adjust from playing mid to go forward and spend some time there but just didn’t have his normal energy that we’ve seen him have. But still was able to contribute during the game with some pressure, still had seven clearances but just not the normal impact around his energy and his power that we’ve seen from him, so he’ll look to bounce back.
Calsher Dear (Two goals, nine disposals, four tackles)
“Calsh coud’ve had a really good day, 2 goals, 3 behinds, easily could’ve kicked five. Just misjudged the ball in the air a little bit with his run and jump and contest work, but what we love about Calsh as a key forward is his ability to once the ball hits the ground, he’s almost like an extra small to give pressure which is awesome. So he’s just working on timing his jump a bit better and he would’ve had more opportunities where he probably left a few marks out there, and just finishing in front of goal, as I said could’ve easily kicked five.”
Jasper Scaife (One goal, six disposals, 11 hitouts)
“Not a huge day from Scaifey offensively, played second ruck and is growing in that role, starting to show some nice signs in that role where he’s able to do his ruck contest but what he can do post that is really pleasing, his ability to follow up, his pressure, kicked a beautiful stoppage goal which is really valuable and great to see him grow in that role. He’s continuing to work on his contest aerially and that ground level stuff so spending time in the ruck is helping with that contest which is great for Scaifey.”
A few VFL player shout outs…
Trent Bianco (29 disposals, three marks, three score involvements)
“He’s finished with 29 disposals, but what people probably don’t know is that Trent only played about 60 percent of game time so to finish with 29 from 60 percent game time was a great return. And he’s been an unbelievable contributor to our football club this year, we’ve very lucky to have him in our program, we really value him, not just what he can bring on field but what he can bring off field as well, he’s able to play a variety of roles for us and provide great leadership.”
Stu Horner (13 disposals, four intercept possessions, three marks)
“Stu captained the football club in Cal Porter’s absence, I thought he led really strongly. Got his own backyard in order first and foremost and was able to lead off the back of that so shout out to Stu.”
The Hawks return to Box Hill City Oval for a second week in a row to host Collingwood.
“Another big game for us against Collingwood, who are a top 8 team at the moment, so a really important game for us to try and continue to build and put a bit of a gap in the bottom half of the ladder,” Littlejohn said.
VFLW Round 6 Results
BOX HILL 0.1 0.6 2.8 8.8 (56)
BULLDOGS 2.2 2.2 2.5 3.4 (22)
GOALS
Box Hill: Matin (2), Stevenson, Spamer, Fogarty, Embelton, Collingwood, Baldwin
DISPOSALS
Box Hill: Cattle (25), Stevenson & Dillon (22), Price (21), Baldwin (20)
