Bendigo Disgraced Yet Again

By nick_rudich
First things first: our Bendigo listed players are garbage. It’s incredibly hard to adequately judge the progress of our senior listed players, as they either have to feed it to one another or go in and get it themselves; with the exception of one or two players, the Bendigo lads just aren’t up to it, and constantly turn it over (although that was partly to do with Casey’s pressure, who are a very slick outfit). They ran harder, disposed of the ball infinitely better than us and were far to strong around the ground. There were a lot of stoppages that made the contest fairly scrappy, and the rest of the time it seemed that the ball was always in Casey’s possesion.

Despite the thumping, there were actually a fair few positives to take out of the game in regards to our senior listed blokes IMO. Oh, and McVeigh didn’t play… no idea why, so I wouldn’t read anything into it until we’re told more.

Myers- If and when he comes back into the senior side, he MUST be played in the midfield. I don’t care if his tank isn’t quite up to it yet, but time and time again this is where I’ve seen him play his best footy. Uses the body really well, is incredibly vocal and his effort cannot be questioned. Usually used the ball pretty well, and whilst he didn’t have a stellar game (keeping in mind that not many players often do in a 100 point loss), the signs are there that he’ll be a player. Personally I don’t mind him being used in the VFL unless he is needed back in the seniors, as he seems to be gradually growing in confidence and moving much better than earlier in the year.

Hurley- I like the boy. Didn’t have a massive influence, but gee you can see why he was rated so highly. Out-marked his opponents on more than a few occasions (both in defence and also in the second half when he was moved to CHF) and used the ball well on most occasions, both by hand and foot. Got nudged as he roosted one from 50m which sailed out on the full, but otherwise was fairly reliable whenever he got it. Wouldn’t say he really demanded a spot back in the seniors, particularly without an obvious match-up against Sydney, but he seems to be coming along well and is clearly a very talented player.

Jetta- As usual, he flashed in and out of the game, but I have to say that he was pretty impressive when he was involved. He actually looked fairly comfortable playing off HBF and aside from when he took the kick ins (one went OOF), he actually managed to make a few spoils and follow up the crumbs, so it’s good to see the effort was there (although I think it always has been). Is still prone to going missing, although I’m not sure if that was because he was moved up forward, or perhaps more to do with rotations. Overall, an ok game.

Darce- As we all know, the lad is a competitor. Has a bit of NLM about him in that he can make you sit up and be so proud one minute, then frustrate you like crazy the next. Made numerous good spoils but also got beaten a few times (by Miller, who was sharp), and overall I’d say he had an ok game. To be fair, the ball was coming in a whole lot, often with really good delivery, but the pleasing aspect was that even when things weren’t going our way, he continued to throw his weight around and keep his intensity up. Layed an absolute ripper of a bump which the player took a while to recover from, which was cool. Similar to when Lucas was stranded up forward, it’s hard to get a read on Darcey’s progress when our midfield is getting so soundly beaten each week.

Quinn- Was terrific, and certainly one of our best for the day, much to my surprise. Someone commented the other week that he’s not too comfortable with the ball in the air, but really thrives at ground level, and I think this sums him up perfectly. Considering this, I don’t think he’ll ever be much good as a defender, as he lacks the required ability to dominate in a 1-on-1 situation if the ball’s coming in high, although he shows some really good signs around the ground and I’d like to see him used on a wing from now on to see how he goes. Gotta love his competitveness, too. Nice game from the whiteness.

Williams- There’s something about this kid that makes me think that we should persevere with him next year. I’ve always thought that he was just a high-flying, one-trick pony, but his leading and ability to find space up forward was actually quite impressive today, and, like Neagle, seems to make things happen whenever he’s involved. A decent game on return from injury in a forward-line starved of delivery. Was funny hearing the others scream out “RIG!” whenever he had it.

Neagle- Speaking of the big Anvil, he showed some pretty positive signs with limited opportunities today. Took a couple of nice marks but the real highlight was a sizzling pass from near the boundary, about 60m out straght on to the chest of a sliding Williams. Didn’t get a lot of it and whenever we went to him, Casey seemed to have plenty of numbers back, but at least he kept presenting and provided some nice bumps when it was his turn to go.

Houli- Funnily enough, he got sold into trouble a few times by his teammates today, which would’ve been a change for him. tongue.gif Got a couple of kicks smothered which never looks good, but seemed to really work hard all game and saw him making a few nice tackles which was pleasing to see. Overall his disposal and decision making was actually pretty good, and the thing you gotta love about Houli is that he’s still there running hard right up until the final siren.

Zaharakis- Was ok, but didn’t really have a huge impact despite trying hard. Was good whenever he found space, but unfortunately that wasn’t all that often, as Casey pretty much controlled the whole game. Similar to Houli, he had a few kicks smothered at times, but his 2nd and 3rd efforts to recover were really good.

Nearly forgot about Bellchambers, who was pretty solid with the hit-outs and looked to be moving fine around the ground, which is good considering the selectors may want another ruckman to come in and help Paddy. Kicked a nice goal when pushed forward and dished off a few nice handballs to our runners, but overall didn’t have a huge impact around the ground. Could’ve kicked a couple more but whenever we went long to him, he was stuck having to beat 2 or 3 opponents thanks to Casey pushing back.

VFL ROUND 12

Casey Scorpions 4.5 8.10 13.14 21.17 (143)
Bendigo Bombers 2.0 3.0 4.1 5.2 (32)

GOALS:
Casey Scorpions: Newton 4 Waite 3 Dunn 3 Miller 2 Silvagni 2 Creed Stockdale Johnson Bartram McGough Bell Valenti
Bendigo Bombers: Weekley Bellchambers Williams Houli Quinn

BEST:
Casey Scorpions: Bell Johnson Silvagni Wall Stockdale Dunn
Bendigo Bombers: Houli Hurley German Flaherty Quinn Myers

Posted  5 July 09 in Bendigo