WILL Langford made a strong return from injury for Box Hill Hawks on Saturday.
Box Hill Coach Marco Bello spoke about Langford's performance and the efforts of a number of Hawthorn-listed players at VFL level in the Hawks' 50-point win against Geelong.
Will Langford
“He probably started slowly and worked his way into it. He was influential for us in that second half, especially at the start of the third quarter, he won a lot of football inside and could have impacted the scoreboard himself, but just wasn’t able to finish off. It was a good contribution for his first game back after a long layoff."
Jonathan Simpkin
“He’s finding his mojo, so to speak. He’s getting his hands on the footy, he’s also taking ground with it and having some running bounces. He’s a great ball user, so anytime we get the ball in his hands, nine times out of ten it’s going to be to good effect. He seems to be enjoying his football and relishing his role as a leader.”
Shem Tatupu and Sam Grimley
“Shem seems to be growing in confidence week after week, not only impacting on the scoreboard… but also up the ground which allowed us to get Sam into positions to score goals. Between those two and (Box Hill’s) Chris Jones as the third tall forward, they were really able to alternate who was deeper, who was in middle and who was higher (up the ground). They’re really starting to work well together.”
Taylor Duryea
“He hasn’t played a full game of football for a little period, he probably started a little bit scratchy and then started to get into the game as the game went on. His leadership, his hardness and his ball-winning ability was a catalyst for us in the second half especially. He finished with about 18 disposals, five marks and six tackles across the half-back line, which was a good result for him.”
A spread of contributors across the ground
"Shem Tatupu kicked four, Sam Grimley six and Jed Anderson kicked three, so they were our multiple goal-scorers."
"Across the half-back line, it was great to have Angus Litherland and Taylor Duryea back there, they provided good leadership. Kurt Heatherley continued to play his style of game and he’s having a consistent year."
"Through the midfield, Will Langford came back into the side and it was great to have him in there, together with Simpkin."
"It probably wasn’t a standout game for anyone, but it was good to get an even spread of contribution from all."
*Social media image courtesy of Jenny Owens.
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