A five-goal haul from young gun Mat Walker and a late charge home proved not enough for Box Hill, falling 14 points short of Richmond on Sunday afternoon.
Despite trailing by 37 points at three-quarter time, Box Hill slammed on six goals to two in the final term, in a determined effort to celebrate David Mirra’s 150th game in style.
But a Richmond major at the 28th minute ensured the second-placed Tigers spoiled the party and held on in a frenetic conclusion.
Coach Max Bailey gives us his review of each AFL-listed player.
Teia Miles (30 disposals, 8 marks, 1 goal)
“Teia had a really good offensive impact. We are still asking for his defensive side to lift a little bit. But we know when we get the ball in his hands, he makes things happen. He can be a dangerous weapon for us. If he can get that balance right, he will be in good stead.” MB
Jonathon Ceglar (20 disposals, 8 marks, 26 hitouts)
“Cegs played in the ruck and forward. He had a good battle with Nankervis in the first half and his marking was a real feature. He’s another one like Roughy, who’s a real leader when he’s out there and helping our younger guys.” MB
David Mirra (22 disposals, 13 marks, 5 rebound 50s)
“Mizz started really, really strongly in his 150th. He used the ball well, marked the ball well and defended really well. He’s a guy, much like Cegs and Roughy, who is very vocal on the ground helping the younger group learn. He had a really solid day in his 150th.” MB
James Cousins (27 disposals, 4 tackles, 1 goal)
“James was tagged all day and still finished with 27 touches. To fight through his first tag was a really good job. He was part of a midfield group that was half Box Hill and half Hawthorn listed. It’s a tough environment to go in and play with a bunch of guys he hasn’t trained with. We are hoping he will get even better again spending time with Andrew Moore and Luke Meadows in the midfield.” MB
Mat Walker (13 disposals, 7 marks, 5 goals)
“Walks had seven shots on goal for five goals in one of his better performances for us. Funnily enough, I reckon he could’ve kicked a couple more. He’s still learning how to play in our system as a forward and it can be really tricky. We are really rapt he gave himself the opportunity of seven shots on goal – as a first-year player that is super impressive.” MB
Changkuoth Jiath (19 disposals, 8 marks, 3 tackles)
“CJ had a pretty solid day. Our defence battled early against the Richmond ball movement, but CJ was able to take a few marks from opposition boot, stem the attacks from Richmond and turn them into attacks for us. A good building block for him.” MB
Conor Glass (21 disposals, 6 marks, 4 tackles)
“Conor had a really good game playing wing and midfield. He is a guy we have a lot of trust in because he’ll do what we need him to and do it diligently. 21 touches and four tackles playing on the wing and in the midfield is a good day.” MB
Marc Pittonet (14 disposals, 7 marks, 21 hitouts, 1 goal)
“Pitto spent more time forward. He had three shots on goal and four contested marks. It’s a feature in his game we want to see more and more of. If we can get Pitto and Cegs working well in tandem, it will be pretty handy.” MB
Kaiden Brand (14 disposals, 5 marks, 5 tackles)
“Brandy played full back. I thought his second half was a lot stronger than his first. He’s a guy with a lot of experience, and we are relying on him pretty heavily in the backline. We are asking him to be really good in the aerial contests, which is a strength of his. He’s getting better and better.” MB
Damon Greaves (14 disposals, 3 marks, 4 tackles)
“Damon played on the wing the first half and in defence in the second half. He’s a guy who started out averaging 8-10 touches a game. He had 17 on the weekend, and he’s had a few games in the double digits like that recently. He’s a very diligent player who’s happy to play any sort of role. He’s learning how to play VFL football, after coming from WA where it is a different game. We really like what he’s about and we are excited about his progress.” MB
Jackson Ross (12 disposals, 3 marks, 2 goals)
“Rossy played a really disciplined role in our forward end. He ended up with two goals because of playing to our system. He’s a second-year guy who has learned our system, knows what is expect and is doing that more consistently.” MB
Jarryd Roughead (13 disposals, 3 marks, 2 tackles)
“Roughy played forward as well as spending some time in the midfield. He’s providing a really good voice for us. We have a really young group and he is a leader of the footy club. He’s helping us learn really strongly and he’s able to impact in different areas. We threw him in the midfield when we needed him in there and he had a really solid impact. He’s probably not getting the impact forward that he would like, but we are really enjoying the education aspects he provides.” MB
Will Golds (12 disposals, 4 marks, 1 inside 50)
“Will has found himself up forward the last few weeks and is performing really well. He’s having shots on goal and he’s running really good patterns. He has great attributes with his running and skills that can be really beneficial for us. He’s learning that forward role really well and having a good impact.” MB
Jacob Koschitzke (11 disposals, 4 marks, 2 inside 50s)
“Kozzy played back in the first half and then forward in the second half. He went forward against Frankston last week and impacted straight away. It probably wasn’t his day on Sunday necessarily, but he’s learning our defensive system. He’s missed a lot of footy, so he’s playing catch up compared to a few others. When he decides to attack the ball he goes hard, and it’s pretty impressive to see.” MB
Darren Minchington (3 disposals, 1 mark)
“It’s disappointing for Minch to get injured again when he had strung some games together. He was performing well so we will miss his impact, hopefully he gets back sooner rather than later.” MB
