The Box Hill Hawks defeated Sandringham by 37 points in gutsy fashion on Saturday, in a game of old fashioned, wet weather football at an arctic Box Hill City Oval.
A Box Hill engine room, boasting nine players with 20 possessions or more, dominated Sandringham by 15 in clearances and 40 in contested possessions, driving the Hawks to victory in the 20th Anniversary of the Blue Ribbon Cup.
Assistant Coach Torin Baker was pleased with the team’s four-quarter performance and gives us his review of each AFL-listed player.
David Mirra (20 disposals, 5 marks, 7 rebound 50s)
“We say the same thing about Dave Mirra every week. It’s a great thing to be able to say that the consistency is there every week with his performance. He’s winning a lot of the ball himself, winning his contests and providing great leadership. He seems to be doing all things really well at the moment.” TB
Grant Birchall (10 disposals, 6 marks, 1 tackle)
“It was great to have Grant Birchall back. It was a real spirit lifter for everyone involved and he got through the game unscathed. We thought his class from half-back was still evident, and that was really pleasing to see. He still moves really nicely with that lovely raking left-foot kick.” TB
Damon Greaves (21 disposals, 6 marks, 1 tackle)
“We are rapt that Greavesy has been able to win more of the ball himself in the last two weeks. He has still continued to keep his disciplined footy, but to see him get more of the footy and use it really well was another good step for a first-year player.” TB
Teia Miles (18 disposals, 3 marks, 2 tackles)
“Milesy again is one who generates our ball movement. He had 19 touches on the day and gave us great run from behind the ball – a trademark performance from him.” TB
Ryan Schoenmakers (12 disposals, 5 marks, 1 tackle)
“Shoey played his second game down back. He again won a number of his one-on-one contest as well as generating some really good ball movement for us. He’s put together two really good weeks for us since resuming from injury.” TB
James Cousins (30 disposals, 4 marks, 6 tackles)
“Cuz came back from AFL level and was given the best on ground medal for the day. 20 contested possessions says a fair bit about his work at the contest and giving us first use.” TB
Harry Jones (29 disposals, 4 marks, 4 tackles)
“It was probably Jonesy’s most consistent game for the year. He’s been playing at a good level, but he went to an extra level on the weekend. His clearance work was a real standout on the day.” TB
Daniel Howe (21 disposals, 3 marks, 5 tackles)
“Howey continued his really good form at VFL level. He was really tough and hard at the contest and able to win his fair share of the footy. He certainly surged the ball forward for us on a number of occasions.” TB
Will Golds (20 disposals, 5 marks, 2 tackles)
“Goldsy played a new role going forward for a half on the weekend. He was able to hit the scoreboard, kicking 1.2. He looked dangerous in a new role with his impressive work rate. He then went onto the wing for the second half and gathered 20 touches for the day. We were really pleased with his performance.” TB
Marc Pittonet (9 disposals, 32 hitouts, 3 tackles)
“We got some real dominance in the ruck duel on the day – doubling Sandringham in hitouts 67-32. Pitto and Reevesy were at the core of that, helping us get a really good clearance result. It wasn’t an easy day for marking with the conditions, so he probably didn’t have the impact around the ground as he has had in previous weeks. But his ability to get his hand to the ball was excellent.” TB
Ned Reeves (5 disposals, 30 hitouts, 3 tackles)
“Reevesy was one player out of our talls who did take a couple of clunks on the day. As well as getting his hand on the ball, that was really good to see. It was another good step for him.” TB
Oliver Hanrahan (17 disposals, 5 marks, 4 goals)
“Ollie was our best forward on the day. He converted some half chances as well as having really strong defensive actions in his game. Kicking four on the day and being involved in a number of other goals was a real positive for him.” TB
Conor Nash (15 disposals, 5 marks, 2 tackles)
“Nashy is building some really good form after resuming last week. He was really strong in the air and competed really well at ground level. The most pleasing aspect was how clean he was with his kicking and at ground level.” TB
Jackson Ross (12 disposals, 2 marks, 1 goal)
“Rossy has had an excellent season to date and continued that on for the first half. He took a really good contested one-one-one mark. He didn’t have the same sort of impact in the second half, but he certainly had moments of class during the day.” TB
Mitch Lewis (10 disposals, 1 tackle, 1 goal)
“Mitch was a little bit frustrated at not taking the marks that he normally would. But all those contests were soft-drops for us where he was able to generate a lot of scoring opportunities for us. He played the role that was asked of him on the day.” TB
Darren Minchington (9 disposals, 2 marks, 3 tackles)
“It was very pleasing to have Darren Minchington back in the team. We’ve only had glimpses this year, but what he’s been able to do is show his real class. We saw some snippets of his really clean ball use and we are excited to see him hopefully have a good run with his body.” TB
Changkuoth Jiath (1 disposal)
“CJ was unfortunately injured in the first minute of the game with concussion. It looks like he may miss one to two weeks.” TB
