HAWTHORN youngster Tim O’Brien has put his hand up to replace the suspended Jarryd Roughead for Saturday night’s blockbuster against Port Adelaide with an impressive performance in Box Hill’s 29-point win over Richmond in the VFL on Saturday.
O’Brien has played two senior games for Hawthorn after making his AFL debut in Round 1 but hasn’t played since the Hawks’ thrilling win over Essendon in Round 2.
But the 19-year-old could earn himself a recall for the blockbuster at Adelaide Oval after kicking two goals and gathered 19 possessions and 10 marks against the Tigers on Saturday.
Named in the best for Box Hill, it was O’Brien’s ability not only to create scoring opportunities but his capability to work hard into defence to assist his teammates in the tight game.
“Tim has put together four good VFL games together in a row now, which has been great for him and for us,” Development Academy Coordinator and former Box Hill coach, Damian Caroll told hawthornfc.com.au
“He had 19 possessions and took 10 marks, kicked 2.3 but probably didn’t have his kicking boots on because he could have finished with four or five goals.
“He created a lot of opportunities for himself but we were also really happy with the way he pushed down the field and helped out the defence.
“He’s tracking well and we’ve been really happy with his past month of footy – it’s been a lot stronger than it was this time last year.”
Richmond fielded a strong team that featured 18 AFL-listed players but last year’s premiers proved too strong in the end by kicking 12 goals to five after quarter time.
The Hawks were led in the midfield by dual Hawthorn premiership player Brad Sewell, who made his long-awaited return from a hamstring injury and impressed in his first game back.
Sewell gathered 22 disposals and laid nine tackles in the victory.
“He played really well,” Caroll said of Sewell. “He played 80 per cent of game time, it was a good hit out for him.
“From a running point of view, his GPS results were comparable to what they are at AFL level, so we were happy with his ground coverage on the day.
“We were really happy with his contested ball work in close and around stoppages and his ball use was really good too.”
Young midfielder Alex Woodward also put his hand up for selection with another impressive performance.
Splitting his time up forward and in the midfield, it was again Woodward’s clean hands in tight and clearance-winning capability that impressed Caroll.
Woodward finished with an equal game-high seven clearances for the game.
“He had 26 possessions but we were really impressed with his overhead marking, which was a feature of his game back in his TAC Cup days,” Caroll said.
“He used the ball quite well by foot, which is something we’ve been working on with him.
“Like ‘Sewelly’, his contested ball work was really strong and finished with seven clearances, which was an equal game-high.
“Alex is definitely putting his name up there and had another good performance.”
Rookie-listed Hawk Zac Webster was also among those to impress with 15 disposals and a goal, while Kiwi Kurt Heatherley was also among the best.
Ruckman Jonathon Ceglar was dominant against returning Richmond ruckman Ivan Maric and Orren Stephenson, with 26 hit outs, 15 disposals and a goal.
FINAL SCORE
RICHMOND 3.3 5.4 6.8 8.12 (60)
BOX HILL 1.3 8.6 10.7 13.11 (89)
GOALS
RICHMOND: Conca 3, Edwards 2, Banfield, McBean, Elton.
BOX HILL: O’Brien, Murphy 2, Cust, Grimley, Collins, Webster, Ross, Ceglar, Woodward, Litherland, Illes.
BEST
RICHMOND: Grimes, Dea, Helbig, Conca, Edwards, Thomas.
BOX HILL: Ceglar, Heatherley, Woodward, Andrews, O’Brien, Sewell.
