IvanBartul13

Jarman never came across and Wheatley played some ressies for Collingwood

Sinclair definitely did play reserves as a TAC top up player for us - played at the MCG - but was never a supp list player, which entrenched a player to a club for a season - ala Peverill Bruce etc. Other TAC cup top ups for us were Paul Chapman, Ryan O'Keefe, Mark Bolton and Jason Saddington, i'm sure there were others.

You make several valid points...unfortunately a horrendous display form Nicholson in the ruck a few years ago against the Dogs mean i am reluctant to go too low. Davey laid 5 tackles so he wasnt to bad - 1 in attacking sense but i raise because of his chasing. Im a bit rusty with the ratings, im back after a year out with an ACL so they will be improve as the year goes on.

Best: Moloney, Holland, McDonald, Neitz, Robertson, Ward Nathan Jones - started well and did some nice things, before being consumed in the horrors of the middle two stanzas - 4.5 Ben Holland - the medium of some unfair criticism after the game on this board, I thought Holland was very serviceable. Had a good duel with a very talented player in Koschitzke and tried very hard. Yes, he made some mistakes, but one of few who played to expectation - 6 Brock McLean - did some outstanding things and some uncharacteristically ordinary things before leaving the field with an injured ankle - 4 Matthew Bate - Hard to assess. Got a bit of the ball, presumably in the labyrinthine handball exhanges of the 2nd and 3rd quarters, because he really had no influence. Is a player who doesn't seem to bring his size to the contest, plays as if he is 180cm, not 190cm - 3.5 Brad Miller - Certainly tried hard, but he is - and there is no doubt about this - a limited footballer. St Kilda had a player in front of him for much of the day, meaning he often had to beat two opponents, when one quick close checking foe will usually stifle him. He doesn't deserve the fierce criticism he receives because he is a worker, but while is expected to be the team's fulcrum at CHf he is going to receive it - had no impact and made under 15s mistakes - 2.5 David Neitz - the captain, starved by his team-mates' thirst for indirect handball, was still an effective contributor with three goals...get to him quicker boys!!! - 5.5 Daniel Ward - the one player suited by the handball overuse was Wardy who did try to provide run and did try to use his legs to propel the ball forward. Unfortunately the hallmarks of his routine - the too high kick, the too long kick, the grubber kick and the wobbling kick - all made appearances and thus contrived to reduce what should have been a good game into a mediocre game - 5 Adem Yze - the guillotines are out on 'Ooze' but in reality he was far from our worst player. Yes, he argued too much with the umpire at one stage and may have cost a 50m penalty, and yes he dropped a mongrel kick inside 50, costing us a goal, and yes he overran the ball in the last quarter - a positive error in my opinion, because he was trying to the right thing - but on at least three or four occasions his skill level got the team out of trouble and he used the ball well overall. A mediocre game, but not anywhere near our worst player - 4 Travis Johnstone - Johnstone's game was the souffle that didn't rise on Friday, something about it was nice but really i'd rather it be returned to the kitchen, never to be seen again - 4 Chris Johnson - Of Johnson's first half, the less said the better - it was one of the most dire displays of football invisibility I have seen. He got nowhere near the football and looked very substandard. His second half was much better, he tried to run, create and, better, kick!!! Unfortunately, he was overzealous at times and made some bad mistakes. Has got obvious talent so more exposure at the highest level will help - 3.5 Brad Green - Greeny played a dull game, got a bit of the ball, but had little influence - spent some time in shutdown mode quite effectively, though - 4.5 Clint Bartram - thrown onto Milne after Whelan self-destructed and was run ragged by the Saints crumber. Bartram chased hard and Milne didn’t really hurt us, but Clint had no offensive impact whatsoever - 2.5 Daniel Bell - outclassed by Goddard early and then seemed to retreat into his shell and into pure defensive mode. Was OK in that capacity, but with Wheatley and Bizzell belting the door down for a spot in the side, he needs to do more. Some shambolic kicking also spewed from his instep - 3 Brent Moloney - started extraordinarily well but couldn’t sustain that level of play for long. Still, our best running player - make that, best player. Well-groomed, he sported an extremely efficient mullet - 6.5 James McDonald - prototypical McDonald scrapping, working, harrassing game. Cant fault his game, but you don't admire his play nearly as much when the glitz players don't turn up - 6 Russell Robertson - his mercurial goals kept us in the game and presumably gave his team-mates the hope needed to not completely capitulate. Annoying that he seems to grab a body part after each contest though, but he was one of our best - 5.5 Cameron Bruce - one of the worst games he's played in a long time and he was moronically used, spending vast periods inexplicably minding the anti-dangerous Blake at CHB. Needs to lift several cogs, if the team is to - 3.5 Jeff White - tried very hard and made a goal or two for the team with his endeavor alone, but was bested by his opponent - 5 Aaron Davey - chased hard but his class at ground level was absent and he had no impact offensively. On the back of poor preseason performances, won't be long before the knives our out if displays like this are consistently served up - 3 Mark Jamar - did nothing wrong, but had no influence on the contest - 3 Nathan Carroll - if you are going to present yourself at a game of football looking like that, then by golly you had better perform. Carroll was destroyed by Gehrig and is an embarrassment to the football club in his current disguise. That bouffant may help him at Revolver, a reported haunt, but he will disappear into the obscurity of a footballing joke if his play continues to be as bad as his hair - 2.5 Matthew Whelan - started well, but left the field after Ball headbutted his shoulder, a costly waste - 3

As useful as his performance today was, it must be noted that the standard of today's game was nowhere near VFL standard, let alone AFL, and as such it is going to be very hard for Sylvia to 'break through' this season. That said, he was good and if he can build base fitness in the next month or two, he should make a very positive contribution, leading into what will hopefully be a cracking 2008.

Left midway through the third - Sandy infront by 15 points Sylvia playerd the first half only - played inside forward fifty - kicked three goals, took a couple of nice marks and his set shot goalkicking was superb. He needed the run as his best touch deserted him when he dropped a couple of marks he normally would have taken and fumbled a couple of times at ground level but, overall, he played well and got stuck in when needed. Bartram played off half-back with spurts in the middle, probably had a dozen touches til midway through the third - his pace was a standout, broke away from traffic a couple of times very impressively, but against that he tried to do too much at times and got caught, kicking looks to have improved. A good but not great display. Warnock was steady in defence, covering his man well and taking a couple of nice pack marks, but wasnt in the play that much. Weetra didnt play. Collingwood's only listed player to play was Medhurst who did a couple of nice things but was, by and large, well held and would have been a disappointment for Pie fans.

Obviously the chance we'll draft him is slim, but it's good to see the club letting a young talent like Ben McEvoy train with them ... an outstanding athletic ruck/KP prospect.

He's a small winger/rover type, with plenty of pace -