Northern Blues 2015: An Appraisal

[crashlander]

Liam Jones attracted the attention of the NBs hierarchy too :o

Carlton rookie Brad Walsh has taken away the 2015 Laurie Hill Trophy as the Northern Blues’ best and fairest player this season.

Walsh was Northern’s most consistent performer in his 16 VFL games, triumphing ahead of place-getters Nick Graham (second), Mark Whiley and Northern Blues captain Brent Bransgrove (equal third).

Walsh polled in a team-high 11 matches on the night including his last six matches of the season, on his way to a vote count of 82 for the year - 26 ahead of Graham in second place.

. . .

Walsh is the youngest player to win the award in the last decade and the first Carlton-listed player to win it since Brock McLean in 2011.

LEADERBOARD

Seniors
Brad Walsh - 82
Nick Graham - 56
Mark Whiley, Brent Bransgrove - 51
David Ellard - 46
Liam Jones - 45
Tom Wilson - 43
Keiran McGuinness, Nick Holman - 38
Tom Fields - 35

While we would expect the NB's B&F to have a fair Carlton contingent in it, to be dominated so much is a worry. It suggests, as I have been harping on about, that the VFL side is in need of a real talent boost. Particularly in that neither 'Box' Bransgrove nor McGuinness could see out the season. That leaves just Tom Wilson as making a real mark on the season.

Another question is how long can Box keep going? We have lost a lot of VFL leaders in recent times. Box's last 2 years have been very injury interrupted. I don't know how long he can keep going. At least he is not just jumping ship, like the others did.
Box has a heart as big as he is, but he isn't much taller or much quicker than Tyrion Lannister. He gives an excellent account of himself, but he is not durable enough to depend on.

Liam Jones: he actually played a few decent games for the NBs, although a few of them were in the ruck. He dominated against Frankston, for example. But that is quite normal for him. He did the same thing for the Bulldogs. Playing consistent footy, especially against decent opposition, is his issue.

Development
Dean Soncin - 72
Zach Ballard - 61
Ben Walton, Sam Cattapan - 46
Ben Toman - 35
Matthew Haynes, Steve Murray, Jack Johnston - 34

This group of people is the one that we have been depending on for maybe the last 6 weeks of the VFL season. Not bad guys, but not match winners either. Hopefully it makes my point for me.