Collingwoodfc.com.au has spoken to four players and two coaches who were involved in Friday’s intra-club match to gauge their thoughts on who stood out and how the individual players themselves rated their own performances.

Nick Maxwell
“I was playing on the black team so in my defence, ‘Frosty’ (Jack Frost) was good again as a tall. ‘Oxy’ (Adam Oxley) was really good, both as a defender and as a creating half back.

‘Noofa’ (Jordan Russell) continued his great form from last Friday night and Peter Yagmoor was good down there too, so, all in all, we were pretty happy with the defence in the black team. Obviously further up the ground there were heaps of good players but they’re the ones that I worked with.”

Craig McRae (Head of Development)
“I thought Quinten Lynch played his best game for us since he’s been involved. He kicked four goals, three in the first quarter. He was just strong at the contest and had a real presence about him so I thought that was a real positive.

Ben Kennedy, pick 19 in the draft, showed today why we drafted him. He was really powerful and strong. He trained well for this game and it we saw his best today, really pleasing.

The other one who stood out was ‘Beamsy’ (Dayne Beams) who just continues on from where he finished off last year. It looks like he’s in good shape to have another great year.”

Jamie Elliott
‘Tooves’ (Alan Toovey) stood out for me, probably because I played against him. ‘Johnno’s (Ben Johnson) run off half back was good, and ‘Bolo’ (VFL player Matthew Boland) also did well.

I wasn’t too bad. My first half was alright then I dropped away a little bit in the second half. I’ve got to stick by my defensive pressure, it’s one of my strengths so I’ve got to keep maintaining that.”

Brent Macaffer
“In terms of my own game, I played a fair bit of midfield time today. I’ve spent a lot of time getting used to that and I spent a lot of time in there today to give guys a bit of a chop out in there if they need a bit of a break. That was good fun, I enjoyed that.

I got a bit of the footy and am improving there all the time. I went alright. It was just good to get another game under my belt and just to get through, really.

I’ve had a really good pre-season and I’ve missed maybe one session to freshen up so I’m getting through really well and pulling up really well.

I was on the same team as Joshy Thomas so I probably noticed him a lot more, but he stood out and hopefully he can stay injury free and break into the team and play a few games this year. Jamie Elliott up forward was really good hitting up and getting a lot of the footy, setting up a lot of guys as well. Probably ‘Swanny’ (Dane Swan) as well. Every game he plays is good!”

Robert Harvey (Assistant Coach – Midfield)
“There was a bit more spice in it this week. More intensity. I think it was just a bit sharper all round which was probably expected a little bit as we’re closer to the season. I just think that it was a pretty good hitout in tough conditions and we stepped it up a bit today.

I think everyone had their moments, particularly a few of the young guys. It was good to see Adam Oxley do well, Ben Kennedy was pretty good. Alex Fasolo and Tyson Goldsack coming back from injury were really good as well. There was a lot to like about everything we saw so now we’ve got to keep chipping away and getting better.”

Ben Kennedy
“It was a pretty tough game today given the conditions, but I guess that everyone had a crack and it was a very high standard game. I thought the skills were good and everything was good with all the structures and stuff, so I think that everyone’s on the right track for next week’s NAB Cup game.

In terms of blokes who stood out, I thought Moons (Caolan Mooney) had a really good last quarter. ‘Sincs’ (Ben Sinclair) and Jamie (Elliott) both played well and then there’s obviously blokes like ‘Swanny’ and ‘Pendles’ (Scott Pendlebury) who you can’t really go past because they play well every week. Travis Cloke up forward was a lively option as well.

I sort of just came in wanting to play my role up forward and I guess that’s the biggest thing. You don’t get games unless you can play your role in the AFL, so that’s pretty much what I focused on and anything else that came extra to that was just a bonus.”