Richmond VFL and development coach Craig McRae provides an exclusive summary of the AFL and VFL-listed players who featured in last Saturday's 44-point win over Northern Blues.

AFL-listed

Kane Lambert
37 disposals, three goals, five clearances, seven marks

Returned from playing AFL footy and showed all his class. He had 37 disposals, including 16 contested (possessions), kicked three goals, along with five clearances. It was an outstanding performance — he really played above the level. He was instrumental in the result.

Ben Lennon
23 disposals, three goals, 12 marks

Returned from injury and we were pleased to see him get a full game under his belt. He’s had a lack of continuity in his footy this year. Taking 12 marks for a medium size is a great achievement. He also ended up with three goals himself.

Connor Menadue
23 disposals, six marks, one goal, five clearances

Played mainly wing and inside (mid) and showed some great class and finished with a goal in the second quarter. He had a good balance of inside and outside and was an important player for us.

Jason Castagna
22 disposals, four clearances, five tackles

Played midfield, forward and back and showed his versatility which is important at this level to learn that. His pressure around the contest early was really important for us.

Jacob Townsend
20 disposals, eight tackles, four clearances

Played as an inside mid and had a job on Wilson (Tom) who’s been important for the Blues this year with six best-on-grounds for the season. It was an important challenge and Jacob contributed with eight tackles, which is what we really expect from him.

Dan Butler
18 disposals, seven marks, one goal

Showed his consistency of effort has really spiked in the last four weeks. He had 18 disposals as a small forward and it was great for our small forwards to have a big impact on the game. He kicked one goal and gave off a couple of others. He didn’t register a tackle but his pressure around the contest was really high.

Nathan Broad
16 disposals, seven marks, one goal

He’s in great form. His last two weeks have been really, really strong and he’s pushing hard for AFL selection. He’s winning his one-on-ones in the air and on the ground.

Todd Elton
15 disposals, eight marks, one goal

Again another who’s playing his best footy for the year. His eight marks really standout, with most of those contested. He kicked 1.4, so he could have had a really big day out, but he’s certainly showing all of his strengths.

Corey Ellis
13 disposals, three clearances, four tackles

Returned after a 10-week absence. He only played three quarters of the game and it was really pleasing to see him get through. Another who showed class around the contest.

Liam McBean
Four goals, 13 disposals, eight marks

Had a big second half — kicked four goals, but it was his leading at the ball that stood-out. He took eight marks. He was on the end of a lot of chains (of possession) due to his hard running.

Callum Moore
11 disposals, three marks, two tackles

Same story, he lost a lot of one-on-ones early as a key-back after playing forward for most of the season. He got better as the game wore on.

Mabior Chol
Nine disposals, six contested possessions, two clearances

Had a really slow start. Him, Ryan (Gale) and Callum (Moore) were all beaten which was a reason why the scores were 10 goals apiece at half time. In the second half he went into the ruck and went forward and contributed a solid performance after half-time.

Ivan Soldo
27 hit-outs, seven disposals, two clearances

With Ivan Maric out he had to step-up and take the ruck duties and he did a great job up against Cam Wood and beat him in parts of the day. His aerial contest was a strength.

VFL-listed

Jacob Ballard
27 disposals, seven marks, six clearances

Continued his impressive form. His last quarters have been phenomenal really. His last three or four games have been outstanding. He had 27 disposals — 10 (disposals) in the last quarter again, that’s three weeks in-a-row. He’s been playing really well for us.

Jake Aarts
23 disposals, seven marks, seven tackles, one goal

As a forward he had 23 disposals, which again is a high number and he’s really playing great footy for us. He’s playing good roles, impacting the scoreboard and laid seven tackles. It was a standout game from a small-forward.

Tom Silvestro
21 disposals, six marks, five inside 50s

Had his most possessions for the year. A hard runner and an elite runner. He plays wing and gets up and back to defend. It was a great day for him.

Sam Darley
17 disposals, one goal, five marks

Led from the front. Strong rebound as we expect from him. His handball receives (eight) were really high, which is important in his game.

Nick Mellington
15 disposals, six marks, four tackles

Playing some good footy himself and playing multiple roles. He’s really running hard, his GPS (numbers) are really high at the moment. He’s an important role player for us.

James Cousins
11 disposals, one goal, four marks, four tackles

He was our 23rd player and it was his first game for us. He really looked capable of playing at the level.

Ryan Gale
11 disposals, five marks, eight uncontested possessions

His first half was pretty poor from our key-backs, he lost a few contests and Liam Jones was playing really well. As we got our balance right in the second half he began going for his marks and defended better.

Ash Morris
11 disposals, three tackles, five handball receives

An important role player — shut down the small forwards. He was really important on the day with his contribution and he’s really starting to look rock solid in the back six.

Dan Coffield
10 disposals, two clearances, two tackles

Played one of his better games. He was as strong in his one-on-one contests than anyone in our backline. He rarely got beaten and was involved in our ball movement too.

Tom Couch
One goal, six disposals

Unfortunately injured himself in the second quarter.