Matt Balmer’s scouting notes:
Geelong Falcons 19.12 (126) defeated North Ballarat Rebels 13.11 (89)

Geelong Falcons:

#8 Max Augerinos– Booted possibly goal from the year with a 45m soccer goal in the final quarter. Was the best player on the ground, with his 22 disposal effort including six clearances working hard in the contest.

#38 James Worpel– Crashed in hard on the inside and was aided by Darcy winning lots of hitouts. Clearance work is his strong point and he showed that off today having nine clearances.

#41 Brett Blair– Over-ager up forward who booted five goals. Has had a taste of VFL football this year and played just the one Under 18 championships game. Against odds to be drafted, but his efforts today didn’t do his chances any harm taking eight marks.

#50 Sean Darcy– Dominated in the ruck with 34 hitouts. Can be a touch slow around the ground, but he doesn’t lose too many ruck contests today. Has been invited to the national combine and a big thing for him will be how he tests.

North Ballarat Rebels:

#2 Callan Wellings– Had the responsibility of having the kick outs for the Rebels and set them up from defence well. Has the ability to kick the ball 50-55m and is a name to keep an eye on for next weekend.

#5 Jarrod Berry– Came off twice with the blood rule resulting in two jumper changes. Berry ended with 11 disposals and was very quiet for most the contest. Looked more at home when he played across half forward and he finished with one goal.

#6 Willem Drew– Crashed in hard with 24 disposals (16 contested) and laid nine tackles. Was the Rebels’ best player, but needs to ensure he doesn’t just get the ball from the stoppage and bomb it forward. Drew cleared the ball on 12 occasions (including five centre bounce clearances), the most by anyone today.

#7 Hugh McCluggage– Another good performance from Hugh McCluggage. Started well, but slowed off towards the end of the match with just seven disposals in the second half. The Falcons targeted him at stages and he was made to work hard for his 20 disposals and eight inside 50s.

#46 Cedric Cox– First time I’d seen Cox play live and he was reasonably quiet. He did have a few impressive passages of play, but was largely unsighted finishing the day with 12 disposals