Reserves Coach Shane Woewodin gives his appraisal of the seven listed Lions who played against the Giants in Sydney last weekend.

“From a team perspective we had seven listed players going down against second-placed GWS who were at full-strength with 18-19 listed players.

“Our team was made up largely with our Academy boys, we ended up playing three Sydney Swans Academy boys to finish the year – one was sixteen and there were a couple of seventeen year olds there as well as top-ups from around the state just to be able to fill us in.

“It was hard to pull together a side for the last game due to so many injuries and with QAFL Finals around the corner players were keen to be involved in their finals campaigns coming up.

“It was a tough day. We got beaten convincingly on the scoreboard but certainly on reflection our effort on the day didn’t showcase the end result.

“I thought the boys had a really red-hot go and a good dip at it. Their intensity showed although the scoreboard was ticking over in the second half of the game. I thought their effort was there and that was the main thing we wanted to be able to see from the group.”

Jarrad Jansen

Jarrad came back from the seniors and played as an inside mid. He was our highest possession winner of the day with 24 disposals, 19 of which were contested. He had 5 clearances and a couple of tackles. I thought Jarrad tried really hard throughout the day just to surge it forward from stoppage and use his big frame to allow first use and to combine with the mids.

Billy Evans

Bill tried hard all day. He had 23 touches to finish the year off – 13 contested, 5 tackles, 5 clearances. The inside mids (in Billy, Jarrad Jansen and Liam Dawson) worked really hard during the day. Billy’s certainly finished off the year on a good note.  

Liam Dawson

I played Liam as an inside mid also on the day. We tried to put more of our listed bigger bodies in and around the ball just to be combative with the GWS mids. Liam was terrific we thought – 22 touches, 18 of those contested, a game high 14 tackles and 7 clearances. He had five inside 50s and finished off with a goal so Liam was probably one of our best players, if not the best player for us on the day. He’s still got some work to do in transition but certainly his effort and listening to instruction to surge the footy forward was really good.

Hugh Beasley

A tough day for Hugh. He had some ball as a key defender – he had 22, 9 contested, 14 rebound 50s. He was undermanned and undersized all day compared to the GWS forwards but he really tried hard both aerially and at ground level. GWS ended up having 75 inside-50s so it was a tough day for our backs.

Trent West

Last game for Westy. He worked really hard, playing as a key forward. He didn’t spend a lot of time in the ruck. He just wanted to spend a bit more time down in the forward line and give us a key option and let Archie ruck. Eleven possessions for the day, he had a couple of hit-outs and just tried to be a presence for us up in our forward-50. He finished off the season for us really well, a great career, he can be very proud of what he was able to achieve as a premiership player finishing off.

Josh McGuinness

Came back from his fourth hamstring injury after spending a month out. He got through 3 ½ quarters before we rested him after getting a bit tired again late in the last. Josh played as a half back. He had it 10 times, 4 tackles. He played on some really good high forwards in Rhys Palmer and Sam Reid during the day, he was set for a tough day against some good runners. Josh was one of our defenders who was up against an onslaught from the GWS midfield.

Archie Smith

Returned after being dropped from the seniors. He started ruck and spent a little bit of time forward but more played as a ruckman on the day. He only had it nine times, up against some monsters in Dawson Simpson and Matthew Flynn and the likes. His attitude was terrific after having some really quality time and some good games as a senior. Hopefully he can put his name up in line and finish the season against the Saints this week.

Jaden McGrath

Jaden played a half for us. He was on limited game time. He had it the five times before we took him off at half time and rested him. Jaden was outstanding we thought. He was a real barometer for us. The Club certainly missed his presence on field this year. It was great to see Jaden back. He really cracked in and showed great intensity and spirit. It was unfortunate he could only play a half because he was really up and about, he certainly created a lot of pressure for us in our forward half. It was a good return. 

The Reserves Wrap will return to lions.com.au in 2017.