👀 Box Hill Watch: The Jeka express is starting to roll
Daniel Prins presents his weekly Box Hill round-up
This year Hawks Insiders will aim to provide readers with a comprehensive Box Hill Hawks report, but one with a difference. Our review will focus on a couple of young Hawks each week, tracking their progression, what they do well and what they need to improve on in order for Mitchell/Klibansky to pick them come selection time.
The Hawks AFL side couldn’t get the job done against the top of the table Demons, and unfortunately the same fate was in store for Box Hill on Sunday afternoon against the undefeated Casey Demons.
It was a case of honourable losses all round for the Hawks men this past weekend, with Box Hill falling to Casey by 7 points at Box Hill City Oval. For the Hawks, Ed Phillips was fantastic in finishing with 30 disposals and 15 marks, and Mason De Wit and Damien Mascitti had 26 and 24 touches a piece.
Let’s check in on the development of some of our fledgling Hawks who featured on the weekend.
Morris in the frame?
Josh Morris put himself back in the frame for an AFL game with a solid outing for Box Hill off half back, finishing the game with 17 disposals (12 kicks and five handballs) while also registering five marks and two tackles. It’s the sort of outing we need to see more of from Morris if he’s going to get at game at AFL level, especially with the majority of Hawthorn’s running defenders coming back from injury.
Back-to-back games from Mitchell
Seamus Mitchell’s stats were practically identical to that of Josh Morris, with the reborn small defender picking up 17 touches and 5 marks in his second game at the opposite end of the field. The Hawks will be really happy with how Mitchell is developing in his short stint down back, with his skills by foot and his pace across the ground a couple of weapons that Box Hill will surely look to use in coming weeks.
‘Buts’ is building nicely
It was another step in the right direction for a few young Hawks this week, and Sam Butler is no exception. Butler had 15 touches, eight marks a kicked a goal for Box Hill, while always looking dangerous, even if his execution by foot left a little to be desired this week. Butler will be appreciating the consistent football and will be better for the run.
Jeka express is starting to roll
It’s been a slow start to the season for Jeka, who last year dominated the VFL defenders that tried to contain him. This was definitely a huge improvement on what we’ve see so far in 2022, with 11 disposals, four marks, three goals and four hitouts. He looked like a different person out there with increased effort and intensity around the contest, and he did it all against an AFL quality opponent in Adam Tomlinson.
Coming up next…
Falling to 2-3 and behind on the ledger (and currently sitting at 11th on the ladder) the Hawks come up against the Essendon VFL side that sits second from last on the table and hasn’t yet won a game. It’s too early to call this game a must win, but Clint Proctor and his boys will be hoping to get the chocolates at Windy Hill on Sunday.
Prinsy, thanks for your watchful eyes on the BHH. Nice to get your perspective on how the team is running. Just hope that Jeka continues to clunk a few more contested marks and show a bit more intensity. I think he should get into the protein shakes, aim to eat a horse of 2, to get a bit more size , which will help him compete against bigger and more hardened defenders. One thing I do like about him is that he is pretty good on his non preferred.