Maverick Weller’s first outing of the season for St Kilda was a strong one.
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The Burnie product returned to his role as a defensive forward as St Kilda played out a draw with Greater Western Sydney on Saturday.
The 26-year-old had 25 possessions (18 uncontested) at 68 per cent disposal efficiency, six marks, three tackles, 1.1 and six score involvements.
It was, obviously, the first weekend that the Weller brothers were both in action in the big league, with Lachie collecting 23 touches at 70 per cent disposal efficiency and taking nine marks on Sunday in the QClash against Brisbane.
That match was also the first of the season for Launceston’s Jesse Lonergan, who had 15 touches and laid four tackles, with fellow Tasmanians Kade Kolodjashnij and Aaron Hall were dropped by coach Stewart Dew in the lead-up to the match.
Lauderdale’s Mitch Robinson was strong with 24 touches, seven marks, four tackles and five score involvements.
Devonport’s Ben Brown had a big impact early in North Melbourne’s win over Hawthorn with three first quarter goals on his way to 4.1 from 10 touches, seven marks and two tackles on James Frawley,
That haul has seen Brown jump to the top of the Coleman Medal standings with 19.4 ahead of Sydney’s Lance Franklin (18.10).
Jackson Thurlow, from Launceston, also had his first senior outing of 2018, and had 12 possessions, four marks and three tackles in Geelong’s win over Port Adelaide. Jake Kolodjashnij, another Launceston boy, had eight touches and took three marks down back for the Cats and sneaked forward to kick 0.1.
Andrew Phillips made it three Tasmanians to use round 5 to launch their season, with the ruckman winning 24 hit-outs opposed mainly to Nic Naitanui in Carlton’s loss to West Coast on Saturday. He also had six touches, took three marks, laid six tackles and had three score involvements. North Hobart’s Liam Jones had 15 touches and took 10 marks in defence.
Ulverstone’s Alex Pearce collected 13 possessions down back for Fremantle against the Western Bulldogs. He also won six hit-outs.
The round started with Lauderdale’s Hugh Greenwood laying an excellent 11 tackles in the midfield as Adelaide upset Sydney. He also collected 16 touches, took two marks, had six cleaances, kicked 0.1, had one goal assist and four score involvements.
Several Tasmanians will feature in the Anzac Day and eve clashes, including Jack Riewoldt and Toby Nankervis at Richmond, Jeremy Howe at Collingwood and Essendon’s Thomas Bellchambers and Josh Green.