Internationals in VFL Finals action
Contributed by: Troy Thompson Wednesday, September 09 2015 @ 11:10 pm ACST
We take a look at the International Players in Week 1 of the 2015 VFL Finals Series.
Week 1 of the VFL Finals kicked off with Box Hill Hawks easily accounting for last year’s Premiers Footscray by 40 points at Box Hill City Oval in their Qualifying Final. Kurt Heatherley (NZ) had 8 kicks 4 handballs, 5 marks and one tackle in defence. Up forward Shem Tatupu (NZ) kicked just the one goal and three behinds, but had a hand in a number of others, finishing with 6 kicks and 7 handballs. Lin Jong was named best for Footscray.
Collingwood won their Elimination Final defeating Werribee by 19 points. Another American ruck clash (that is becoming commonplace in the VFL) saw Mason Cox (USA) take the points against Eric Wallace (USA). Cox had 22 hit outs, 13 disposals, 5 marks and three tackles. Wallace finished up his VFL season with 11 hit outs, 2 kicks, one mark and 2 tackles. At this stage his future is uncertain and he may be retained by North Melbourne of offered a lifeline by another club.
Essendon defeated Casey Scorpions by 21 points in their Elimination Final. Conor McKenna (Ire) was playing in the AFL on the same day but should be available for the VFL team in their Semi Final match this week against Footscray. Jason Holmes (USA) is also a chance to carry on his season at Sandringham this week. His Zebras went down to Williamstown by 7 points at Trevor Barker Oval and will take on Collingwood in a Semi Final clash this Sunday at North Port Oval.
Previews of this week's semi final can be read here on the VFL website[*1] .