Geelong derby 2024: Scouting notes from Geelong College’s win over Geelong Grammar as River Stevens wins best-on-ground medal

A number of draft hopefuls impressed in the Geelong school derby, including a father-son prospect and a Cats linked youngster. See the scouting notes, stats and ranking points.

Dan Batten

@danbatten_

4 min read

May 7, 2024 - 12:43PM

News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

Check out our scouting notes from the Geelong Derby. Picture: David Smith

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Geelong College made it back-to-back boys derby wins against Geelong Grammar on Saturday with a tight 11-point win.

Geelong College football director and former Collingwood and St Kilda player Nathan Brown was proud of his players and said it was a thrilling contest from start to finish.

“If you were neutral going down to watch it, it was such a good game of footy. All the good players played well for both teams and Geelong Grammar was in front then Geelong College came back. There was a few big moments, it was really good,” Brown said.

“To be honest it wouldn’t have mattered if we had lost, you just stand back and applaud.”

See all the scouting notes and top performers from the match.

GEELONG COLLEGE

#15 River Stevens

The North Melbourne father-son prospect started with a bang by kicking the first goal of the match and silenced the Geelong Grammar crowd when he slotted a cracking drop punt from the left pocket in the second term. Stevens then lifted when the game was on the line in the second half as he led Geelong College to victory. The creative midfielder-forward finished with 21 disposals, 11 contested possessions, five inside 50s, 2.1, 100 Premier Data ranking points and, most importantly, the best-on-ground medal. The son of Roos legend Anthony is putting together an impressive draft year to date.

#52 Jack Henderson

Set the tone by crunching his Geelong Falcons Xavier Ivisic with a big bump early in the piece on the wing. Flourished on the inside up against Lalor and Ivisic and spread well on the outside to provide an option, racking up a team-high 126 ranking points, 24 disposals, 13 contested possessions, 10 marks and six clearances.

#41 Archer Hanegraaf

Hanegraaf was another Geelong College player to take it up to Lalor and Ivisic, winning a team-high seven clearances among his 16 disposals and laying a game-high nine tackles. The Geelong Falcon also kicked a goal to finish with 86 ranking points.

#66 Charlie Hanegraaf

The under-16s Falcon nearly outdid his older brother. He showed off his burst of speed by burning off Geelong Grammar chasers with a blistering run and had a major influence on the inside against Grammar’s bullocking on-ball brigade. The Year 10 talent racked up 20 disposals, 13 contested possessions, five clearances and slotted a nice goal in the third quarter set up by Stevens.

#18 Sam Sinnott

The Geelong College captain distributed the ball well out of defence and also impacted defensively. Sinnott had 18 kicks out of his 20 disposals – hitting the target with 80 per cent of them – and put on six spoils, scoring 77 ranking points.

#54 – Charlie Lawless

Lawless had made a promising start to the year and the Year 11 key defender stood up on the big stage. The Anglesea product was regularly matched up on the dangerous Sam Lalor when he was up forward and defended strongly, putting on seven spoils and clunking a big intercept mark in the first half.

GEELONG GRAMMAR

#15 Ben Rongdit

A name for Cats fans to track closely as he is tied to the club as a Next Generation Academy prospect for 2025. Rongdit’s ceiling might be as high as his leap – and that’s saying something. The Geelong Next Generation Academy prospect soared into the sky on numerous occasions, including a third quarter hanger, taking three intercept marks and putting on three spoils. His ability to follow up at ground level after competing in the air is rare in a player his size, also laying five tackles for the match. The Colac product scored 109 rankings points but his impact was as big as any Geelong Grammar player.

Ben Rongdit flies to take a strong mark. Picture: David Smith

Sam Lalor looks for an option. Picture: David Smith

#4 Sam Lalor

Still easing his way back from a hip injury, the potential top-10 prospect split his time between the midfield and forward and clunked two big contested marks, including one in a pack deep inside 50. The AFL Academy member was a bull in the clinches when he went in there, winning 12 contested possessions and six clearances, but he went at just 47 per cent efficiency as Geelong College gave him little time and space. He strolled into an open goal in the second quarter and finished with 19 touches and 67 points.

#6 Flynn Penry

Penry won all 20 of his disposals in a contest, taking three contested marks and winning eight clearances. However, his kicking left a bit to be desired at times with some costly turnovers. The GWV Rebels ruckman was also strong in the ruck with 31 hit-outs as he tallied 124 ranking points.

#17 Xavier Ivisic

Won a stack of it early and his ball-winning continued throughout the day. Showed his impressive inside-outside mix with 24 disposals, 11 contested possessions, seven clearances, six inside 50s, 113 ranking points and a classy goal on the run in the third quarter that put Geelong Grammar back in front.

#21 Marley McCombe

Is recognised more as a stopper but McCombe impressed as a distributor on Saturday. He racked up 24 disposals, seven marks, six rebound 50s and 113 points across halfback and was named in Grammar’s best players. He hasn’t featured for the Geelong Falcons yet this season but he has put up some strong performances at APS level.

#8 Sam de Steiger

The key forward was prominent inside 50 and as a relief ruck, and he could have finished with a few goals if he had kicked straight. De Steiger tallied 14 possessions (10 of those won in a contest), four clearances, 1.2 and also set up a goal for Lalor to finish with 81 ranking points.

#27 Ollie Peake

The cricket prodigy was lively throughout up forward and clearly has some talent on the footy field. Peake slotted Geelong Grammar’s first goal of the match and gave the crowd a bow and arrow celebration. He then bobbed up to kick his second in the last quarter to give his side a fighting chance. Peake had 14 disposals, four inside 50s, 2.2 and 83 points.