Crows fans were out in force to take a look at the internal match at AAMI Stadium.

Here’s a report from Danny O’Connell...

“I was here today and I was quite impressed with a lot of what I saw. As we can expect, as it was a 1st hitout of any form, the players did look a little rusty at stages during the game.

I will comment on a few players.

Jimmy Sellar looks like he may have found his true calling as a CHB. He was lined up against the much bigger Tippett all game and he probably beat the big fella in most contests. Quite often Sellsy would get a hand in, using his good leap to spoil the ball away. Jimmy also looked to move the ball out quickly the way Bock used to (without bouncing it though). Another very pleasing thing I saw from him was his speed to apply pressure to the opposition. At one stage Cooky was in the pocket at full tilt and Jimmy quickly closed him down to put enough pressure on Cook's kick. Sellsy also kicked a nice set shot from 50 after receiving a 50m penalty.

Richard Tambling looked very good today and showed a lot of flair and run. In one play the ball was moving very slow due to a good wall setup by the opposition and once the ball got to ‘Bling’ on the defensive side of the wing, he took a nice little side step and then accelerated past hi direct opponent which ended up in a goal to his team. This is what I like seeing from him as he likes to take the game on. Another thing I did like seeing was his composure and hands in close quarters. He has a very good release handball, particularly to players on the move. Lastly I was super impressed which his close down speed and tackling. Every time he grabbed his opponent, he would wrap up their arms and take them to the ground by dropping his body sideways to avoid the push in the back. Great technique.

I was pleased to see Shaun McKernan playing as a key forward for much of the game. The most pleasing thing I saw was him leading up high onto the wings to present as a marking option. He also showed very good skills once the ball hit the deck if he was beaten by defenders (I say defenders as he was the only tall forward deep in the forward line for his team and was often double teamed).

Daniel Talia looks like he will be a serious player and I think we will see a bit of him this year. Playing on Tex as a FB for most of the game and he looked quite comfortable there. He was very good a getting a fist in to deflect the ball, but once the ball hit the deck he was always the 1st player on it, even beating the small blokes coming him to help rove.

Brodie Smith looks to fit in to the team very well and was on the A team too. I was quite pleased with his field kicking and he has some serious penetration in his leg. He had a shot on goal off two steps on a tight angle from 50 that just missed.

Ian Callinan will be a starting 18 all year in my opinion. He is such a brilliant user of the Sherrin and not only for shots on goal. His field kicking is sensational and he weights the ball perfectly to the player he is looking for. Tippo and Tex will have the ball on a platter with him kicking into them.”