'Good problem to have': Team's inclusions step up in absence of key players

Josh Slater (under 16) kicked two goals on debut while Ned Roberts, back into the side after missing round five, also snagged a couple of majors in the 13.8 (86) to 4.10 (34) victory.

Bloods coach Lewy Taylor was pleased with the performance of his side, which was without Max Lower, Scott Carlin, Ryan O'Connor, Dylan Jones and Xavier Moloney due to unavailability.

"We jumped out of the blocks, we kicked five goals straight in the first quarter, so it was good," he told The Standard.

"And then it was a bit of a tight contest, numbers around the ball after that.

"The boys played well. Hamilton they've definitely improved, we knew it was going to be a tight contest around the ball but we were able to walk away with the win in the end."

Skipper Joe Arundell, who moved from the backline in the second half, was named the Bloods' best alongside Gus Bourke.

Will Povey and Noah Hermann were influential for the Kangaroos, with Hamish Cook kicking two goals.

Slater was also named in the Bloods' best players and looked "lively down forward", according to Taylor.

"We lost Jacob Moloney just to tightness in the hamstring which cost us a little for height," he said.

"He started well, kicked a goal. He went off and Josh Slater played a little deeper and played the role he plays in under 16s.

"He kicked a couple of goals and probably could have kicked another couple. He played well."

The Bloods mentor is anticipating some players to return for round seven, so is expecting "a few headaches" at the selection table after the strong performances from the round six inclusions.

"It's a good problem to have," he said.

"Everyone's buying in and it helps when younger guys come in and know how we're playing and what we're trying to do. They've come in, they played well today (like) a lot of the guys who came in, so it's going to make it tough on Thursday before we play Koroit."

Kangaroos coach Brad Thomas said his side would learn a lot from the loss to a "good team" but overall was "happy with how the boys played today".

He said the side's contested and clearance work was strong but they didn't make the most of their opportunities.

"We just weren't able to capitalise on their turnovers, we had our opportunities to score from their turnovers we just weren't able to do it," he said.

Thomas said Rory Gill, who was named in the side's best player, may be sidelined with a potential broken hand.