By Jonty Ralphsmith
Dandenong unleashed 15 bottom-aged prospects in its preliminary final loss to Oakleigh on Saturday at Shepley Oval.
The Stingrays were accounted for by 20 points ending their nine-game winning streak and season.
But giving a litany of 2006-born and 2007-born players opportunities underscores the talent at the region’s disposal, and sets them up well to perform strongly in the next few years.
Rucks Elli Symonds and Zoe Besanko and midfielder-forward Jemma Reynolds each played Vic Country as bottom-agers, and will lead next year’s contingent.
Double bottom-ager Matilda Argus has already generated plenty of excitement and broke through for a late season game in 2023 and will likely be a 2024 mainstay.
With the girls program getting a full season of Talent League footy for the first time in 2023, coach Josh Moore has seen strong development across the program.
“It’s probably the thing I’m most proud of, how far some individuals have come,” Moore said.
“We’ve had some players on AFLW draft radars and they’ve continued to thrive but it’s players underneath them who have blossomed and I’m really proud of.”
Defender Jemma Ramsdale had a huge finish to her season; having started the season as a lockdown defender, the skipper had the confidence to fly for marks and have an offensive impact in the last six weeks.
She stepped up and led the defence well in the absence of fellow Vic Country representative Bianca Lyne who had her season truncated by a broken hand.
Along with that pair, midfielders Meg Robertson and Mikayla Williamson, and forward Sophie Butterworth have also garnered strong draft interest, while Abbey Tregellis and Eleanor Butler will at least get state league contracts.
Another positive for the region was the way they navigated the two four-week community breaks, where the girls got to go back and play local footy.
In a period where lots of sides were challenged for continuity, the Stingrays went undefeated.
“I feel like we didn’t let it get to us,” Moore said.
“There was a lot of talk from the outside but we just kept doing what we do.
“We didn’t change our training or focus; we continued to focus on fundamentals and individual player development – we didn’t waiver from that.”
