By JARROD POTTER
TAC CUP PREVIEW – ROUND 17
DANDENONG has doubled down to bolster its chances on Sunday by bringing back another two high-power prospects for the dogfight against the Western Jets.
It’s becoming a case of “who to drop” rather than “who to select” for Dandenong – a rich and enviable position to be in with very few injuries and all external commitments concluded for another football season.
Potential AFL father-son pick tandem Bailey Rice (Northern Blues) and Jake Lovett (Casey Scorpions) have returned to the TAC Cup fold to bolster Dandenong’s power-packed line-up to even greater heights.
But with the two impressive ins also go two impressive outs as former captain Daniel Capiron – sidelined with a bout of chicken pox – and Myles Poholke (illness) miss out on round 17 action.
“It’s good to get them all back from the last couple of weeks – we’ve got a couple out – Capiron has chicken pox and Poholke has got a virus – so we’ll miss a couple there,” Black said.“Looking forward to playing this week – Western Jets, regardless of ladder position, is always a tough game, especially playing them out at Williamstown.”
Also returning from a myriad of injuries is up-and-coming ruck man Liam Hulett – who despite missing out all this season has been listed in the AFL State Combine and will return to the line-up for the first time in 2015.
“He’s played a game and a half back at local now and at the start of the year we thought he’d be a very important player for us,” Black said. “To see him come in and have an opportunity, see how his fitness levels are and as long as he competes we’ll be happy.”
With Berwick hard-nut Reece Piper injured in the initial minutes of last week’s win over Oakleigh, the Stingrays have brought in another under-16 to try out as the 23rd man as the season wraps up.
Luke Davies-Uniacke – a schoolboys All Australian and Vic Country in-and-under midfielder – is set to make his Stingrays’ debut on Sunday, and Black was thrilled to see the next wave of Stingrays beat down the door to earn a place in the roster.
“The opportunity presented as the 23rd player with Reece going down last week and we’ve got a couple of other 17 year olds who we would’ve liked to give the opportunity to, but with the way our team is structured at the moment they’re all probably talls,” Black said.
“It’s an opportunity to give Luke a chance and he was pretty excited on Tuesday night when we told him, just hope he comes in and gets a little taste of it.”
This will be the second last home-and-away fixture for the second-placed Stingrays this season, as Black’s men travel to Geelong next Sunday for a likely finals preview with the high-flying Falcons.
While the minor premiership is up for grabs – with North Ballarat conceding its one-game buffer last week in an upset loss to Gippsland – that’s not as important to Black and the ‘Rays as the greater prize at the end of the season.
“Honestly I’m not too fussed – we know now we’re going to finish top four and we’re happy with that. If we win this week we’ll finish at least second or third regardless of the last game,” Black said.
“As long as we’re doing what we’re doing and go into the finals in good stead I’m pretty happy.
“It’s always handy to finish the home and away season on top, but come the end of the finals it’s a different ball game altogether.”
But first things first, they’ll need to dispatch the Jets on Sunday at Burbank Oval, Williamstown, from 11am.
DANDENONG STINGRAYS LINE-UP
Dandenong Stingrays
B: Batten, Collins, McKay.
HB: Rice, Weitering, White.
C: Holden, Cox, Jok.
HF: Williams, Young, Battle.
F: Lovett, Freeman, Hulett.
R: Prior, Kelly, Di Pasquale.
Int (from): Nyuon, Kiely, Mutimer, Z. Rouse, Pickess, Davies – Uniacke*, Glen Gladman, Roscoe.
