Rays take charge

By Jarrod Potter
DANDENONG Stingrays return after the Easter break to face the Oakleigh Chargers at home on 30 April, but the Stingrays could be without AIS representatives Todd Elton, Matt Buntine and Lachie Whitfield, returning from the AIS tour of Europe.
The Stingrays’ AIS representatives played exceptionally in the game against the European Legion in London, with Whitfield winning the High Commission Medal for best on ground.
Despite the uncertainty over these Stingrays’ availability, Dandenong will be in a good position to win, according to Dandenong’s region manager Mark Wheeler.
“It’s too taxing on the boys’ bodies to come back from Europe and play immediately. We’ll listen to the AIS coaches to see where the boys are at and assess from there,” Wheeler said. “We’re pretty confident with Oakleigh; they have a lot of private school kids that they will miss for the game, so it will test their depth.”
Oakleigh come into the match with a 1-2 record, recording a round one win against the Calder Cannons at Visy Park before losses against Sandringham Dragons and Northern Knights pushed them down the ladder to 10th.
Chargers region manager Mark Smart says the loss of key players to private school football will affect the team make-up, but still expects strong results from the team.
“We lose Jack Viney to private school football. Tom Curran, probably our best player, has been added to the AIS game against Bendigo Bombers this weekend as well,” Smart said.
“We lose eight players to private school footy from our best team, so that presents with a challenge,” Smart said. “We have a new group of eight players to the team, so it’s about educating those players and getting them to bond with the rest of the group.
“We think we’ll be competitive; Dandenong is always a strong team and they’ve had some unlucky losses to date, so we know they’ll be really fired up.”
Smart says the Chargers players outside of the private school system will perform well with the added responsibility they will take on.
“Our midfield players like Mitch Wooffindin and Matt Arnot will look to stand up this round. Nick Murphy is performing up forward and is one of the leading goalkickers in the TAC Cup this year and Alex Brown down back, who’s part of the Vic Metro team, has come back into some form.”