Dandenong skipper Ryan Bastinac starred in Vic Country’s come-from-behind win in Tasmania on Sunday. 29065 By Paul Pickering
DANDENONG Stingrays co-captain Ryan Bastinac made his mark on the National Under-18 Championships on Sunday, collecting a team-high 25 possessions in Vic Country’s comeback win over Tasmania.
The Country boys looked set for a humiliating defeat after slumping to a 33-point third-quarter deficit, but the supremely fit visitors ran over the top of their hosts in a five-goal-to-one final term to win by 14 points.
Bastinac was one of the main catalysts for the turnaround; his clean skills proving invaluable in the cold and greasy conditions.
Only Gippsland’s Koby Stevens and North Ballarat’s Andrew Hooper – captains of the first two games – earned higher praise from the Vic Country staff after the match.
Assistant coach – and Dandenong region manager – Darren Flanigan said the Narre Warren teenager was a standout.
“Ryan and Andrew Hooper were the two that really got the side going,” he explained.
“We looked flat (early) and we wasted a lot of opportunities.
“(Tasmania) played very well, but if we’d been a bit smarter with the footy going forward early in the game it might have been a different result. As it was, we had to fight pretty hard for a win.”
Dandenong key-defender Corey Millard lined up at full-back in a solid carnival debut.
“Corey did his job and played a good defensive game,” Flanigan said.
“His man certainly didn’t cut us to bits.”
Meanwhile, fellow Stingray Mitch Hallahan was a late inclusion after Murray stars Alex Keith and Sam Reid pulled out. The rugged bottom-ager clearly benefited from his debut against Vic Metro the previous week, providing some valuable hardness off the bench.
“The fact that the ball was going to be on the ground a bit certainly helped his chances of getting a game,” Flanigan said.
“He’s nice and tough and keeps his eye on the footy. Mitch had a better game after struggling a bit in the first one.”
Flanigan is expecting Stingrays winger Matt Shaw to make his representative debut in Saturday’s game against South Australia at AAMI Stadium – the curtain-raiser to the twilight AFL clash between Adelaide and North Melbourne. The big ground should suit the hard-running Chelsea junior.
Meanwhile, Dandenong and Vic Metro captain Tom Scully will be looking to continue his impressive carnival against Western Australia at Subiaco on Saturday.
Scully was relatively quiet – by his own lofty standards – in gathering 17 possessions in Metro’s 111-point belting of NSW/ACT in country New South Wales last Saturday.
He was typically diligent and damaging playing across half-back and in the midfield, but it wasn’t the dominant display he produced in round one.
Scully’s Stingrays will resume their TAC Cup campaign against the lowly Western Jets at Williamstown’s Burbank Oval on Saturday.
