By JARROD POTTER
SWITCHING aquatic allegiances for a round, Dandenong Stingrays’ forward Nathan Gardiner got to take the next step in his football development as he earned his Dolphins’ debut.
Gardiner, 18, from Cranbourne, donned the black, red and white guernsey for the Frankston Dolphins VFL team as the 23rd man, taking on Casey Scorpions at Frankston Oval on Sunday.
“Trained with them Wednesday night then (Frankston coach Simon) Goosey called me Thursday morning and said I was going to play in the ones,” Gardiner said.
“I was pretty excited – I was looking forward to it as I thought it would be a good experience getting to play with the big boys and finding out more about that level.”
With only limited minutes on the park to showcase his talent – Gardiner said he held his own in the tussle and the coach was pleased with the debutant’s efforts.
“I think I went alright when I was on the ground – I didn’t have much game time because I was the 23rd man – but I talked to Goosey after the game and he said he was pretty happy with how I went,” Gardiner said.
“When I was on the game, I played my role and did my job and as long as Goosey’s happy I’m happy.
Capping off the debut with a goal against his name, Gardiner found the step-up in speed and ability to his liking and would relish another chance to play at that level.
“It was much more physical,” he said.
“Bigger bodies, much quicker and the skills – the boys backed themselves to hit targets and had really good skillsets.
“Everything was just a little bit better – it’s definitely the level I want to play at – the higher the standard I can play at the better, so I’ll keep pushing and try to play the highest standard I can.”
For his first full season playing TAC Cup, Gardiner said he’s had a mixed bag of results, but is improving as the pointy end of the season approaches and hopefully there are some spoils at the end for 18-year-old footballer.
“I think it’s gone alright – I’ve had a couple of weeks where I’ve been a little quiet, but a couple of weeks where I’ve been pretty good,” Gardiner said.
“It’s gone pretty well and hopefully something good comes out of it at the end of the year.”
Gardiner has kicked 29 goals this season to lead the Stingrays and sit fourth in the TAC Cup overall goal-kicking behind Gippsland’s Josh Scott.
