By JARROD POTTER
TAC CUP PREVIEW – ROUND 13
HERE comes the cavalry.
Rattle off this list of Dandenong Stingrays’ inclusions to make for a tantalising full-strength match up against second-placed Murray Bushrangers.
National champions Brandon White, Keiran Collins, Jacob Weitering, Tommy Glen, Gach Nyuon and Kurt Mutimer all slot back in instantly to the Stingrays attack as Dandenong puts on the park its strongest side this year, and potentially of the last few years.
With the All-Australian representatives – Nyuon, Weitering and Collins – rejoining the TAC Cup in the key positions, it is a tricky task to balance the full list of available players – a rare and fortunate position for Dandenong Stingrays coach Craig Black is in this weekend.
“It’s always tough – but you’d rather have your players representing the state in the line-up,” Black said.
“Any time I can have Weitering, Collins, Glen, White, Mutimer and plus the likes of Battle, Jok, Lovett and the group we’ve already got … the challenge for us is to make sure they’re all buying in and doing their roles.
“We lose four private schoolers the next week – but it’s probably the first time since round one that we’ve had our full list to pick from.
“We’re luckily in the position that the boys get to play in these pressure games, the guys that can stand out and it might help them out later in the season to get some interest.”
While the ins list looks impressive, Black knows it comes at the cost of a fair few talented footballers missing the cut this week as the deep Stingrays’ talent pool makes for a few likely types missing out.
“There’s a lot of responsibility on these guys – six ins and unfortunately six outs for some who were in our better players, so it’s never a good thing to do as a coach as you want to reward the boys who are playing well,” Black said.
“We’re a pretty deep list this year, but the guys on the fringe for us are super kids, really committed and as long as these boys coming back in understand they’re taking the spot of someone who is in good form.”
Bailey Rice (sore groin) and the continued absence of captain Lachlan Williams (appendix) are the only major omissions on the Stingrays’ list.
Recruiters will be glued to the big challenge in the Murray forward line – the toe-to-toe battle between Murray’s champion full-forward Josh Schache, and the likely rotation of Collins and Weitering.
Black said it would be on these two talented Peninsula defenders to figure out who matches up on the Larke Medallist, setting the challenge for the Stingrays’ tandem to work out their own tactics.
“Both of the boys will have a go at him – it depends where he starts whether its deep or a bit further up the ground,” Black said.
“That’s the advantage of having two exceptional key defenders though – they both want to play AFL next year and can figure out between themselves.
“I’m not going to go there with one key focus – whether it’s Kieran or Jacob – they’ve got good enough football heads to work it out.”
Berwick’s Ryan Gains has also held his spot as the 23rd man for this clash, set to take place on Saturday, from 1.30pm, at Shepley Oval.
DANDENONG STINGRAYS LINE-UP
B: White, Collins, Batten.
HB: Pickess, Weitering, Glen.
C: Holden, Cox, Jok.
HF: Gladman, Battle, Young.
F: MacHaya, Freeman, Poholke.
R: Nyuon, Mutimer, Di Pasquale.
Int (from): Stoffels, Warke, Prior, Lovett, Turnbull, Gains*, Bubb, McKay.
