By JARROD POTTER
Reward for effort has seen a plethora of potential Stingrays draftees given their opportunity to shine at the state level.
Dandenong’s high-flying start in the 2016 TAC Cup season has been duly noted by Vic Country selectors with 11 Rays earning BIG V honours.
Berwick duo Reece Piper and Oscar Clavarino have earnt their first selections in the side while Beaconsfield’s Tommy Jok will get a second chance alongside highly-touted Doveton/ Haileybury forward Josh Battle.
“It’s great for our program and it goes to show the team’s playing good footy – we’re 6-1 after the first seven games and it’s a good reflection of how we’re going,” Dandenong Stingrays coach Craig Black said.
“It’s good for Tommy Jok, as a 19-year-old, to come back and they have a couple of 19-year-olds with Tommy and Mitch McCarthy.”
For Piper, in particular, his selection is cause for celebration after he pushed through a gruelling 2015 off-season rehabilitating a spinal injury.
Piper’s form since returning to the side has been phenomenal, with the small defender using his thumping left foot to kick the Stingrays out of trouble.
“Everyone knew Reece was pretty talented and once he got in to the grogram and got into it – we all knew he could play at this level,” Black said.
“Skill wise and ability – once he got everything rolling together he was always going to be good, but with last year’s injury he was very unlucky.
“That would knock your confidence around a little bit and everyone forgets that he’s 17 until the 30th of December too.”
The other small Stingray to really impress this season has been Sam Fowler, the Dromana export who has shone with 25 goals from his seven games.
Most importantly, Black believed Fowler’s story was a tale of perseverance and that an elite footy dream is only over when the player says it is.
“Sammy Fowler – it’s a great story,” Black said.
“This time last year he was playing senior footy as a 17-year-old for Dromana and now he’s getting an opportunity to play in WA in the championships in a week’s time.
“I guess that’s a great story too and it gives hope to those boys who missed out on the program as a 17-year-old.
“If you play good local footy you can still come in, get noticed and play good TAC Cup footy and potentially go even further.”
Vic Country will begin its AFL under-18 national championships campaign against Western Australia on Sunday 5 June at Medibank Stadium, Leederville.
DANDENONG STINGRAYS – VIC COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVES
Sam Fowler – Dromana. Tom Jok – Beaconsfield. Reece Piper – Berwick. Aaron Darling – Crib Point. Hunter Clark – Mt Martha. Oscar Clavarino – Berwick/ Haileybury. Luke Davies-Uniacke -Rye/ Haileybury. Liam Mckay – Edithvale-Aspendale. Mitchell McCarthy – Mt Eliza. Myles Poholke – Sorrento. Josh Battle – Doveton/ Haileybury.
