By Jonty Ralphsmith
The Dandenong Stingrays boys rebounded from their round one loss with a comfortable 10.15 75 to 8.9 57 win over Brisbane Lions Academy at Craigieburn on Saturday.
The 18-point final margin belied Dandenong’s dominance, with the Stingrays having 14 of the first 18 shots on goal, yet went into halftime with the scores level.
Soggy conditions and a slippery ball took some polish away from a usually sharp Dandenong outfit but they broke away in the third quarter with six goals to one.
The Lions trimmed the margin in the last quarter but Dandenong still had enough control to keep the visitors at arms-length, winning the possession count by 30 and the tackle count by 18.
“I was proud of the boys’ effort,” said co-captain Harry DeMattia.
“We recognised at halftime what we were doing wrong, our goalkicking, and sharpened that up in the second half and bounced back, it was a good win.
“It was wet and windy this week compared to last week so we had to be cleaner.
“Last week we were fumbly, and that’s what cost us in the end, so being cleaner and an extra game and a bit more chemistry made us better.”
DeMattia played in tandem with fellow co-captain Cooper Simpson for the first time in 2023 after Simpson missed round 1 with a ‘corkie’ and each kicked an important third-quarter goal to give Dandenong breathing room.
On-baller Simpson, touted as a first round talent, started the season strongly with 20 touches and six tackles.
DeMattia has arguably been the Stingrays’ best across the first two games, filling Simpson’s midfield-forward role with aplomb last week and remaining in a similar role on the weekend.
“Last year I was more of a role player and this year I’ve focussed on being more impactful,” DeMattia said.
“That results in helping out the team, so I’m happy with that, and the leadership side of things has also helped bring the best out of myself and the boys so hopefully we can get more wins like this.
“I’ve been trying to do the things behind the scenes and leading the way in that sense.
“Getting to training early and doing extras with (high performance coach ) Benny (Benson), helping out the other boys and this year, more than last, touching into the mental side of the game.
“We’re big on our mental well-being and have been doing meditation before games.
“That helps, with eight debutants (last week), those first game nerves, it helps us relax for a couple of minutes and focus on other things.”
Defenders Billy Wilson and Pakenham junior Corey Braden shone behind the ball, combining for 12 marks as the quasi hosts controlled the airways well.
Beaconsfield junior Kobe Shipp also applied good pressure.
Berwick’s Sam Frangalas showed his strength in the midfield and Hampton Park’s Jack Wilson tried hard and built on his outing last week as a high-half-forward, coming into the game in the second half.
Meanwhile, the girls were comprehensively outplayed by an Eastern Ranges outfit chock full of top-end draftable talent.
The Ranges brought enormous pressure in an ominous first quarter, played in dewy and warm conditions.
When Eastern had the ball, they were slick, skilful and clean, though Dandenong did well to keep them to just one goal in the second quarter.
Dandenong was unable to get any pressure-free ball movement exiting defensive 50 for much of the day – particularly in that quarter – yet an early Sophie Butterworth goal and staunch defence kept the margin at 21 points at halftime.
Felicity Crank and Eleanor Butler did what they could to repel the repeated forward-50 entries for the Stingrays but the dam wall bust open in the third quarter.
Eastern broke away and kicked four goals to one, with the final margin being 46 points.
Crank finished with 21 touches and four marks and Butler with 15 and five.
Dandenong’s best was bottom-ager Tahlia Sanger who ran well on the wing, playing her role perfectly in a losing cause.
The Stingrays coaching staff are bullish her weapons will come to the fore when the ‘Rays get the game on their terms going forward.
Mikayla Williamson also gave effort, running the game out well in a midfield that was comprehensively outplayed.
Gippsland’s boys had a bye, while the girls team was again easily accounted for, this time by the GWV Rebels.
After going goalless last week, Zahri Burn kicked Gippsland’s only goal this week after she won a free kick at the top of the goalsquare.
While their pressure and effort was undeniable, the Power did not have enough of the ball in their forward half to seriously challenge, nor were they skilful enough with ball in hand.
Alisha Molesworth moved well through traffic, accumulating 24 possessions, while Vic Country representatives Ash Centra and Amber Schutte also performed admirably.
For the second week in a row, the standout defender was Siena Lane, who was rarely beaten one-on-one.
“Her ability to read and intercept and read the game is really good and her body impact and ability to spoil has really developed,” coach Nathan Boyd said.
“She just finds herself in good spots and is a product of other defenders playing their roles too.”
Boyd’s focus for the team is celebrating the little wins.
“Passages of play from half back to half forward where we defend really high and get the balls out in front when we’re running towards goals, and then running tackles and efforts where we can impact the opposition,” he said.
“Charlotte played on Lily Jordan who kicked four goals and is dangerous around stoppage.
“She had a good day on the board but we pushed Charlotte a challenge in the third quarter and she pushed her away from the contest and she only took two marks and both were outside 50 so we were able to reduce her impact so we want to celebrate those things.”
AFLW DRAFT
The Dandenong Stingrays have two players in the mix for Tuesday night’s supplementary AFLW draft.
The draft is only open to players born in 2004 or earlier with Talent League clubs only allowed a limited number of 19-year-olds on their books, reducing the prospects from Dandenong in the mix.
Brooke Smith and Abbey Tregellis are the two players who have a chance of being picked up.
Smith played well in last week’s win as a hybrid forward who was involved in plenty of attacking chains but she has played the majority of her footy in defence.
A long-term ankle injury limited her game time last season, but she still played six games prior to 2023.
She impacts with her speedy x-factor and smarts which sets the game up for her team.
“I just wanted to freshen her up in preseason to rejuvenate her development and she was really open to that challenge and change,” coach Josh Moore said of the positional change.
“She’s gone to work on mastering that role.
“She’s proven she’s so coachable by being dangerous and damaging, and she’s proven she can be a halfback flank and be dominant and now she’s shown she can be a half-forward.
She’s got untapped potential.
“We’ve seen glimpses but she’s got such a big upside because she’s so talented but hasn’t been able to play a full season of footy, and in an AFL environment with all the resources they’ve got, if they can build her body up to withstand the rigours of an AFLW season, she’s so untapped and could be anything.”
Tregellis, meanwhile, did some impressive things in round three against Eastern Ranges in what was a difficult day for Dandenong’s forwards.
Tregellis, who stands at 174 centimetres, is one with a strong understanding of her role as a forward, attacking the footy hard as a centre-half-forward this season and having the power to burst past opponents with ball in hand.
“She improved and developed week by week last season,” Moore said.
“As a 19-year-old, she developed and is really diligent in everything she does.
“She does extra gym work and does extra running and craft as a forward and the proof is in the pudding because she continues to develop.
“I have no doubt that if she gets into an AFLW system she’ll continue to develop because she’s not the finished product yet, but I think she’s worthy of getting on a list.
“She’s gone through the roof in a number of areas: she’s fitter, quicker, stronger, she understands the game a lot more.
“She played a fair bit of backline last year and has added forward craft to her game.
“She has worked on little fundamentals in her game.
“This time last year she was an average kick and now she’s a really good kick.”
Olivia Robinson, Eleanor Butler and Felicity Crank are others eligible but unlikely to get selected.
