The Dandenong
Southern Stingrays first home game for the year turned into a nightmare event
when the charged up and physically tougher Calder Cannons led at every change
to hand the Stingrays a very disappointing 23 point defeat.
The Stingrays were
without Adam Treloar and Luke Parker on AIS AFL academy duty and lost Jerred Savage and Jason Salopek, but the four
inclusions were expected to match the efforts of the missing players. The game
was horrible from the start for the Stingrays with the Cannons in front at
stoppages, in front in the backline and in front when the ball went forward and
as a result the Stingrays were chasing all day. Some good play from first gamer
Tom Lynch set up Brad Tagg for the Stingrays first goal and another 2
from free kicks saw the Stingrays close the gap to 15 points at the first
break.
The second term was better
for the Stingrays as they matched the Cannons through the mid field and had
five more inside 50’s in the first half but the defensive efforts when the ball
hit the deck by the Stingrays were non-existent. As a result the Cannons were
able to counter attack from half back and match the Stingrays on the
scoreboard. The half time margin of 14 points had the Stingrays in the game on
the scoreboard but they had many players well below the standard set last week
and lacking spark and leadership.
The third term was all
one way traffic as the Cannons reasserted their mid field dominance and kicked
5 goals to 1 to have the game wrapped up at the last break. Stingrays coach
Graeme Yeats was getting more and more frustrated with the efforts of his
players as their poor training form from the week was translated into poor form
in the game. The lack of leadership from the Stingrays top age players was
further highlighted losing Mitch Hallahan
with a leg injury and the expectations of those senior players to set a strong
positive example was sadly missing.
The final term was a
chance for the Stingrays to get some respectability on the scoreboard as the
Cannons high pressure, high intensity style started to take its toll. Four
goals to one had the Stingrays close the gap to 23 points but the Stingrays
were never a chance to win. As Yeats said after the game “You get opportunities
to learn from every game but this one has shown us that we must play hard
edged, hard nosed football for every minute to compete at this level. Only that
level of commitment will have us able to compete consistently week in week
out.”
Next Saturday, April
10th the Stingrays head to Queen Elizabeth Oval in Bendigo to take on the North Ballarat Rebels
as part of a TAC Cup triple header. The Stingrays game starts at 2.30pm and entry
is free.
Last Modified on 03/04/2010 18:19