Left: High-flying Stingray Jake Calvert takes a strong grab for his side in their loss to Gippsland Power. Pictures: Stewart Chambers
By Jarrod Potter
THE Dandenong Stingrays will need to find some impetus leading into this week’s match against the Eastern Ranges, after falling short to the Gippsland Power by 38 points on Saturday.
Coach Graeme Yeats thought the loss came down to Dandenong’s inability to keep Gippsland out of the contest for prolonged periods.
“We got it in there (up forward). We looked reasonably dangerous, but they were good at getting their numbers back quickly and stifling and stopping any of our free possession going forward,” Yeats said.
“On the scoreboard we were reasonably close. The stats will probably reflect we got enough of the ball and enough inside fifties but didn’t convert.”
Yeats had high praise for Gippsland and their ability to overrun the Stingrays when it mattered.
“They (Gippsland) were clearly the better team in all facets of the game, their pressure, ball use and transition were good and they were just more competitive over the ground.”
To compound the loss of eight players to Vic Country duties, the Stingrays also lost some of their reliable depth players to midweek injuries, which greatly restricted the team they could field.
“We couldn’t pick Corey Buchan, Corie Intveen or Aaron Lees; three of our players who got injured during the week and they’re players who would’ve really helped our depth and structure,” Yeats said.
“Missing two key quality defenders and a key forward, we had to pinch hit all over the ground.”
Yeats was impressed with the work rate of his players, who stepped up to fill the void left by the Vic Country players.
“Jack Sheppard played well. He has been injured for two years and I thought he played a good game,” he said.
“Nathan Wright is in really great form across half back. Brett O’Hanlon competed really hard against multiple players pushing back into his area, as we didn’t get it in quickly enough as we didn’t have the time and the space to kick it well enough to him.”
The rise of Jake Calvert has been promising for Yeats and the rest of the coaching staff, but there’s still room for improvement.
“Calvert’s been gradually getting better; he’s just got to learn to compete really intensively,” Yeats said.
“I think he’s getting there, but he has a long way to go. He has got a lot of brute and brawn but he has to use it better. He’s got to impact the game more and crash more packs.”
All these factors culminate in this week’s match against the Eastern Ranges, which becomes a do-or-die encounter for the Stingrays.
“Eastern are a good side; I think they’ve won four or five. We’re 3-4 so it becomes a really important game for us,” Yeats said.
