Stingrays take Queensland holiday

THE Dandenong Southern Stingrays suffered a sixth loss in a row when beaten by 111 points by the Queensland under18 state team in round 7 of the TAC Cup at the Gabba in Brisbane.
Playing a curtain raiser to an AFL game on an AFL ground in magnificent, warm, still conditions should have been enough for the Stingrays to produce their best performance for the year. But, while some of the individual passages of play were of high standard, coach Graeme Yeats was particularly disappointed by the holiday mentality of some of the Stingrays’ more experienced players.
A complete lack of confidence coupled with a lot of inexperienced players were a couple of reasons for the poor showing.
From the first bounce the Stingrays were outtackled, outmuscled, outskilled and outplayed by a slick and determined Queensland team. The pressure applied to the Stingrays’ midfield caused many skill errors and the rebound from halfback untouched to score was a highlight of the locals’ play.
The only shining lights were Peter Dal Lago and Ziggy Alwan, who battled manfully in the back line, Luke Potts and James Magner, who tried hard in the midfield, and Brad Horaczko in the ruck. Not one Stingrays player won his position for the game and this had Yeats struggling for answers.
This week the Stingrays take on the Eastern Rangers at Box Hill at 1pm on Sunday.
Scores: Queensland 25.15.165 d Stingrays 8.6.54.
Goals: Darren Sheen, Alex Lee, Curtis Barker 2, Luke Potts, Robert Beswick 1.
Best: Peter Dal Lago, Ziggy Alwan, Luke Potts, James Magner, Brad Horaczko.