By Ben Pollard
One poor quarter can be the death of you in footy.
The Dragons suffered their first loss of 2013 on Saturday afternoon, when a hungry Calder Cannons outfit jumped them in the first term at Highgate Reserve.
In a flash, the Sandringham boys were five goals down.
“Some of them might have played a bit of their game before they got out there,” region manager Ryan O’Connor speculated. “It definitely didn’t help us in terms of getting the start we wanted, and we couldn’t peg it back from there.”
O’Connor warned about the pressure that bottom-age players might face to break into the team and stay there, as well as the pressure top-age players might feel to make the most of their time in an elite program.
“I think because we’ve had a few boys at Vic Metro or maybe at the AIS, they (other players) feel like they might have to be the best player on the ground, rather than just doing their role and playing as part of the team,” he said.
“So they’ve got heightened expectations of themselves and it’s a really dangerous position to get into because yes, we want the bar to be raised high, but we also have to be realistic about where things are at.”
The reality after quarter-time was that the margin barely changed and O’Connor was happy with aspects of Sandringham’s play following the dismal opening term.
“We opened Calder up quite easily, we thought,” he said. “On the fast break, we brought the ball forward quite quickly, got it in deep and we actually got the result we were after.
“We just couldn’t execute that often enough.”
One player who took his chances when the ball came in quickly was athletic marking forward Josh Clayton, son of current Gold Coast list and strategy manager Scott Clayton. He booted three goals in his first game as a bottom-ager.
“Josh has trained really hard, got his chance on the weekend and really came to play,” O’Connor said. “I thought he was one of our shining lights on a day when I couldn’t really say many of the boys had a four-quarter performance.”
O’Connor also praised co-captain Tom Langdon for trying to lift his teammates when things were going against them, key defender Lachie Ritchie for his physical intent down back, Nathan Freeman for his work around the goalface and Josh Kelly for his ball-winning ability in limited game time.
But, things will have to improve if the Dragons are to knock off their foes from last year’s preliminary final, the Gippsland Power, at Preston City Oval on Saturday afternoon.
Gippsland broke Sandringham hearts last September, winning an epic match by four points to deny the Dragons a shot at the TAC Cup premiership.
O’Connor said some of the top-age players might take motivation from that defeat, but it would be difficult to gain revenge with up to 15 changes expected to the team.
The impending start of the private school football season means 28 listed players are now unavailable until later in the season.
“But that means some bottom-age boys will get their opportunity and some top-age boys who have been really champing at the bit to get a chance can now put their hand up.”
Sandringham Dragons 0.2 2.5 4.6 7.10 (52)
Calder Cannons 5.2 6.5 8.8 11.12 (78)
Goalkickers: J.Clayton 3, C.Cathcart 3, N.Freeman
Best: J.Clayton, L.Ritchie, S.McLaren, T.Langdon, J.Munro, N.Freeman
Last Modified on 24/04/2013 11:59