Emma Quayle's match report....Cannons on target to clinch flagEmma Quayle | September 26, 2009
AT THE AFL draft camp next week, a new kicking drill will give recruiters a closer look at how well their favoured young prospects execute the game's definitive skill. Yesterday, clean kicking was the most decisive component in the TAC Cup grand final, the Calder Cannons' 12-straight goal start enough to hold the Dandenong Stingrays at bay for the rest of the afternoon, and deliver the junior club its fifth premiership in eight seasons.
While the Stingrays were never out of the grand final, they were never quite able to fully insert themselves in it either, at least enough to make the Cannons shake. In the first few moments of the match, Calder midfielder Jake Melksham trapped the ball in the centre square and sent it forward, where Brendan Fewster marked and kicked the first goal. At the next bounce, Melksham again gathered the ball on the edge of the square, carrying it to the 50-metre line and passing to Serhat Temel in the goal square. He kicked the first of his five goals, and the Cannons had the break they needed.
It was one they quickly extended: at quarter-time they had scored seven goals straight to Dandenong's 3.4, Temel kicking another, Jake Carlisle and Luke Mitchell slotting tricky set shots before Jacob Thompson soccered one though in the goal square and Robbie Hicks accidentally backheeling another through. Early goals to the Gold Coast-bound Matt Shaw and Mitch Hallahan in the first few minutes cut the margin, but Calder still couldn't miss, stretching its score out to 12 goals straight before a Temel set shot 23 minutes into the quarter slid across the face of the goals for its first behind.
The second half, essentially, was about Dandenong pushing to within a few goals, and Calder manufacturing another score shortly afterwards to push that little bit further ahead. The Stingrays, chasing their first flag, finished 14 points behind at the final siren, as close as they'd been almost all night. With Tom Scully missing after early-week knee surgery, Dandenong did well to cover the star midfielder. Ryan Bastinac worked his way into the game and Luke Parker and Dylan Roberton were also impressive, while Rohan Kerr also stood out with some of his work to get the ball inside his side's forward line.
The Cannons were missing their own star, with Josh Toy, another Gold Coast draftee, in China on a school trip. But, ultimately, they probably just had a few too many good players. Melksham turned his match-shaping start into a 24-possession game. He won the ball inside, slipped outside when the time was right and gave his teammates the best possible chance to mark the ball with some of his passing into the forward line. Nine minutes into the second term he broke away from a pack on the wing, allowing Thompson to float into the mark. Later, he poked another long pass into Temel's hands.
His first dozen possessions ran at an 88 per cent efficiency rate and, while his position in the draft pool wasn't really known around the middle of the season, he seems to have confirmed his place in the first two rounds come November. He won the TAC Medal as best player on ground.
BEST Calder: Melksham, Temel, Mitchell, Thompson, Wallis, Carlisle.
Dandenong: Bastinac, Parker, Roberton, Kerr.
PLAYER WATCHJake Melksham (Calder)
Got the Cannons rolling with the first two centre clearances, both resulting in goals. Won plenty of the ball, bounced more as the game went on and some of his kicking into the forward line set teammates up perfectly. A possible first round-top 20 pick.
Jake Carlisle (Calder)
Starting forward, Carlisle kicked an early goal but otherwise wasn't heavily involved. Nonetheless, he is a tall, versatile type who looms as a first-round pick.
Ryan Bastinac (Dandenong)
Bastinac's clean kicking should see him get drafted inside the first few rounds. He gathered 24 possessions and led his team well.
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rfnews/cannons-on-target-to-clinch-flag/2009/09/25/1253813614143.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1Melksham - 24 possessions, 7 inside 50s
Tom Liberatore, son of Bulldog great Tony, and Mitch Wallis, Stephen's lad, gathered 27 and 21 possessions respectively for the Cannons.
Brendan Fewster, already 198cm tall, impressed in the ruck for Calder with 22 hit-outs to go with his 10 possessions.
Ryan Bastinac, another potential first-round selection, impressed for the Stingrays with 24 touches and a goal
Luke Parker (21) and Madison Andrews (20) were also prominent.
http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/85349/default.aspx
