From left, Narre Warren junior footballers Ryan Bastinac, Tom Gillies, Ben Wragg and Tom Scully are earning plenty of accolades as part of the Dandenong Stingrays’ squad.By Marc McGowan
FOUR super-talented teenagers are the latest batch of Narre Warren junior footballers to have an impact on the national scene.
Midfielders Tom Scully, Ryan Bastinac and Ben Wragg and tall defender Tom Gillies made the cut for the Dandenong Stingrays’ under-18 TAC Cup side this season after playing the majority or all of their junior football at Narre Warren.
Scully, 16, looks to be the pick of the bunch after winning the Kevin Sheehan Medal for the best Division One player at last year’s AFL under-16 championships.
The Haileybury College scholarship holder has just returned from the AIS/AFL Academy’s trip to South Africa, where he received rave reviews for his on and off-field performances.
And Stingrays regional manager Darren Flanigan can not speak highly enough of Scully.
“Tom’s very quiet, very respectful and an absolute delight to have around the club,” Flanigan said.
“I’m sure he’ll be a super player. He has all the attributes to indicate he’ll be a midfielder in the AFL.”
But Scully is far from the only shining light, with Gillies, 18, and Bastinac, 16, featuring in Dandenong’s best players several times already in 2008.
Gillies struggled with osteitis pubis last year and was in and out of the Stingrays’ side, but has improved drastically over the off-season, drawing comparisons to Collingwood star Tyson Goldsack.
“Tom has really come of age this year and attacks the footy, kicks really well and makes good decisions,” Flanigan said.
“Tall defenders are really hard to find and he has similar size and athleticism to Tyson Goldsack.
“He is the only one of the four who can be drafted this year and could come under some notice.”
Bastinac joined Scully as an All-Australian at under-15 level in 2006 and is in the Victoria Metro under-17 squad.
“Ryan is a bottom ager who we rate very highly and is right up in our possession count and one-percenters,” Flanigan said.
“He has a good endurance base, but probably needs to develop a bit more speed and is still pretty lightly framed.
“He has clean ball-handling, his decision-making is outstanding and is very hardworking and coachable.”
Wragg, 17, made his debut for Dandenong on Sunday following some exciting form for the Magpies’ under-18 team.
“Benny has really good endurance, is tallish and is a flanker at this stage, but needs to improve his kicking a bit because it’s a little bit up and under,” Flanigan said.
“He makes smart decisions with the footy and is a very diligent trainer.”
Guy Miller, Joel Broadhurst and Jackson Parker bolster Narre Warren’s Stingrays’ presence further as part of Dandenong’s development squad.
Narre Warren president Jason Quirk is hoping the youngsters can follow in the footsteps of former Magpies Brenda Fevola, Steven Salopek and Adam McPhee.
“That team went through together and were just unbelievable,” Quirk said.
“Those boys were a huge part of our junior success.”
Former Narre Warren under-16 coach and now chairman of selectors for the senior side Dean Holden is similarly impressed with the boys.
“They’re all terrific characters and are high achievers and outstanding young men,” he said.
“They’ve set themselves up really well and the whole lot of them train really hard.”
