MPFNL Division 2: Pearcedale midfielder Tom Schneider’s insane stats

Bleeding and exhausted, Pearcedale’s gun recruit couldn’t have done much more for his new side on Saturday after racking up state-best stats.

Tom Schneider was brilliant first-up for Pearcedale on Saturday. Picture: Doug Farr

Bleeding and exhausted, Tom Schneider couldn’t have done much more for Pearcedale on Saturday.

On debut in the hoops, the former Vermont star racked up 46 possessions (32 of them contested), eight tackles and 231 ranking points.

His meaty stats included a staggering 18 clearances.

Yet, puzzlingly, Pearcedale lost to Devon Meadows by 14 points.

Schneider, who had blood coming from his nose from friendly fire with Ryan Bastinac, quickly earned the respect of his new teammates.

“He’s just a really good player, mate,” Pearcedale coach Peter Bastinac said.

“And he will bring that every week.

“I mean, I’ve coached a lot of players and coached against a lot of players but he’d be in the top three that I’ve coached against, for sure, as far as consistency goes. He’s just a really good player.”

Tom Schneider playing for Vermont. Picture: Hamish Blair

Bastinac coached Rowville for four years and saw Schneider dominate games for Vermont.

“The Eastern football league, in the Premier division there, that was a bloody strong comp and he was just a really good player,” he said.

“He was probably never the quickest player but he’s just always got his head over the ball and he’s always around the contest so he’s hard to contain.”

Schneider had nearly 20 more possessions than the next best player on the ground on Saturday.

His ex-Vermont teammate Brett Eddy also impressed, although he didn’t have his kicking boots on, slotting 2.4.

Pearcedale faces Seaford on Saturday and the Dales are likely to recall gun forward Luke Daniel, who missed the opening round with a shoulder injury.