NAB League 2019: Oakleigh Chargers pair Josh May and Nick Bryan added to Vic Metro trials
Oakleigh Chargers already have nine players at the Vic Metro trials, but coach Leigh Clarke believes selectors may have overlooked some other possible draft candidates.
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Oakleigh Chargers already have nine players at the Vic Metro trials, but coach Leigh Clarke believes selectors may have overlooked some other possible AFL draft candidates.
Josh May and Nick Bryan were last week called up for the trials, joining Oakleigh teammates Matt Rowell, Noah Anderson, Dylan Williams, Trent Bianco, Sam Tucker, Finlay Macrae and Will Phillips at the try outs.
South Warrnambool product Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, who boards at Scotch College, is also trialling for Vic Country.
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It forced Oakleigh to make a raft of changes from its Round 3 game, blooding seven debutants against Gold Coast Suns Academy.
Those to make their first appearance for the club included Mark Steiner, Luke Winter, Dylan Thomas, Tom Furphy, George Belcher, Jack Hindson and Daniel James-Orgill.
The club arranged for Gold Coast defender Sam Collins to speak to the group of the pathway NAB League can provide aspiring footballers.
“What we were really trying to highlight was the opportunity available for these players,” Clarke said.
“In Round 4, 2017 the four players debuted against Bendigo were (Riley) Collier-Dawkins, (Isaac) Quaynor and Atu (Bosenavulagi). The message was, ‘someone among you might be the next one’.”
Oakleigh kicked just two goals after quarter-time on Saturday as Gold Coast strolled to a 71-point victory at Southport.
“The ones we’re really praising at the moment, even when we’re not playing very well as a team, are (Harris) Mastras, Nick Guiney … and Kaiden Scrieber is probably the one that’s keeping us pretty positive at the moment because he’s just a good kid that’s able to learn every week,” Clarke said.
“You give him something to work on and he works at it, improves in that area of the game.
“We challenged him last week — defensively he was really strong but only had five or six possessions … this week we challenged him to get a little bit more ball in hand and maintain that defensive pressure and he was able to get 20 possessions.”
Oakleigh has a 2-2 record after its opening four games and will next play Dandenong Stingrays in a grand final rematch on April 26 at Shepley Oval.
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