NAB League: Son of a gun to the fore for Sandringham Dragons
Tyson Milne played his best game in the NAB League but Sandringham Dragons were closed down by Eastern Ranges.
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On a day when his team was closed down, Sandringham Dragons coach Josh Bourke sensed an opening for Tyson Milne.
The Cheltenham Panthers product and son of former St Kilda star Steve played at half back and was among the best players in the Dragons’ nine-point loss to Eastern Ranges at Moorabbin on Sunday, 8.7 (55) to 6.10 (46).
FOURTEEN DRAGONS IN UNDER 18 TRIALS
“With opportunity you’re going to get players stepping up, and I thought Tyson played his best game for us by a long way,’’ Bourke said of the top-ager.
“He looked really composed at half back with ball in hand, set us up a couple of times.
“He started forward in the pre-season but probably struggled a bit. He’s looked a lot better down back. He’s clever with ball in hand, and going forward with it and at the game, he’s been really dangerous.
“He had 18 touches on the weekend. He defended quite well. We’re hopeful he’ll continue to develop in that small-back, half back role.’’
Miles Bergman moved into the midfield and played his best game for the season.
“He has touches that matter. He doesn’t get a bucketload of it, but he breaks lines and his possessions have an impact on the game,’’ Bourke noted.
Angus Hanrahan and captain Ryan Byrnes combined for 11 inside 50s, Jake Bowey was influential again and Kyle Yorke never stopped presenting from centre half forward.
Bourke said that going into the match he thought it was “a genuine 50-50’’ against Eastern. “I think the challenge for our players is getting used to sides taking away what we do,’’ he said.
“Our early-season form was pretty good so sides are paying us a bit of attention and focusing on nullifying what we do well, and they (Eastern) did that really well.
“They took away how we wanted to really play and hurt us on the way back. It’s no great secret that if we can get sides to the outside and move the ball quickly, we’re pretty dangerous. They took that away from us, forced us to kick long and play a bit slower, and then got us on the rebound. Their ability to repel us was pretty impressive.’’
The Dragons had three first-gamers in Joseph Lloyd, Fraser Rosman and Riley Virtue, and Lloyd did well in defence.
Sandringham travels to Victoria Park, Echuca on Saturday to play Bendigo Pioneers.