Dandenong Stingrays stay in the top six with a big win over Murray Bushrangers in Coates Talent League showdown

A strong first and last quarter has seen the Stingrays hold off a gallant challenge from the Murray Bushrangers. Watch the Coates League REPLAYS here.

A stunning first term from the Dandenong Stingrays has helped them to a 31-point win over the Murray Bushrangers in the boys Coates Talent League on Saturday afternoon.

The Stingrays kicked five goals to one in the opening term to open up a 34-point lead at the first change and stun the opposition.

It left the Bushrangers on the back foot for the remainder of the contest but to their credit they did fight back.

Five goals in the third term reduced the margin to 14 at the final break.

The Bushrangers even got to margin down to eight during the final term before the Stingrays pounced.

Four final term goals saw the Stingrays pull away and secure their sixth win for the season.

Victoria Country and Stingrays forward Noah Hibbins-Hargreaves was one of the best, kicking four goals in his best haul all season.

He was joined by Archie Le Clerc who also kicked four for Dandenong.

The win moved Dandenong to 5th on the ladder for the time being with six wins and four losses.

The Bushranger are now in seventh, just inside the top eight and finals, with five wins and five losses for the season.

PREVIEW

Dandenong Stingrays coach Nick Cox has seen it before.

The national championship players leave Coates League level for state duties and the opportunity rises for the unheralded or underage players.

This weekend against Murray Bushrangers is another one of those opportunities.

Catch all the action from the big boys contest LIVE and EXCLUSIVE on KommunityTV from 1pm on Saturday.

Catch up on the season-long LIVE STREAMS below.

Cox said he has already seen some bottom-age players step up this season in the absence of the Stingrays’ Vic Country players and hoped it continued this weekend.

“I don’t want to put pressure on players, name names, but there’s already been some this year off the back of it,” he said.

“We have four away again this week and some possible debutants.

“There’s been some players come in and have some great moments off the back of the opportunity they get, and they need to continue that to develop over the pre-season.

“There’s always a couple that pop up and that’s exciting.”

The Stingrays are sixth on the Coates League ladder after grabbing three consecutive wins and a draw across their past four matches.

They’ve been closing games out strongly, which Cox believed was a positive sign of development.

“The learnings from problem solving, how players react on ground is something that will hold them in good stead going forward,” he said.

Dandenong Stingrays face Murray Bushrangers on Saturday.

“In some of those games we were behind for long periods, or at the end of the game, and we found a way to get over the line, which is a good part of development.”

From an individual standpoint, Cox said the players who had stood out in tight moments were putting weight on their draft value.

“There’s an emphasis on that and what it shows that when things aren’t going great, who has the resilience to continue to grind away?,” he said.

“That’s not an attribute a lot of players have got because players get caught up in what they’ve done wrong rather than what they can bring.

“That’s why players like (Harvey) Langford and (Cooper) Hynes are rated highly because if they start slowly they have the ability to fight back and have an impact in the game.

“That’s probably the biggest learning we’ve got out of that as well.”

Murray Bushrangers are seventh on the ladder behind the Stingrays by only two points.

Originally published as Dandenong Stingrays stay in the top six with a big win over Murray Bushrangers in Coates Talent League showdown