A host of up and coming players got their chance to shine when Peel Thunder fielded one of its youngest league outfits in years in a win over Perth at Bendigo Bank Stadium on Saturday.
Among their side of 22, Peel named 12 players with less than 40 games experience, 10 with less than 30, and six with less than 10.
But the youngsters didn’t fail to take their opportunities as the Thunder ground out an 11.10 (76) to 8.7 (55) win in blustery conditions over the cellar-dwelling Demons.
Battling a harsh breeze to start the game saw Peel go into the quarter-time break down five points, but the fresh-faced line-up responded when they booted four goals to Perth’s two in the second to take the lead.
The Thunder kept their intensity in tact in the second half, booting six majors to the Demons’ four to round out the 21-point victory.
While it was the experienced Rory O’Brien (28 disposals) and Tom Sheridan (22 disposals, two goals) leading the way, Peel received strong contributions from their pool of youngsters.
Haydn Matthews has made a name for himself as a hard nut just 13 games into his league career, and shone with 18 disposals and nine tackles.
Fifth-gamer Brett Milward hit the scoreboard with two goals from his 15 possessions, while draft prospect Aaron Naughton had 13 disposals and took six marks.
Coach Cam Shepherd was rapt with the performance he got from his young crew.
“I was really pleased with how we went about our footy,” he said.
“Perth had been belted in the press during the week and when a club is hit like that you expect them to respond, which they did, but I was just happy with the way we handled the challenge.
“Obviously we’ve debuted a lot of young kids in the past two years and this was just another chance for them to get some real experience.”
Fremantle-listed rookie Luke Strnadica showed no hesitation in coming up from Peel’s reserves to take the reigns as the top ruckman in the absence of Sean Darcy and Jon Griffin, tallying a whopping 51 hit outs.
In more good news for the Dockers, prized recruit Harley Bennell edged his way closer to an AFL return, getting through the game unscathed and booting two goals, two behinds.
The local Peel product is a chance to make his Dockers debut when they take on Richmond this coming weekend, while Peel square off with East Fremantle in the WAFL.