By Hayley Wildes
The Dandenong Stingrays are absolutely flying in season 2018. With a 9-1 record, sitting two games clear on top of the ladder, they are the talk of TAC Cup footy.
Co-captain Campbell Hustwaite – who shares the reins with Mitch Riordan – gave an insight into the Rays stunning season thus far.
“It’s probably a credit to how deep we are as a team,” Hustwaite said.
“We’ve had players come in and out, but we’ve also been able to bring players in who have played roles just as well, if not better, than some of the players that have been out.
“Also, everyone has just bought into the system. At the start of the year, team defence was a massive pointer for us, so we thought it we can defend well first, attack will become a lot easier.”
The depth of the team has been challenged greatly throughout the season due to varying reasons and with the Under-18 National Championships being played recently, the Rays have been without a handful of their best players for a considerable amount of time.
Bailey Williams, Zac Foot, Toby Bedford, Mitch Riordan and Sam Fletcher have all been unavailable for the Rays in almost two months because of Vic Country commitments, while Riley Bowman, Hayden Young and Will Hamill are among others to have missed TAC Cup games due to representing Vic Country.
Hustwaite talked about players stepping up and accepting the challenge.
“We’ve had top-age players step up like Lachie McDonnell and Reid Nanscawen, but there’s been a lot on the bottom-agers step up too. Ned Cahill has been massive; he’s had a couple of good weeks for a 17-year-old,” Hustwaite said.
He knows better than most what the Stingrays’ incredible development program can do for players, and this is ultimately driving team success.
“This is my third year in the system – not including a couple of summers in under-14s and 15s – but the way the place runs, the coaches just want to make every individual better,” he said.
“It’s obviously helped me and every other player on the list, and individual progress benefits the whole team. It seems like we’ve been getting better and better in the last few years I’ve been involved.”
Running out as captain of the Dandenong Stingrays is something that Hustwaite cherishes and doesn’t take for granted. He says leadership came naturally to him after captaining sides in juniors at Rosebud.
When he arrived at the Rays as an under-ager, the culture of respect allowed him to be himself and lead from the outset.
“Coming in as a bottom-ager, playing pretty early in the season, I didn’t feel the need to just be a background player, so I used my voice from the start,” Hustwaite said.
“They’re all pretty good at listening to what I have to say and it makes my job a lot easier when I’m not having to battle with people. Everyone is happy to take on what I say and it’s awesome, it’s what that team comradery is built around, just being able to take on everything said.”
Currently riding a five-game winning streak, the Rays are determined to not let arrogance creep in.
“Hopefully we can steer clear of individual footy and not be complacent with the 9-1 start; we just need keep pushing harder each and every week,” Hustwaite said.
“A big focus around the club at the moment has been to not get complacent with where we’re at, because that can lead to selfish footy, which is what we’re going to stay away from.”
With the ruthless brand of football the Rays are playing, along with the incredible depth and comradery within the group, Dandenong is marching towards a deep finals run and maybe, just maybe, they can claim the club’s maiden TAC Cup premiership.
What would it mean to Hustwaite to co-captain the Stingrays to a premiership?
“It’s one of the things that I’ve had pencilled into my mind since the start of the season,” he admitted.
“Having the co-captain tag with Mitch Riordan, we just want to make history and it would be pretty special to captain the Stingrays to their first premiership.”
