Karl Brown and Hayden Blythe let their football do the talking for Calder Cannons on Saturday after being left out of the Vic Metro side.
Both played in Vic Metro’s opening game of the AFL under-18 National Championships, but neither was selected in the following two rounds.
But both were standouts in the Cannons’ 18.10 (118)-8.11 (59) win over Dandenong Stingrays.
Brown kicked seven goals, while Blythe was busy across half back and in the midfield.
Cannons coach Andrew Johnston said while he was disappointed both players missed out on the final metro squad, they responded well.
“You show by your actions how you respond,” he said.
“The results show Karl was maybe worthy of another opportunity.
“Obviously he didn’t do enough in the Metro game and someone else came in for game two and played well enough.
“From all reports Hayden played well for Vic Metro but then he was rested and then not selected.
“His attitude has been great and he’s moved on quickly.”
On Saturday, the Cannons made the most of having no players in the Vic Metro squad against a depleted Stingrays.
Continuing the good work of recent weeks, the Cannons flew out of the blocks and led by 31 points at the first break.
“The last couple of weeks our starts have been good and it’s something we’ve been working on,” Johnston said.
“They [Stingrays] really had a crack in the middle two quarters, before we ran away with it in the last quarter.
“For us it’s about starting well and maintaining that pressure.”
Support for Brown’s seven goals came from Tom Burnside with four and Mitch Lewis with two.
“Mitch came back in this week and he was phenomenal,” Johnston said.
“He didn’t get the reward on the scoreboard; he could have had seven … it could be his game next week.
“Tom was sick last week and he played well. He needs to be a bit more consistent.”
The win, the Cannons’ third in a row, moves them to sixth on the ladder and Johnston said the side now needed to consolidate its position in the next few weeks.
He said there had been a more even effort across the board meaning they weren’t relying on the same players.
“It’s a by-product of playing consistent football,” he said.
“We set ourselves to have a good period over the last four weeks and we won three games.
“Hopefully over the next couple of weeks we can consolidate our spot in the top six and get a bit of a gap on the other sides below us.”
