Stars push for final frontier

By Marc McGowan
PREMIERSHIP glory and AFL selection remain the last frontiers for two of the Dandenong Stingrays’ brightest stars.
TAC Cup selectors named Hallam full-back Tom Gillies and Berwick full-forward Aaron Purves in the under-18 competition’s team of the year on Monday night to cap the pair’s brilliant individual seasons.
Gillies, 18, debuted for Dandenong last year, but has taken his game to another level in 2008.
The 192-centimetre defender has been named in the best players in 10 of the Stingrays’ 20 matches this season and polled seven votes in the Morrish Medal.
Gillies has the highest number of rebounds from defensive 50m and marks from opposition kicks at Dandenong, and leads all Stingrays backmen in running bounces.
The Eumemmerring College AFL trainee was thrilled with his selection, but was hoping the announcement would be a more exciting occasion.
“It was good – I’m pretty happy about it. You like to think you would be in contention, but you don’t go in there expecting anything,” he said.
“When I got there, they already had the team written down on the back of the pamphlet on the table, so it was a bit of an anti-climax.”
Several AFL clubs have either spoken or sent letters to Gillies and he has garnered enough interest to earn a spot at the state screening camp on 4 October.
But Gillies is maintaining a team-first approach and is focusing all of his attention on Dandenong’s preliminary final showdown with the Gippsland Power at Princes Park on Saturday.
“It’s exciting – hopefully we can knock off Gippsland this weekend,” he said.
“Finals are a bit more desperate and the players are a bit harder at the ball than normal.
“I’m still concentrating on finals and once they’re out of the way I will look towards the state screening.”
Purves, 18, booted a combined 11 goals in his only two games in 2007 and has shot to prominence this season.
Not even a broken right wrist early in the year could stop him being chosen for Victoria Metro in the under-18 national championships.
But Purves, who polled 11 votes in the Morrish Medal, was still shocked at his team of the year selection despite his sensational performances.
“It was pretty unexpected. I thought I was a chance to make the interchange, but I never thought I’d make the starting 18,” the Year 12 Eumemmerring College student said.
“I worked really hard on my general aerobic fitness to be able to run out a full game and my speed in the pre-season.
“Making the Vic Metro team was pretty unexpected, again, because I had a pretty bad injury. It was a good experience.”
Purves, just like Gillies, is looking no further ahead than this weekend’s clash.
“I’ve had a couple of interviews and letters from AFL clubs, but I’m concentrating on the finals at the moment,” the former Narre Warren junior said.
“It (playing AFL) is always on my mind and it’s what I want to do when I’m older.
“I’ll just do my best and hopefully get picked up, but the team comes first and I’ll do everything I can to try and win the TAC Cup grand final.”