Former Gippsland Power under-18 player Michael Stockdale has made a successful transition to VFL ranks with the Casey Scorpions this year. Picture: Stewart ChambersBy Marc McGowan
MICHAEL Stockdale was a wanted man at the end of his four-year stint at TAC Cup under-18 club Gippsland Power.
Unfortunately his number-one priority of making it onto an AFL list was not an option, but the offers still came from far and wide for the 175cm utility.
Stockdale, 18, trained with VFL clubs Casey, Box Hill and Port Melbourne during the off-season after turning down the opportunity to play with Canberra in the AFL Canberra competition.
The full-time rigger-crane driver wound up settling on Casey and, after being a pre-season eye-catcher, he has played in all nine senior matches for the club this year.
Stockdale has mostly played in defence, but, much like his Power days, he has been used in a variety of roles for the Scorpions.
“I was happy to play four or five games this year,” he said this week.
“My aim was to play round one and to stay in there, so to play every game is a bonus.
“I feel like I’ve improved my game and stepped up to another level.”
Stockdale admits Casey’s 103-point round-one defeat to Sandringham was an eye-opener, but said he always knew it was a better team than that performance showed.
The Scorpions have now won three straight games to move inside the top eight.
“The feeling is good around the club and you rock up and everyone is happy because you’ve won,” he said.
“It wasn’t too good when we were losing – especially after round one.
“I thought we might be in for a long year, but I knew we were young and … looking at the ladder, we’re above Sandringham now.
“It was just a matter of getting to know each other and forming that relationship and once you win a game you start believing in yourself as a group and a player.”
Stockdale, who rates his kicking as his best asset, has not given up hope of making it into the big league and has added five kilograms to his frame to match it with the AFL players he faces each week.
“I was still hoping (to get drafted last year) and I waited for the draft day and the pre-season that didn’t happen,” he reminisced.
“The VFL is the next-best standard and I just wanted to play the best I could and, hopefully, I can get picked up at the end of the year.
“I’ve had to improve everywhere and you have to manage everything – you can never stop learning and improving.”
But Stockdale is happy to continue making the regular hour-and-a-half drives from Traralgon to Casey if the AFL opportunity never presents itself.
“I’ll try and play as long as I can and just become a good VFL footballer – or try to be anyway,” he said.
The Scorpions resume at 1.10pm this Saturday after the split-round bye against second-placed Williamstown at Burbank Oval.
