By JARROD POTTER
HIS first 100 games have hopped by quite quickly.
Narre Warren’s Ryan Bastinac, 23, ran onto Adelaide Oval for his 100th AFL match on Saturday as his Kangaroos managed to halt the fast-starting Crows and secure the wily midfielder a fitting victory.
Since his debut in 2010, Bastinac is amazed at how rapidly the first centenary milestone of his career was notched.
“It was really good – came around pretty quickly,” Bastinac said.
“Just feels like yesterday since I got drafted, so to notch up 100 games is something I’ll look back on… it’s a great achievement to have done it at such a young age.”
Bastinac’s pair of milestone majors helped the Kangaroos seal up sixth spot on the AFL ladder with the seven-point win.
“We knew it was going to be a big game coming up against the Crows and their season was on the line… they were playing for a finals spot as well, so it was good to have a big game like that before the finals series,” Bastinac said.
“It was a good lead in to what we’ll face in a couple of weeks’ time… everyone dug deep to get the win which was fantastic.
“It’s always nice to snag a few (goals) – I like kicking a goal or two so it was really good in my big 100th… I loved it.”
Bastinac hopes his second finals’ campaign runs a bit longer and a lot less painfully than his first in 2012 when the Kangaroos were pummelled by West Coast in a 96-point elimination final defeat.
“Hopefully a lot different as 2012 was quite embarrassing,” Bastinac said.
“All the boys – whoever played in it – all remember that day and certainly don’t want it to happen again… we can’t wait to be back in the finals – as that’s where we think we belong.
“To get another crack at it is going to be great and all the boys will be up for it that’s for sure.”
He admits his season has featured its ups-and-downs, but importantly is stringing together some good form towards the important end of the year.
“It’s been a different type of year for me probably not as well as I would have liked it,” he said.
“In the last few weeks I’ve found some form which is good – you want to be finding your form at the later part of the year leading into the most important part.
“It’s good to get a few good games together leading into finals, but overall the start of the year was pretty inconsistent.
“A few good games and a few poor games so I’m just trying to play some consistent footy now and play a good finals’ series.”
Bastinac and the Kangaroos face Melbourne on Saturday night this weekend in the final AFL home-and-away round, with a win all but guaranteeing North Melbourne a home-final the following week.
