By Jonty Ralphsmith
Cranbourne young gun Tyson Barry got his opportunity at the next level on Friday night.
The livewire forward lined up for Casey in a practice match against Coburg after having done a Dees VFL preseason.
The teenager kicked 37 goals for the Southern League Division One premiers in 2022, his first season at senior level, a year which included three bags or four and four bags of three.
He was overlooked by Talent League club Dandenong Stingrays but has impressed all and sundry at Livingston Reserve, having come through the Eagles’ juniors.
“I stumbled across ‘Tys’ in preseason last year,” Cranbourne coach Steve O’Brien revealed.
“He was a kid who attended every session last preseason and kept fronting up no matter how hard the training was and just showed something.
“He was very small but just had a footy brain.
“Whenever we went into any sort of match sim, he knew what to do at the right time.
“He might get thrown around a little bit and rag-dolled but (we gave) him a go in a practice match.
“He just kept growing and to come out in his first season of senior footy and kick (so many) goals was just outstanding, so it was a no-brainer that I foiled him onto Casey for a crack there and he’s loving it.”
The youngster is still diminutive despite putting on muscle since last season’s grand final, which he uses to provide fleet-of-foot and opportunism at ground level.
An ambitious player who wants to fulfil his potential, doing so requires him to put on strength which has been the focus of preseason.
“As he progresses I think he’ll play further up the ground,” O’Brien said.
“He’s a very good kick of the ball, reads the play really well, and we gave him a taste of it last year playing on a wing, so I could see him being an outside mid and forward player because he’s pretty creative with ball in hand.”
