By Jonty Ralphsmith
Saturday could hardly have worked out better for Narre Warren teens Sam and Mitch Toner.
Sixteen-year-old Mitch debuted for the Dandenong Stingrays on a day his 18-year-old cousin played a breakout game, kicking five goals against the Eastern Ranges at Frankston.
One of those goals was set up by Mitch, who kicked deep to Sam in the goal square.
“I was going for goal,” Mitch chuckles.
Sam adds: “It was a special day getting to share it with Mitch – we’re overly tight and family’s everything, they’ve always got my back.”
On a slippery day where clean skills were scarce, Sam took four clean grabs and converted his opportunities, including three in a seven-minute period against a strong wind to set up the Stingrays’ match-winning lead.
“They’re athletes – quicker and stronger,” Sam said.
“My aim was to try and show my weapons and go from there.
“The previous week, I missed my first one and my confidence dropped a little bit so kicking that first settled the nerves.”
As well as giving him confidence he could perform in the Coates League, Saturday was a statement that his skillset stood up in slippery weather, after his least productive game for Narre Warren this year came in the wet against Upwey-Tecoma.
Playing his first year of senior footy off the back of an Outer East League medal winning under-19s campaign, Sam has a league-high 50 goals in 2024.
A five-goal outing against Pakenham on justified the club’s faith; a four-goal haul against grand finalists Wandin a fortnight later proved he could do it against the best.
“To kick a few goals was a real confidence booster and I think I gained the respect of a few people that day,” Sam said.
Pleasingly for coach Steve Kidd, he’s bought into the system, with his gruelling preseason shining through with his ability to run out games.
“I was always bullish on what he could achieve at senior level and his attitude from the start of the year,’ Kidd said.
“We structured our game plan around him being a deep forward.
“I’ve said to him I’m happy for him to (show his weapons) but he just had to give him the defensive side of the game – man the mark, chase and make the ground small for us.
“I think now he’s the best defensive forward we have and I get an appreciation for that when I watch the games back and see the extra work he does.”
Not initially listed with the Stingrays, he was added in late June after a seven-goal haul against Woori Yallock.
“Some of his goals he made look easy because he pushed up, created turnovers then seems to get on the end of them,” Kidd said.
“He’s quicker to react than other players so he can lose his opponent easily.”
The brother of Narre staple Tom, Sam puts the form elevation down to an increased acceptance of his role, after playing one out in the goalsquare for much of last season due to his clean hands, and ability to neutralise when outnumbered.
“My fitness had to get better and I smashed it from where I originally was,” Sam said.
“Playing in a system and improving the defensive side of my game has been a focus and hopefully the scoring takes care of itself if I apply pressure.”
“I’ve just wanted to play consistently and adapt to senior footy.”
A four goal grand final against Upwey-Tecoma capped off a 53-goal season for Sam in 2023, the cousins reflecting on the premiership as a clear career highlight, with Dan Toner also part of the lineup.
“We were down and he hurt his leg and it looked like he got shot and he popped up out of nowhere and kicked two amazing goals,” Mitch recalled.
“I was in the goal square for one of them and knew we’d won and it was a pretty cool feeling.
“He was pretty good that day, I’ll give it to him.”
Under-19s coach Mark ‘Normie’ Krystalyn said he stood up when the match was there to be won, which capped off a season of progression as much as dominance.
“He thrives on the big moments and feeds off the crowd,” Krystalyn said.
“He makes good players look ordinary.
“He was playing on two opponents for much of the day and continued to beat them.
“At the start of the season he was a little bit headstrong, but by the end, he was fantastic.
“We knew he could play when we first got his hands on him but he wanted to be the man.
“Once he understood how playing as a team could make him better, he flourished.”
Mitch’s journey is unfolding differently to Sam’s; whereas Sam’s footy has entirely unfolded at local level until the Stingrays experience, Mitch was selected as part of the under-16s Vic Country squad earlier this year.
It followed a series of under-16s games for Dandenong for the brother of Williamstown VFL-listed Jack.
He also has played a full season of Associated Public School (APS) footy at Caulfield Grammar this year alongside a who’s who of draft prospects and Talent League-listed players.
“He’s a contested sort of player and he’s quite big,” Vic Country coach David Loader said of Mitch.
“His best attribute is probably his power when he’s playing forward.
“He’s pretty good overhead and had some shots on goal through sheer power, outbodying his opponent.”
Mitch’s aerobic capacity has been noted as a kryptonite, though, and he’s working with well-known mindset and running coach Rick Mirabella to add that to his game.
One moment in his eight disposal, four tackle, two goal assist Talent League debut epitomised that growth perfectly: in the second quarter, he put in three repeat efforts to apply pressure on the Ranges’ defence, the last of which resulted in a ball spilling free from his tackle, and Dandenong goal.
“I feel like since the start of the season, pressure has become almost a strength and it’s a really good way to get into the game,” Mitch said.
“Especially on (Saturday), I felt like as a 16-year-old debuting, I wasn’t going to have the impact I can at under-16s level so I thought I would play more role a bit more, and show pressure and team things and earn the respect of my teammates. “
The boys both remember swarming the field when goal kicking freak Kerem Baskaya kicked his 100th goal, one of dozens of happy memories at Kalora Park.
“I was the first to get out to him,” Mitch says proudly.
“He was my idol and I was obsessed with him for a few years.”
The trajectory of the pair suggests they might eventually be written into Magpies folklore and idolised in a similar way.
