Southport midfielder Dalton Tucker has celebrated his appointment as captain of the Australia Post Scorpions with a standout performance in the opening game of the 2011 campaign.
Saturday 30 April 2011
Southport midfielder Dalton Tucker has celebrated his appointment as captain of the Australia Post Scorpions with a standout performance in the opening game of the 2011 campaign.
Tucker (pictured) was the pick of a Scorpions side which lost a warm-up game against the TAC Cup ladder-leading Sandringham Dragons by 54 points at Visy Park, Carlton, in Melbourne.
This came after Dalton, captain of the U16 Young Scorpions that won the division two title in 2009, was appointed to succeed 2010 Scorpions skipper and subsequent Gold Coast Suns draftee Joel Wilkinson.
Tucker, who played in the 2010 senior QAFL finals with the Sharks last year after an injury-plagued season, got the nod from coach David Ashkar ahead of Morningside’s former AIS/AFL Academy member and Western Magpies junior Jackson Allen.
Allen, who has already played in the NEAFL with Morningside and the Gold Coast Suns this year, will be vice-captain, with Redland’s Alex Sexton and Adam Oxley, Aspley’s Aaron Laskey and Southport’s Fraser Thurlow making up the six-man leadership group.
Coaching staff weren’t too disappointed with the final 7-8 (50) to 16-8 (104) scoreline against the Dragons, who are unbeaten four games into the TAC Cup season.
In assessing the Queensland performance they took into account the quality of the opposition, the fact that it was their first hit-out together, AIS/AFL trio of Sexton, Sam Michael and Brian Coleman-Broom did not play, and they were hit by injuries early in the game.
They were encouraged by “a very competition first half” in which the Scorpions trailed by five points at quarter-time and 21 points at halftime.
The Dragons added 6-2 to 2-1 in the third quarter to put the contest beyond doubt before a tighter third term in which Queensland kicked 2-2 to the home side’s 3-4.
Others to shine for the Scorpions were Claye Cameron (three goals), Peter Yagmoor, Lachlan Russ, Thurlow and Laskey.
Match Details were:-
Queensland Scorpions 2-2 3-5 5-6 7-8-50
Sandringham Dragons 3-1 7-2 13-4 16-8-104
Queensland Best : Dalton Tucker, Clay Cameron, Peter Yagmoor, Lachlan Russ, Fraser Thurlow, Aaron Laskey.
Queensland Goals : Clay Cameron 3, Peter Yagmoor 2, Tom Davidson, Shaun Crook.
According to AFLQ Talent Manager Bob Batty, the Scorpions will look to regroup against the Dandenong Stingrays at Shepley Oval, Dandenong, on Saturday in the second game of their three-game TAC Cup warm-up series.
Coach Ashkar will be looking for a better four-quarter performance against the fifth-placed Stingrays.
This game will be followed on 14 May by a ‘home’ practice match against reigning TAC Cup premiers Calder Cannons, a traditional powerhouse club in the TAC Cup competition.
This match will be played at Giffin Park, Coorparoo, as an 11.15am curtain raiser game to the NEAFL game between the Brisbane Lions Reserves and Greater Western Sydney Giants.
