By JARROD POTTER
SOMEBODY may have to give Lachlan Batten a belting at the beginning of every round, as Batten’s shake up proved the deciding factor is Dandenong’s impressive 19-point win over Northern Knights.
After six weeks on the TAC Cup sidelines – nursing a busted bicep – Batten, 18, finally made returned to action for Dandenong on Saturday, but it almost ended instantly after a clash of heads in the opening term.
The Stingrays’ vice-captain had been roaming the defensive end before copping a big knock from a pair of Northern’s tall forwards – leaving the 175cm defender to be taken from the field in the hands of the trainers. He wasn’t seen for the rest of the term – as he went through the process to rule out concussion – but after getting the doctor’s confirmation Batten was given the all clear to get back out there.
“It did hurt at the time – felt a bit dizzy,” Batten said.
“One bloke came across my left shoulder and another came from the other side so it was a bit of a double hit – wasn’t too bad.
“They weren’t going to let me come out again and had to go through the concussion test… and came out firing.
“Firing” is a fair understatement though.
Batten was unstoppable in the forward arc – crumbing the talls’ anc creating his own chances en route to a three-goal haul in the second term. His efforts starting tipping the clash in the Stingrays’ favour as Batten’s brigade booted away from Northern.
While he’s not used to life as a marked man in the forward line, Batten enjoyed his chance from the goal square.
“It was good to give a bit of an input for the team going forward – I’m not really much of a forward that often, but it was good to go down there and snag a few,” Batten said.
His return to the defensive end happened after half-time where he resumed his kick-out duties and helped pinpoint the Stingrays out of danger with the wind howling against them.
The Stingrays managed to hold onto a three-or-so goal buffer throughout the clash – despite a howling gale playing havoc with both side’s ball use – and improved their TAC Cup record to 6-2 this season.
The bicep injury cruelled Batten’s chances of making Vic Country’s initial squad, but he hopes to keep pushing through the results at TAC Cup level to get a second chance.
“That’s my goal (making Vic Country) – just have to work really hard now… put in the hard yards,” he said.
“Bicep is going alright now – felt pretty good throughout the game and it didn’t give me any troubles.
“Good win overall for the boys and look forward to having a bye and coming up against a couple of good teams and hitting them really hard.”
Batten’s Stingrays clash with regional rival Gippsland on Saturday from 1pm at Shepley Oval.
