By Jonty Ralphsmith
Talk about a statement game.
In its first match since an elimination final loss to Pearcedale last year, Devon Meadows didn’t concede a goal for the first three quarters and piled on 10 of their own.
Most of the damage was done when they had the breeze in the second quarter, with seven goals kicked, but it was a domination all day for a Panthers side that won 14.15 99 to 5.7 37.
Coach Ryan Hendy was adamant in preseason that last year’s early finals exit, while a good experience for the players, did not reflect where the Panthers sat in the competition.
The tiny sample size of 2023 affirms they will well and truly be a team to watch this season.
“The boys made a stance early in the game and attacked the footy hard from the start,” Hendy said.
“We were confident we would be better and more competitive and we spoke about it during the week.
“If there was one side we would have chosen to play against this week, we would all have chosen Pearcedale to make amends for what happened last year and the boys responded to the challenge.”
The ex-AFL listed trio of Paddy Ryder, Dean Kent and Josiah Kyle were brought in to put a club which has been out of finals for two decades on the map again.
On Saturday, Ryder set up the first goal and was clearly a class above, either marking or bringing the ball to ground in the forward line.
“Paddy was great, he didn’t lose a marking contest,” Hendy said.
“I think they were trying to play three blokes on him at one stage and he deliberately wasn’t marking it when they were doing that – he just brought it to ground so our crumbing players could get front and centre.
“He used his smarts and brought others into the game, but some of the marks he did take – there were blokes hanging off him left, right and centre and still he took it.”
St Kilda City recruit Riley Simmons rucked all day for the Panthers and gave his midfielders first use, which was a key ingredient in the result.
Kent slotted in seamlessly to an engine room that ran rings around Pearcedale, combining well with fellow co-captain Nick Battle.
“In my eyes, Dean Kent was best on ground,” Hendy said.
“He would’ve had close to 40 possessions and provided pressure around the footy, hardness and leadership. All the on-ballers were really good.”
Stefan Baumgartner tagged Ryan Bastinac and negated his impact while big-name Pearcedale recruit Dayne Beams had little say on the contest and wasn’t sighted in the second half.
Ty Kirkwood, who did a preseason at Casey Demons, was also one who provided run off half-back and wasn’t beaten one-on-one all day.
Kyle, meanwhile, is a highlights player. Kicking a set shot from 50 on the boundary line, he opted to go for a banana and slotted it.
Vision of that has been doing the rounds on social media, and people are talking about Devon Meadows again.
“He took a big ‘speccie’ as well,” Hendy said.
“He was electrifying all day and he gives us a bit of x-factor. It’s usually Joel Hillis we look to but it’s great to have another bloke with the same qualities. His pressure and running was influential when the ball was inside 50 on the weekend.”
