Tough Battle in curtain-raiser

Trading his Stingrays jumper for the Australian guernsey, Dandenong's Josh Battle relished his grand final experience on Saturday - playing the curtain-raiser on the MCG. 144009 Picture: JARROD POTTER

By JARROD POTTER

WHILE everyone else’s Grand Final day preparations consisted of stocking the fridge and manning the barbecue, Dandenong Stingray forward Josh Battle had a lot more on his plate.
Battle, 17, from Berwick, earned his ticket onto the MCG for the Saturday morning curtain-raiser between his Under-17 AFL Academy team and the Australian Allies.
Comprised of the best Australian talent available for next year’s AFL draft, the AFL Academy team was undersized against the older and strong bodies of the Allies, but put up a gallant performance to stay in the curtain-raiser clash.
Taking his place on the MCG was awe-inspiring for the 190cm forward prospect as he got to take in the atmosphere of playing on the hallowed turf.
Saturday was an overwhelming experience,” Battle said. “It’s what every boy dreams of – playing on the MCG – and getting to play with this great bunch of blokes, wearing the Australian guernsey was pretty honourable.“
While it took a while for him to get used to the fast-paced contest, Battle fought his way into the clash and booted a goal to sign off his first – but hopefully not last – outing on an AFL field.
“I struggled to sort of get into it through the first quarter, but then worked my way into it and kicking a goal on the MCG was pretty good,” Battle said. “Looking up in the stands, seeing people just watching us play – I sort of looked up and soaked it all in.”
The Allies proved too strong for the Academy, knocking over Battle’s men 13.10 (88) to 12.2 (74).
The clash capped off the playing portion of 2015 for the Doveton/Haileybury footballer, which was cut short in Dandenong’s preliminary final loss to Eastern Ranges.
“It was unfortunate to lose in the finals – didn’t want to go out that way – but this pre-season, the bottom agers of this year will have to work a little bit harder next year,” Battle said. “We know what it takes to get back to the finals, so we’ll just have to hit it out harder in pre-season.”
Now Battle shifts his attention to the biggest pre-season of his life for his draft year.
He’s already been in an initial camp with the AFL Academy, will spend a fortnight training with an AFL club before embarking on an international pre-season training program in America … all that plus trying to get back and play for Dandenong and Haileybury this year.
It’s set to be hectic, but Battle is thrilled to take his Academy chance and absorb everything he can during this opportunity.
“I went into camp on Sunday, met all the boys and was a pretty long, draining week – Sunday to Sunday,” Battle said. “Some of the things I learned there were incredible – just everything they taught me, I learned so much there about nutrition, everything necessary to become an AFL footballer.
“We head back into camp with the Academy in November, probably go back to Stingrays on the 13th and do a bit of training there and back into the Academy – apparently it’s really hard this first week, getting us ready and emulating an AFL club pre-season.”
Battle’s Dandenong Stingrays team-mate Myles Poholke also featured in the AFL Academy match.