Taking a while to get into his first game for the year after recovering from a serious knee injury, the hard running midfielder was just happy to be playing football again.
“It’s been about 20 odd weeks I think and I was just so glad to be able to have a run,” he told kangaroos.com.au after the game at Avalon Oval in Werribee.
In the second quarter he got on the end of a handball in the forward pocket, threw it onto his left boot and snapped truly for a goal. It was a glimpse of what Bastinac has become known for, and what North Melbourne has been so desperately needing.
“It was good to get a goal and get through the game really,” he said.
Cleared to play a one off game with the Tigers, Bastinac became more comfortable as the game progressed.
“Before the match I was pretty nervous. It was a different kind of nerves than when I played my first AFL game because I was more unsure about my knee.”
29 disposals later, he was as confident as ever and ready to take the next step toward an AFL comeback.
Skirting the packs, the youngster had 18 kicks, eight handballs and eight clearances and went a long way to helping the Tigers’ twos notch up a 70-point win over Sandringham.
Next up with be a run with the North Ballarat senior side and Kangaroos’ medical staff will monitor his progress with a view to giving him the all clear to return to the North Melbourne team in the coming weeks.
2011 VFL Reserves
Werribee Tigers 4.1 10.7 14.10 18.16 (124)
Sandringham 2.1 5.2 6.4 8.6 (54)
GOALS:
Werribee Tigers: Moloney 4 Risol 3 Allwright 2 Treloar 2 Sullivan 2 Bastinac Williams Harrison Prismall Schroder
Sandringham: Curren 3 Meehan 2 Jones 2 McMahon
BEST:
Werribee Tigers: Moloney Sullivan Bastinac Ruggles Schroder Harrison
Sandringham: Curren Dore Smith-Cameron Cathcart Jone
