Tara Murray
Werribee Centrals are looking at the positives out of the Geelong and District Football League season.
Having lost a big chunk of last season’s playing group to either retirement or injury, Centrals are sitting 10th with just two wins after nine rounds.
Centrals president Chris Kopelke said while the senior results didn’t look flattering, they always knew this was going to be a rebuild year.
“We’ve lost 50 per cent of the playing group from last season through retirements and injuries,” he said.
“We’ve got a fair few long term injuries with players out of the season. It’s good for the young blokes though to get an opportunity.
“We’ve had one under-16 and three under-18s who have made their debuts so far this season.”
Kopelke said a number of players decided to step away from football and the club after the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the impact of the league kicking Centrals out of finals had they gone ahead due to being a metro club and under different restrictions, upset a lot of people.
With that occurring, the club was keen to focus on the players who had come through the clubs.
Injuries have made that a bit harder than they would have liked.
“One day we had 12 to 15 injuries across the sides,” Kopelke said. “A lot of them are our young guns who have come through our system.
“Yesterday’s game was the first game we have been able to drop players this season. The first nine rounds we were bringing players in due to injuries.
“Our seconds have not had a bench for most of the year.”
On Saturday, the Centrals faced North Geelong with Kopelke saying they thought they had a good chance of taking the points.
But it wasn’t to be, with North Geelong winning, 19.13 (127)-11.10 (76).
“In the second quarter they kicked seven goals to one and we never bridged the gap,” he said.
“They have a lot of strong experienced players and were able to keep the margin the whole game.”
Centrals have a bye this weekend due to the long weekend. Kopelke said they wanted to help shape the finals make up in the second half of the season.
He said overall the club was in a good position financially and work would begin on a new state of the art complex at Galvin Park.
The club’s women’s side which competes in the Western Region Football League has also been really competitive.
In the A-grade netball, Centrals had a 59-28 win against North Geelong.
The side sits fourth with seven wins.
