WERRIBEE Tigers will take on East
Fremantle in the Foxtel Cup semi-final on July 9 after a commanding
85-point thumping of Queanbeyan on Tuesday night.
The Tigers, who
lost to Claremont in the final last year, were dominant
against their NEAFL opponents, despite resting several top-liners
including state representatives Ben Warren and Jake Wilson, and Will
Martiniello going down early with a rolled ankle.
Only wastefulness
in front of goal prevented the margin from passing 100 – an
impressive effort given there was no time-on.
Werribee’s
superiority the over Queanbeyan Tigers was evident from the beginning. They were faster, stronger and more skilful, and booted
the first three goals of the game within 10 minutes, adding another
before Queanbeyan got their first late in the quarter. Tim
McGenniss booted two for the quarter and impressed all night.
Queanbeyan played with much greater intent in the second quarter, pressuring Werribee to
the wings and pockets, which resulted in several turnovers and
behinds.
But for all their
defensive efforts, Queanbeyan still couldn’t get their hands on the
ball enough to to put pressure on Werribee going forward. They
managed only one goal for the quarter – a pattern that continued
throughout the game.
Werribee kicked
4.11 in the second and third quarters before booting seven in the
last to run away with a game they had already well and truly wrapped
up. Queanbeyan did not play badly; they were simply outclassed in
every aspect.
Jordan Gysberts was
terrific through the midfield for Werribee, as was Ben Brown, who continued his hot run of form up forward with three goals.
Werribee coach
Scott West said it was close to a complete performance from the
group. “We had a mix of Kangaroos and senior players and some of the
younger blokes coming through the development league and they all
showed plenty tonight.
“The younger
players all did what they had to do. Darcy Fort keeps getting better
in the ruck, Lachlan Fairley and Michael Sodomaco down back, Cameron
Tudor up forward. It’s a great opportunity to play at Etihad and it’s
great to see other guys play.
“Ben Brown has
been tremendous and it was great to get him out here on Etihad and
let the footy world see him on Foxtel. He’s a raw talent and he’ll
keep developing.
“You can trust in
the group to play well whoever comes in and it enabled us to rest a
few players for the game against North Ballarat.”
FOXTEL CUP SCORES
Werribee 16.17 (113) d Queanbeyan 4.4 (28)
