Nick Coughlan, the new captain of the Werribee Football Club, is excited about the 2023 season even though his participation has been hampered by a pre-season injury.
For the team’s Round 1 match against the Lions in Brisbane, the skipper had an unaccustomed match day role.
“I was running the water and I was probably the most vocal waterboy of all time. You just want to be out there helping the guys. Hopefully I will be back in a couple of weeks and can help us win and push towards finals,” he explained.
Senior coach Michael Barlow enters his third season as senior coach fully aware of the challenges ahead, especially after two Queensland trips to start the season
“The unique nature of this VFL competition is that you jump on the road, you fly out late at night, a quick sleep and you are up and playing,” he said.
“The players and staff tackled that challenge without excuse. We’ll be able to draw on that across the year. We’ve been working really hard on individual improvement across the board and as we get that we will see that translate to the overall team performance. There were a lot of positives to be taken from the interstate start. I think our players enjoyed the opportunity to spend extra time together and connect and socialise.”
Back-to-back home games balance the ledger and Barlow’s boys will be keen to take advantage of being on Avalon Airport Oval against Geelong and Williamstown. Pre-match functions are being held for both games and the Williamstown game is the annual Past Players & Officials Day with many of the champions of the good old days in attendance to watch the 2023 Werribee team in action.
