– SEE: Picture gallery of the Tigers’ practice match against Williamstown.
– SEE: Tigers take on recruits with experience.
SCOTT West took the Werribee Tigers to the cusp of a Victorian Football League grand final in his first season as senior coach, before falling by a kick in the preliminary final last September.
West, who replaced Paul Satterley as coach, admits last off-season was rushed — he was familiarising himself with players entering the season and the players needed time to understand the new game plan.
Erratic early-season performances followed, up and down results and general uncertainty over the Tigers’ credentials.
With time, the Tigers began to grasp the West way, results improved, as did the team chemistry and they finished the season in the top four.
With a full pre-season under his belt and better player retention rates, West is expecting the Tigers to hit the ground running this time around.
“There’s probably a number of factors that we are in a better position,” West told the Weekly.
“One, it’s my second year, I don’t have to get to know the players, they know me, they know my style, they know what my expectations are from the first day of preseason, so that barrier is broken down.
“Retention of our list has been better this year and that alleviates the problem of educating the whole list again.
“Then there’s the camaraderie side of it. It’s easier to bring in 20 blokes to get to know 30 than bring in 30 blokes to get to know 20.”
West had a better chance to assess his playing list too.
The core was strong last year and most of the players he wanted to keep have returned.
There was the odd exception, but West says those who left, did so to further their football careers.
Leigh Harding took up an assistant coaching role with the Brisbane Lions, Travis Tuck moved to the SANFL, Matt O’Dwyer joined his mates in the AFL Canberra league, Tim Ruffles turned to coaching after repeated injuries and Kyle Hartigan was rookie listed by Adelaide.
“They’re not here for another other reason than looking for a new pathway,” West said. “They’re not going to another VFL club and if they were, you might be asking yourself if there’s a problem at your club”.
The Tigers were better prepared than ever to source replacements.
They have brought in talented footballers with high character.
West gets excited when he points to the names of new recruits on a whiteboard hanging in his office.
“We’ve brought in AFL experience, the captain of the Sydney reserves, captain of Collingwood [VFL], an Essendon-listed player who has been in the system and knows what it’s all about, AFL experience at Sydney, elite kid, elite at Tassie level, captain of Jets . . .” he continued on. “I’m really happy with the list.”
The Tigers were successful in their first pre-season hit-out, defeating Williamstown by 16 points at Whitten Oval on Friday.
