THE scoreboard had the look of a train wreck for Hoppers Crossing, which was goalless at half-time and an eventual 57-point loser.
But in general play, the youth-driven Warriors more than stood up for themselves, offering a competitive outing for ladder leader Deer Park in the Western Region Football League division 1 away at John McLeod Oval on Saturday.
“I think that scoreboard is a bit misleading,” Warriors captain Brad Murphy told the Weekly.
The Warriors needed a change of mindset to compete with the all-conquering Lions. They dropped numbers before the ball and clogged up the avenues to goal.
It worked from a defensive standpoint, but they struggled to stimulate their own attack, leading to an embarrassing zero in the goals tally at half-time.
“That was the tactic going into the game,” Murphy said.
“It sort of quelled their scoring, but it also stopped us from scoring a bit.
“I thought we had the majority of the play in the first half, we had a lot of the footy.”
The negative tactics were borne out of necessity because of a long injury list. Missing from the Warriors were big names Kade Carey, Aaron Ramsay, Terry Knight, Daniel Riosa, Jake Mutton and Mitch Merrifield.
The youngsters who stepped up to fill the breach had to find a way to halt the Lions’ prime movers and they did that for most part. But it hindered their efforts for two quarters.
“We’ve got eight of our best 22 out and probably seven of those players are in our best 10 or 12 players,” Murphy said.
“It’s a great opportunity for these young guys and the good thing is they’re stepping up. They’re not shying away from it, they’re certainly not getting their pants pulled down. They’re showing they’re ready-made senior footballers.”
The Warriors changed tactics after half time, playing a traditional set-up of six forwards and six backs.
They dominated the third term, out-scoring the hosts four goals to one. Brodie Moles, Murphy Watt and Adam Poland set the tone for the Warriors.
But there was no more important contributor for the Warriors than young forward/ruckman Robbie Wittmer, who had the enormous task of confronting Chris Stewart, one of the best ruckmen in the league.
“He went into the ruck for four quarters against Chris Stewart, who I regard as the best local ruckman I’ve seen play footy,” Murphy said.
“Take nothing away from Stewie, he’s a fantastic player, but Robbie comprehensively beat him in the ruck and gave first use to the midfielders and was outstanding around the ground as well. He really took it up to Stewart and was definitely our best player on the day.”
From a 39-point deficit at the half, the Warriors pegged the margin back to 19 points by three-quarter-time.
The Lions steadied in the last, to run out big winners.
Murphy was proud of his side. “We had about 65 tackles for the day, which is extraordinary.
“The effort and intensity around the stoppages is as good as I’ve seen Hoppers do it but, in saying that, we’re still nine goals off the team that we regard as the best in the competition and the undefeated side, so we’ve got a long way to go.”
The Warriors have tumbled out of the top five for the first time this season. They face a must-win clash against Port Melbourne Colts at JL Murphy Reserve on Saturday.
