Werribee Districts will have two long weeks to mull over what went wrong late in their gut wrenching season-opening four-point loss to Altona in the Western Region Football League division 1 at Soldiers Reserve on Saturday.
Picture gallery: WRFL: Werribee Districts v Altona
The Tigers led comfortably at three-quarter time by 21 points, but a combination of ill-discipline and error-riddled play, along with some daring moves from the Vikings, saw the home side overrun in the final term.
Tigers co-captain Matt Dean told Star Weekly that round two is an unfortunate time to have their first of two byes for the season under the circumstances.
“There’s probably no great time to have the bye, but having it in round two after a loss is not the best,” he said.
“We’ve got to wait two weeks to get ourselves another chance to get on the winners’ list, so it’s not a great way to start the year.”
The Tigers have only themselves to blame for coughing up the four points.
They were in a powerful position in the match going into the last change, but their inability to convert in a third quarter, where they booted 3.5, kept the door ajar for a late Vikings push.
The gifts kept coming from the Tigers to their visitors in the last quarter.
“We did a lot of things wrong when it mattered most in the last quarter, a couple of undisciplined plays to give away a couple of 50-metre penalties and a reverse free kick that they had scoring opportunities from,” Dean lamented.
“We had a shot at goal two metres out directly in front which somehow hit the post.
“Those types of things can swing the momentum of the game and they certainly did yesterday.”
Despite the result, there were plenty of bright spots for the Tigers.
Inside-outside onballer Lachie McDowell, returning to the club after stints in the VFL and the nearby GFL, showed how important his signature was in the off-season.
“He’s got some real speed, which is something we needed through our midfield, and he’s also a bit of a tough nut, so he gets in and under to win the ball and can actually break the lines when he’s up and going,” Dean said.
“His burst out of the midfield was really good.”
Andrew Panayi did what he does best, snaring three goals and applying the blowtorch with his forward pressure.
Lachie Patterson was the leader of a Tigers defensive group that was praised for their hard work all game.
Four other former juniors made their return to the Tigers and will be better for the run, including Jesse Fortune, Shaun McGuinness, Troy Anderson and Scott Miller.
The Tigers are behind the eight ball, but have plenty of time to rectify the situation.
“It’s certainly not the end of the world,” Dean said.
“We know it’s only round one and like [coach] Wade [Chapman] said in his after-match speech, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon, we’ve got another 17 rounds to go.”
